So many people confess that they love following along with the things I’m doing. It’s always such an honor to hear something like that. I live to serve and love sharing the things I’m passionate about!
Life moves quickly, though, and it can be tough to follow closely. I totally get it. To help you out, here’s a little more info on the ways you can follow along.
Here’s how to get all inclusive coverage of what I’m working on (more specifics below):
These emails are all-inclusive. Each email includes details about my life as an independent filmmaker and, more importantly, how it affects you. My mission is to make films that you’ll enjoy and want to share with your friends.
Each email includes a round up of what’s happened in the past month, blog posts you don’t want to miss, and upcoming events like screenings or socials. Sometimes it also includes my little victories, harsh realities as an indie filmmaker (no complaints, just statements), and tid bits for those who want to chase their own dreams.
Sign up to get the monthly email updates right here or use the form below:
You can now easily follow along on Facebook by liking my fan page. This is something I resisted for a long time because it felt vain and slimy: wayyyy too self-promotional. I just didn’t like the idea — but now it’s an aboslute necessity.
Since I don’t like the idea of spamming all of my Facebook friends, this is the new Facebook home for all of the things I’m working on. It’ll streamline things a lot. The fan page will be a hub for sharing all of my film and entrepreneurial adventures in one place. I’m pretty excited about that.
Now everyone who wants to follow along closely has the opportunity to see it, engage in lively convos, and share with their friends.
TriFilm social at Myriad Media on Thursday, August 28th. © 2014 Alex Boerner Photography | alexboerner.com
Things are changing for TriFilm, too. Sign up to stay in the loop here: trifilmsociety.com.
Filmmaking is a truly collaborative art, which means you need great people to help make your vision come to life. Over the years I have worked with some seriously great people and incredible local film businesses. That’s why I’ve been organizing free networking events known as TriFilm socials since 2009. (Back when I was tweeting via SMS on a pink Blackberry Pearl, haha.)
These socials are more than just networking events. They are a means to help us all move forward together by uniting the community. To improve our craft by finding the resources we need to do our best work. I genuinely adore the people I’ve met, who have given so much to me, and I want them to succeed.
It’s time to step it up a notch, so I’m upgrading TriFilm to a proper film society. The website is in development and I’m researching what will be truly valuable to the local film community. If you want to be a part of it, please let me know. I will need lots of feedback, volunteers, and help spreading the word.
As always, TriFilm is a means to serve the community I love so dearly. Add your email address to the list if you want TriFilm-specific information: trifilmsociety.com.
Recently I launched an online course for filmmakers, which is all about crowdfunding. This course is something I feel very passionately about for many, many reasons. Registration is still open but only until Sunday, September 21st. Get more information here: crowdfundyourfilm.com.
The course was born out of my frustration with learning crowdfunding. I spent countless hours reading, researching, contributing, and interviewing people who had been successful at it. My first campaign was in 2010, where I attempted to raise money for tickets to attend a film festival. I spent years researching how to crowdfund successfully. In early 2014, we launched the campaign for Brewconomy and successfully raised more than $11,000 in 30 days. It was incredibly rewarding!
While I feel so lucky to have been successful at crowdfunding, so many of my fellow filmmakers have not. This pains me. They launched a campaign, didn’t meet their fundraising goal, and hang their heads to this day when they talk about it. I hate hearing the negative effects of a failed campaign, especially because I know how to help.
Crowdfunding helps filmmakers raise money, test the validity of a film idea, and engage directly with an audience. As the film industry grows and changes, these things will become vital to the success of independent filmmakers worldwide. This is why I created a course for my fellow filmmakers.
This is crucial stuff and I look forward to sharing it!
Meredith Kaplan is editing Brewconomy.
Last, but definitely not least, the documentary I’m currently working on is wrapping up quickly. Brewconomy is in post-production, and we’re hustling to finish the film in time to meet film festival deadlines this fall. That means we’ll share the film publicly in 2015 — hopefully with a premiere during N.C. Beer Month in Durham, N.C. Fingers crossed.
You can follow along with the film’s progress on Facebook, Twitter, and my personal blog for now. As we get closer to premiering the film, you’ll see more info shared online in multiple places. Kickstarter backers also get exclusive behind-the-scenes info that’s not shared anywhere else. They get that info exclusively through backer updates, which is really cool.
Every now and then I post a behind-the-scenes photo on my personal Instagram account, too. Just know that the account isn’t all about beer and filmmaking. There are a lot of photos of my dog, Louie, haha.