Fresno Filmmakers Forum launches new site, and much more

You remember the FFF, right?  It’s the annual conference that brings industry speakers to Fresno to help educate, inspire, and network our valley’s filmmaking community.  But what about the people who organize the conference?  Well they’re a fledgling, soon-to-be nonprofit organization called the Fresno Filmmakers Alliance. And they seem to be committed to bringing a lot more than just an annual conference to Fresno!

If you’ve been following MindHub in the last couple weeks, you’ll have no doubt seen the FFA’s plans to build a 4-acre movie studio in West Fresno that would include two soundstages, a restaurant, a movie theater, and retail office space. The group has already met with City of Fresno economic development officials, the developer PenStar Group, and local architect Arthur Dyson. Yikes! Is your mind blown yet? Visit fresnostudios.org to view the FFA’s preliminary project proposal.

Some less friggin’ ginormously ambitious projects include… screenings of local movies (can anyone say Legend of Jake Kincaid?), monthly mixers (next one is Feb 12, 6pm, Tokyo Garden), and quarterly workshops… the first of which will take place on Saturday, January 24 from 1pm to 5pm at the Fresno Art Museum.  The 4-hour workshop will take you through the basics of screenwriting (format, etc.) and discuss Hollywood myths and truths, the creative process, style, adaptation, and pitching.  Tickets are $8 pre-register, $12 at the door. Click here for more info.

Last but not least… the FFA has launched a new social networking site for local filmmakers to join and connect. Be sure to check it out. They used the same platform as FresnoJobs.org and FresnoArts.net, so if you’ve registered with either of those sites you just simply need to log in!  How convenient is that? Way to go Fresno on being technologically-compatible.