Thumbs Up for Indie Lounge!

Let’s toss the mayor off the roof!

Now there’s an idea that hadn’t even crossed our minds, but we got a chuckle at Monday’s council meeting when Kitchener mayor Carl Zehr quipped he supports the Indie Lounge stunt proposal, as long as he’s not the guy going off the roof.

We promise that won’t happen, Carl.

And we won’t set you on fire either.

But we do invite you to come and see the action at noon Sunday, Oct. 25 on King Street at the Children’s Museum.

Plus we want to say thanks to you and council for the official thumbs up allowing Indie Lounge and Reel Stunts Productions to put movie set action on King Street.

Now it’s up to the independent filmmakers to take advantage of this rare and special opportunity to learn first-hand how to set up and shoot action stunts.

Click here for more details on Indie Lounge.

Already made up your mind to attend?

Click here to buy tickets.

Philip Bast

Chair, Indie Lounge planning committee

Experience the Sizzle!

Indie Lounge is ready to light a fire.

We already sparked plenty of creative thinking and vibrant discussion among filmmakers when we launched last year in Cambridge in support of Grand River Film Festival.

Brand new and yet to be tested, Indie Lounge did have a big challenge in Year One to attract the kind of crowd it warranted.

But those who attended agreed – heartily agreed – that it was a smashing event, filling a genuine need for a hands-on symposium for independent media producers in the Grand River community, both at emerging and professional levels.

This year as GRFF grows broader in audience with many films screening in Kitchener at Children’s Museum and Gig Theatre, Indie Lounge also moves to Kitchener, where it’s bound to ignite more excitement in the film community.

In fact, Indie Lounge will light a blaze … literally.

We’re going to set a professional movie stuntman on fire on King Street, to be filmed by videographers attending Indie Lounge.

And that’s just part of the action.

We’re also going to have another stuntman demonstrate a free fall from the roof of the Children’s Museum to an airbag on King Street below, also to be filmed. (Click here for more details.)

These action sequences are part of the Stunt Safety and Logistics demonstration to be presented by Reel Stunts Productions, headed by veteran stuntman Randy Butcher of Cambridge. His colleague, Blair Johannes, also a veteran stunt pro, will do the free fall.

The stunts individually will be brief, just a few seconds for the free fall, barely a minute or so for the man on fire. However, we’ll be closing King Street on Sunday for about two hours at lunchtime to set up the demos and tear down afterwards.

Preparing for this event has involved a great deal of planning, almost enough for a presentation on its own at Indie Lounge. Brian Scott and Don Chapman at City Hall have been particularly helpful as we drafted our proposal requesting city council’s permission to close a block of King Street for these exciting stunt demos.

That presentation goes to council this afternoon for initial discussion and then there will be more paperwork to complete before final approval the following week.

There’s always a remote chance the city could toss the idea right out the window this afternoon … but we’re confident council will warm to the idea and give us permission to toss Blair off the roof and roast Randy on the road.

Just three weeks away, folks. Click here to order tickets.

Have a blast filming the flames.

Philip Bast

Chair, Indie Lounge Planning Committee

Director of “Departures” to come to Indie Lounge

Independent Film Makers Unite!

Yojiro Takita, the Academy award winning director of Departures is coming to Indie Lounge! He will be visiting Canada for the weekend of the GRFF to introduce his movie for both the Kitchener and Cambridge screenings, and then will be available at the Indie Lounge to talk about his experiences with the film industry and answer questions.

Takita told GRFF that he’s “looking forward to meeting the Canadian audience and to find out how his work ‘Departures’ is received by them.”   The award-winning director stated that he is “excited to explore the area while meeting film fans and professionals at the event hosted by the Grand River Film Festival organizers.”

Departures is a gripping film about Daigo Kobayashi, a concert cellist, who after losing his job with the Tokyo orchestra is forced to move back to his small hometown in hopes of beginning anew. After seeing an ad in the classifieds with the caption “No age limit, high salary, and short actual working time. A job that helps out journeys.” Kobayashi calls the number from the ad and gets an interview with an old man who tells him that he‘s hired, but neglects to mention that his new job is actually to prepare the dead for their journey to the afterlife!

Check out http://www.grff.ca/nlView.cfm?ID=296&NLID=3942 for details.

Follow us on twitter! www.twitter.com/grffindielounge

Cheers

-CH

Welcome to “The Indie Lounge”

This is the inaugural post representing the Grand River Film Festival 2009 and the Indie Lounge.  What is the Indie Lounge, you ask?  Well, I’m glad you did.  The Indie Lounge is an event dedicated to helping independent film makers in the Grand River area meet their goals and improve their skills.  The events include: a workshop on digital film production, a seminar on film combat, a stunt safety workshop and live demos, and a workshop on the art of editing.

The event is taking place on October 24 – 25, at The Children’s Museum and the Walper Terrace Hotel in downtown Kitchener.  For more information, visit www.grff.ca.

This is your digital destination for all concerns related to the Indie Lounge. Over the course of the next month we will be posting information related to the various events taking place, an interview of a short filmmaker, and other news.

Cheers,

- JD

Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/grffindielounge