Meetup #189

Another Sunday, another room full of people making things, planning things, and trying to figure out how to actually get them made.

We had a lot of new faces this week, from actors and directors to a data scientist making documentaries, a carpenter who likes acting, a pizza baker who composes music, and a product design student who writes and directs. Different backgrounds, same basic problem: we all want to make films.

🎤Pitches

There were some seriously fun ideas in the room.

One project follows a TV newscaster through a day where everything goes wrong, including aliens. Another filmmaker is developing a comedy pilot set around a small island retreat centre and is looking for an editor to help polish the rough cut.

We also heard about a documentary and short film exploring the ideas of philosopher Simone Weil.

And then there was the alternate-history Berlin project. Imagine the first Zuse computer surviving World War II, AI becoming a thing in the 60s, the internet arriving decades early, and Berlin turning into a Silicon Valley-style city. What would that even look like?

📽Screenings

We watched a trailer for Godhead, a feature shot in LA, a music video based on a song from 1982, and an acting showreel scene.

We also heard about a micro-budget feature made in Berlin with a small crew and a very collaborative shooting process. Different communities helped make locations possible. No huge setup, just people figuring it out together.

📅Coming up

Shorts Show #3 is August 26th at Ill Kino.

The AI Filmmaking Meetup is August 28th, and there are workshops planned for future sessions.

And later this year, the AI Filmhack will bring filmmakers to Studio Babelsberg for 48 hours of hybrid filmmaking, mixing real footage with AI-generated material.

Moviesprint IV unfortunately isn't happening this year. But we're already looking at April or May next year.

See you next Sunday.

Stop waiting. Start creating.