Six Years of #IFIE!
In the summer of 2008, I felt alone as a filmmaker, living 40 miles outside the mecca that is Hollywood. It was an interesting time. The digital revolution was beginning and I had begun in that direction with the purchase of an HVX200, after learning all about it’s virtues from History and Discovery Channel veteran, Jim Lindsay, during a 20-day intensive class on HD.
Along with digital media’s growth, social media was blooming. MySpace died but we got to see Four-Eyed Monsters come on the scene and then Twitter took over, followed by Facebook.
I spawned a project-based filmmaking group with some friends and we began to learn every aspect of filmmaking that we could. This experiment concluded with a 48-hour film project. After which everyone went their own separate way.
Again, I was alone. In the desert of the IE…
I looked for a group like the groups there were in L.A. for filmmakers. There were none. I knew I had to create one, here in the Inland Empire, where the flakes and the misfits, including myself, lived. And we must be called, “IFIE”!
And in the winter of 2009, the Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire was born. Six-years later, we have grown from eight members to over 1,000 registered members and a regular attendance to our monthly meetings.
We continue because of the continual comments from our members thanking us for existing and telling us that they now have a home, with kindred spirits.
We thank all of our sponsors and presenters over the years. Thank you for helping to provide a home for wayward filmmaking souls!
I look forward to what the future holds. My seven-year old son just started his filmmaking journey with his award-winning first film, Giant Land Snake vs. the Volcano, Cloud and the Farmers. My five-year old daughter acted in her first short film and wants to make a film now. I’m finishing up my last class required for four Film and Television certificates at RCC. Creativity abounds and I meet new filmmakers every month. I think it’s time for a new era of IFIE.
Cheers!
Eric
Find out more about our IFIE Meetups at IFOTIE.com