Sidewalk Salon

Scheduled the first Tuesday of the month, Sidewalk Salons provide an opportunity for Birmingham's filmmaking community to meet, greet, listen and discuss. Guest speakers and topics provide a focus to each meeting, while the social environment of Rojo gives friends and colleagues a reason to get together monthly to talk about upcoming projects.

On the first Tuesday of every month, Rojo owners Laney DeJonge and Clark Lopez open up their side room exclusively for Salon participants! Complimentary snacks are available for all, or you can take advantage of Rojo's diverse menu selections. Don't forget to sample the full selection of beverages available at the bar. Rojo is located at 2921 Highland Ave South. (Get directions.)

Do you have an upcoming project you'd like announced at the next Sidewalk Salon? Need some help, or want to offer to help someone else? Perhaps you've just moved to town and want to let folks know you're here. Download a Sidewalk Salon "Announcement Card", and we'll include your announcement at the next Salon! Just bring it with you to the Salon, or fax it to us in advance at (205) 324-2488.

Download Announcement Card

TUESDAY / APRIL 1
FILM FESTIVAL LOWDOWN
Find out which festivals (other than Sidewalk) you should submit your film to. You'll learn about acceptance rates, entry fees and deadlines, and more. Plus, get the full report back from Sidewalk staffers on their time at the SXSW Film Festival.

TUESDAY / MARCH 4
NETWORKING SALON
Looking for collaborators for your next project? Does that script you wrote need a second opinion? Need to ask an experienced cinematographer how feasible your ideas are? If so, then please come to the the March Salon where our focus is networking. This is an excellent time for Scramblers to find teammates!

TUESDAY / FEBRUARY 5
RED ONE Camera
The rumors are true! For February's Salon, we are introducing you to the coolest camera to date. Ladies and Gentlemen, say hello to the new RED ONE...putting the power of a world-class HD digital camera in the hands of the everyday filmmaker. Please join us as we welcome Bill Schweikert (billschweikert.com) of Dead Workers Party (deadworkersparty.com). He will be presenting his newest acquisition, the RED ONE camera, for a show-and-tell you won't want to miss!

TUESDAY / JANUARY 8
SCREENPLAY DEVELOPMENT
Get a taste of screenplay development with Elizabeth Bradley Hunter! She will be conducting interactive exercises and discussing the topic of idea development. For those of you interested in taking her screenwriting course this summer, you will not want to miss this. Elizabeth Bradley Hunter began her film career as the founder of Sundays Under the Volcano, a script reading and music series in NYC. She has served as Head of Development for Andrew Lauren Productions, where she was actively involved in G (2002) and THE SQUID AND THE WHALE.

MONDAY / DECEMBER 3
MAIN STREET BIRMINGHAM
Main Street Birmingham is a nonprofit organization working to revitalize Birmingham neighborhoods. They have a strong push for programs to help artists establish studios and professional offices in historic Woodlawn and they want filmmakers to be a part of this movement. Come learn from MSB Executive Director David Fleming about properties available for studios and offices for creative professionals and incentives available to help filmmakers! Also, Cultural Alliance representatives will share information about two initiatives that will help Alabama filmmakers take their career to the next level.

MONDAY / NOVEMBER 5
SOUNDTRACKS
Music and Your Film: How Soundtracks Can Make or Break a Scene-- On hand will be Annie Brunson, a brilliant local composer, who will share her experiences and wisdom on setting the mood to a film and how you, as a director, can best communicate with your composer. Also, we will have a Apple rep who will tell us all about some of their amazing programs that can help you create your own soundtrack.

MONDAY / OCTOBER 8
SIDEWALK HANGOVER
Share your favorite and least favorite moments of Sidewalk 2007. What films blew you away? Which do you regret missing? We hope you paid attention and saw as many films as possible, because we're playing Sidewalk Pictionary for awesome prizes including DVDs of select Sidewalk 2007 films, tickets to Phantom of the Opera, and more!

MONDAY / SEPTEMBER 10
SIDEWALK "FIRST LOOK"
The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is right around the corner. Eighteen days from this Salon to be exact! Come and watch trailers for some of the must-see films at this year's festival. Also, hear from our programmers about how the screening process went this year and how they finalized the lineup.

MONDAY / AUGUST 6
SCRAMBLE FAVORITES
Cat & Nat present some of their favorite Scramble films of all time. Some won top prizes, some lost (but won our hearts), and some just made a lasting impression on our brains. This is a good chance to see some of the first ever Scramble teams in action and to observe how the rules (and times) have changed.

MONDAY /JULY 9
COSTUMING & SET DRESSING
Please welcome Mary Gurney from The PLAYHOUSE. Mary will share with us what it is like to be a provider of costumes and props for theatre and film. Need to dress up your set? Have questions about the easiest way to make your actors and set look like they're from the Civil War era? This is the Salon for you.

MONDAY / MAY 7
LOCATION SCOUTING
How do you make Las Vegas look like Mars? It's all about having a clever eye and a good location scouting team. Listen as Chance & Stacey Shirley (of Hide and Creep fame) discuss the in's and out's of location scouting and re-coloring, complete with visuals! They will also be filling us in on their current production, Interplanetary.

MONDAY /APRIL 2
TOP TEN SIDEWALK SUBMISSION MISTAKES
Rejection sucks, especially when you see the same filmmakers get accepted into Sidewalk year after year. What do they know that you don't? Come to this salon to get the skinny on what makes a film Sidewalk worthy. Hear tips from veterans, fellow filmmakers, and members of the screening committee. P.S. We're officially calling this Salon "Top Ten Sidewalk Submission Mistakes." Kyle and Rachel will really be sharing things you must avoid at all costs when submitting a film.

MONDAY / MARCH 5
FILM RESTORATION
Patrick (Pat) Loughney, PhD (American Studies, George Washington University, 1988) is the Curator, Motion Picture Department, George Eastman House. He is the Director of the L. Jeffery Selznick School of Film Preservation, a unique program founded in 1996 to train the next generation of film preservationists. Previously, he was the Supervisor in charge of the Moving Image Section of the Library of Congress. Mr. Loughney is in town for the Hellman Wyler Festival.

MONDAY / FEBRUARY 5
MEET THE TEAM!
Meet the new team of staff behind Sidewalk, the Scrambles, Birmingham SHOUT & more. The team will discuss and answer questions about plans for 2007. Get the calendar of this year's events: Festivals, Scrambles, Salons & much more!

MONDAY / NOVEMBER 6, 2006
THE IMAGE SALON
Don't miss the November 6 Sidewalk Salon , where you can meet and hang with Gabe Wardell and Dan Krovich from IMAGE in Atlanta. A frequent Sidewalk juror, Gabe is IMAGE's new President / CEO, and Dan is their new Festivals Director. Hear details on their Out On Film gay & lesbian film festival next weekend, and get tips on submitting to the Atlanta Film Festival.

MONDAY / OCTOBER 2. 2006
THE POST-FEST RECOVERY SALON
Share stories from the 8th annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, and offer up your feedback, comments and suggestions to festival organizers. View special screenings of local faves in Rojo's screening room -- including GOUASH (winner of the Jury award for Best Alabama Short), PIECE OF CAKE (Audience Choice Award-winner for Best Alabama Short), and more.

MONDAY / AUGUST 11, 2006
FILM OFFICE SALON
With TALLADEGA NIGHTS having just opened across the country and John Sayles' HONEYDRIPPER scheduled to shoot in Butler County this fall, join Mark Strickland (Birmingham-Jefferson Film Office) and Tommy Fell (Alabama Film Office) to find out the latest about what's happening in Alabama film -- and how you can get involved!