HAPPIER NEW YEAR

President David opened the firtst meeting for 2026 on Thursday January 15 at 7.40pm (after tackling some early technical problems) wishing the 17 members and visitors a “Happier New Year” with vision of fireworks (as you do if you’re in a video club).

David reported that a large tripod that we may have used some years ago had been found under the stage at the Indro Hub. Neal suggested it could possibly be part of a projector stand given to us by a former president. We’re looking into seeing if it is worth keeping because the original would have been a very expensive piece of kit.

Interstate collaboration – Paul reported that Sydney Video Makers (SVM) are keen to continue our interstate collaboration of video making. Unfortunately “Grandmas Nuts” seems to have gone down the wrong way because other clubs asked for more time back in November and we haven’t heard any more. However, SVM has offered another "Grandma" scripts which we might be interested in…. Happy Christmas Grandma. The script for the video will be emailed to all members so that we can consider the opportunities at our next club meeting. Although the club is very active in making productions, this is a great chance to get involved.

Oral histories. Sydney Video Makers has a lucrative commission filming oral histories with service members of a local RSL club. We are considering looking at a similar opportunity with local RSL clubs. David suggested that money raised could be used to subscribe to local talent search groups such as StarNow to engage actors and crew for some of our productions. It would be a win/win.

Droning in Nature - Glenn is holding another drone experience with a shoot on Sunday 25 January. This is a great opportunity for hands on experience for drone operators heading out to a safe natural environment to practice your skills. Contact Glenn if you want to join in.

All Futured Out . – No time 4 Nostalgia. This was another example of the AI app Suno that David uses to enhance his guitar skills. What emerged was a truly awesome experience, especially if you like head banging heavy metal music.

UGG competition. They’re back on the agenda. Bring your best ideas to the next club meeting. Deadlines will be set for productions in the vicinity of up to 5 minutes.

Virtual Reality We delved into the world of VR with the first feature length VR movie “Calling” directed by Charles Zhang, shot on Insta360Pro. It premiered at the Beijing Film Acadamy in 2018 and is the forerunner of the amazing new world of Virtual Reality movies. The possibilities are endless.

Movies in the Dome David and a number of club members made the trek across the border to Casuarina to see Robbie Lusher’s Dome experience. Running on the inner walls of the 360 degree dome was Pink Floyd’s Us and Them track. So many ways to film and watch movies, especially lying down.

Social Media And speaking of the future, or at least how BMM is catching up, we now have our very own social media guru. Joel will be managing our YouTube, Facebook and Instagram accounts with the aim of reaching a greater audience. If you have any content that you want mentioned/promoted on these social media accounts, contact Joel and he will make it happen.

As part of greater reach, Glenn announced that we are moving away from hosting our videos on Vimeo to YouTube. They will be gradually transitioned to YouTube which Glenn said had surged well ahead of Vimeo in viewer numbers, and it opens the possibility down the track of monetising the club’s videos with any money raised going back into club development. For more information about the Vimeo v YouTube see Glenn’s article.    

ME the Premiere Peter W announced that his latest production ME An exploration of meaning, identity and the self will premiere at Elizabeth Street Theatre 5 Star Cinema, 175 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane, on April 18 at 2pm. Tickets are now available through trybooking.com cost $16. For more information about what it's all about see the BMM website .

Another of our very talented film makers, Bala, is nervously waiting to hear if his short film (7 minutes) Price of Silk has been accepted in the prestigous Sydney Tropfest. In researching the storyline, Bala conducted 80 interviews including six sex workers, and then wrote, produced and directed the movie which was shot over two14-hour days in December with a production crew of 21 including club members Freddie and Joel. Tropfest receives around 1,500 submissions for consideration but only 15 are selected – one chance in a hundred, and prize money goes only to the top three entries. Bala says he should know by the end of January if he has been accepted.

Perhaps not quite up to that standard, Peter presented a movie A Christmas Carol… it’s about people being traumatised by Christmas carols who find help by attending Carol’s Christmas counselling. Peter said was written and produced “in a bit of a rush” as Christmas was approaching. Shot on 6^th December, it was edited in two or three days. Cute and very inventive.

Quiet Achievers Glenn is making good progress with the Quiet Achievers series. Several films have been completed, a couple more are well into production but he said he needs three or four movies. The criteria calls for individuals to tell their story through strong passionate narrative witnesses or a combination, striking visuals, carefully seleced music. One of the movies in the works features new BMM member Michael Stephenson, a retired Anglican priest. Michael told us he achieved some notoriety as a result of a long running conflict with the administrators of St John’s Cathedral which saw him stage a one-person protest on the steps of the Cathedral, ultimately leading to his arrest. But that hasn’t deterred him. All will be revealed in Glenn’s production.

Smoke and Mirrors David said he had “three really good ones” in the can. We previewed one called Room 1714, a documentary based on the a true story of Deborah K Bates, a Gold Coast based author and harpist who was confined in hotel room 1714 for two weeks during Covid while dealing with very traumatic personal issues. It‘s very confronting and exceptionally well done.

And for all that, the meeting wrapped up on time at 9.30pm.

Our next meeting is Thursday 5 Feburary . Check the Blog on the BMM website to keep up to date with what's coming up and how you can get involved in the club's film making projects.