Newsletter March 2007

As most of you know, years ago I came up with this crazy idea that there was real value in bringing filmmaking to places that didn’t have access, particularly rural communities. And that teaching media literacy will narrow the ever widening digital gap for rural residents. After our pilot program, I think all those involved would agree with me that I am right.

We did it; we completed our first pilot program. It was everything I hoped and more. We learned so much about how to make this work. Manor ISD was a super partner for this first time out. Less then 3 months ago, I walked into the Manor ISD Superintendent, Mark Diaz’ office with Bob Hudgins, our Texas Film Commissioner and in less then an hour we had a date and a plan. Every subsequent contact I had within the district was met with the same “can-do” spirit. A spirit, I might add, that comes from one thing, a place of caring. These people care so much about giving their students any opportunities that could help them to become well rounded and succeed in life. I thank everyone in Manor for sharing that spirit with us.

Speaking of thanks, I want to thank the students, who put in extremely long hours and worked very hard. And really from the very first day, they totally appreciated what we had to offer. We hear often about the apathy and sense of entitlement among today’s youth. That was NOT the case with this group of students. These kids were motivated to get the most out of this opportunity. And they did a brilliant job. They produced a 17 minute documentary that rivals many that I see throughout the year by seasoned filmmakers. Kudos to them for an amazing final product in such a short time. And thanks to the Lutz-Carrillo family, who the documentary was about, for so generously letting us invade their lives for a week.

Kudos to my staff, talk about amazing. The preproduction work that Laura, Patrick and Ron worked on for the workshop served us well. We knew going into this that there was much to learn and we did. But more importantly for me, we proved beyond our dreams some of the reasons for doing this in the first place. Much of what people have been hearing me talk about in a conceptual manner has been proven poetically by this enormous collaboration.

We had two news crews come and do a story about us. Check them out:

http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=179483

http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?s=6129241

And look for a piece in the Austin Chronicle in the next two weeks from Amber Pearce. And you can read about our daily activities on our website at www.mobilefilmschool.org.

Thanks to EVERYONE who came to work with us. Kate Hak, Nancy Schiesari, Manfred Reiff, April Melody, Claire Huie and Leah Marino all volunteered and made a HUGE difference in the quality of the student’s experience. Very special thanks to Kate Hak for keeping us in good health and spirit through her delicious meals.

None of this would have been possible without the generous donations from Illegal Films, Happy Mac, Michael Wiese Productions, Mopac Media, Omega Productions, Precision Camera and Video, MusicSupervisor.com and IZZE. With help on so much equipment we were able to see the value of the students having their hands on equipment as much as possible. Thanks to Sam Peterson for her work from North Carolina. And a special thanks to Larry Bucher for putting up with the chaos of MFS in our home.

Welcome:

We are very proud to welcome Kristina Mann as my new Executive Assistant. She is shaping up the office and me. We are so fortunate that she is available to us.

We are also honored to include Clark Richards and Kristy Holmes as new board members. We’ll have more about these fantastic new additions on our website soon.

Are you going to be in town for SXSW Film Festival? I’d love to see you.

Mark your calendars, and come celebrate with us. MusicSupervisor.com and MFS will be celebrating our partnership and our inaugural workshop.

DATE: Saturday, March 10

TIME: 6-8pm

PLACE: Speakeasy, 412Congress Ave in Austin, TX (entrance door in side alley)

Please join us; we’d love to catch up with you and show off the students work. Even if you can’t make it to the party, but you would like to catch up, please call me at:
888-MSF-FILM (637-3456)

We will be working tirelessly to turn this workshop into much needed funding for our national program. We need your help so please consider donating online at: http://www.mobilefilmschool.org/donate.

May our paths cross often and forever,

Lisa

Lisa McWilliams

Executive Director and Founder

Mobile Film School

lisa@mobilefilmschool.org