We have been promoting our three-part vision: the Production Gathering, the Film-Gallery-Café, and Funding by Financial Health. What would a “production gathering” be like?
Think of a retreat in which participants are provided with an array of helps, programmed and free form, to refresh their perspective on life, inspire them to accomplish their dreams and spark new ideas. Focus that kind of a retreat to the needs of practicing artists with a select few younger, promising artists.
This would not just be a vacation, but a working retreat in which the artists are selected to fill positions in a film production, the center around which the retreat is organized. Experienced professionals would work for pay and agree to mentor the tuition paying younger artists who have been invited based on their portfolio and application. Scholarships would be available. The younger artists would be challenged to rise to the working professional level.
The retreat aspect of the event would strive to remove negative pressure that is common to commercial productions and to promote a freedom of creativity. Hosted in a place close to nature, intense periods of shooting, performance and post production, would be interspersed with enrichment times. These would include live musicians entertaining during meal breaks and evenings, inspirational presentations from specialists in related fields, and recreational facilities. Room and board would be provided with ample staffing to attend to each individual's needs.
The number and type of residents, as well as the length of time scheduled, would vary depending on the demands of the given screenplay. Short films using a wide variety of art forms would be the preferred project. As each phase of production progresses every artist would be involved either as observer, or as worker, the whole group traveling together to the finished product.
By the time of celebrating the final product each resident will have experienced renewal, enlightened perspective on their career and craft, and formed special bonds with other artists. The gathering will have profound effect on the artists and their creations for the rest of their lives. The films produced at the gatherings will have a life at film festivals, distribution avenues and at Horizon Gate's Film-Gallery-Café.
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