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Syracuse Film Community Gains Insight at the ‘Filmmakers Forum’

Shradha Rao/WAER News

A group of local film enthusiasts and film professionals gathered in the newly built facility, ‘The Film Hub’ Saturday in DeWitt for the ‘Filmmakers Forum,’ as part of the Syracuse International Film Festival.  Local filmmakers and others who want to work in the industry got to engage with an eclectic panel of documentary filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, directors and producers.

The panel of 15 included Tom Bower, president of the festival’s Honorary Board, Sophia Award winning documentary filmmaker Eugene Corr, Academy award winning writer Bobby Moresco, writer-director-actor Michael Olmos, SU alumna and producer, Monica Levinson, writer-director-producer Rob Nilsson and Onondaga Film Commissioner Eric Vinal. The forum also welcomed international filmmakers such as Harutyun Khachatryan from Armenia, Elena Gladkova from Russia, Ariel Rotter from Argentina and Marc Fafard from Canada to present their films and to share their experiences with the local community.

Credit Shradha Rao/WAER News
Filmmaker panel addressed technical, writing and other aspects of the business.

The panel addressed a numbers of questions raised by the audience members on acquiring funding for projects, writing a provocative screenplay and a number of issues being faced by local professionals in their bid to make it in the film business.

The need for diversity in the industry was also widely discussed. Levinson, producer for Captain Fantastic and Trumbo and one of two women panelists, noticed even the panel was in need of some gender balance.

“I did look around the panel and see a panel of all men and went ‘oh good, there is at least there is one other woman here,’ and this means there is a lot of room for women filmmakers to grow. Women have a hard time getting the opportunities to make their own movies. But, I am very happy to be a woman in this business and feel very strongly about employing women, when I can.”

Along with a 45% tax credit on post-production, Levinson feels building a strong film community and labor force will get business to Syracuse.

“I called Toronto and they said we have 20 or 30 film crews, here I don’t think you even have one crew yet. Get the students here, to stay here. It’s about people staying here and building up the crew base and hopefully before tax incentive goes away.”

Credit Shradha Rao/WAER News
Many who attended the panel discussion want to get into the film business or are already making films locally.

Justin Pellingra, owner of ‘The Vault,’ located in downtown, found the forum incredibly informative and beneficial. With movies like Pottersville and Mohawk being shot in Syracuse, Pellingra sees the city becoming a hub for filmmaking in the near future.

“Movies have been coming here instead of Rochester and Buffalo.”

The festival, which goes on through Sunday, has a lot to offer. Here are some movies you can catch today:

·         Peace and Justice Showcase: “Ghost Town to Havana”. @ 1:00 p.m. “Deadlock @ 3:15 p.m. at Le Moyne College

·         Film Shorts Program: including “#Ya”, “A Veteran’s Story”, “Apolinaire A Stavelot”, “Nothing Escaped My Eyes”, “Quenottes”, @ 1:00 p.m. at the Palace Theater

·         “Cartel Land” @ 1:00 p.m. at the Oncenter Carrier Theater.

·         Abbas Kiarostami Tribute: “Certified Copy” @ 2:00 p.m. at the Manlius Cinema

·         “Listopad” @ 3:30 p.m. at the Palace Theater

·         “Snow Monkey” @ 3:30 at the Oncetner Carrier Theater

·         “Jazz on a Summer’s Day” Closing program of the festival @ 7:15 p.m. at the Palace Theater

 

Click here for a: list of films and venue locations

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.