2/28/2016

<- Back to archive =Sunday Feb 28th=

Attendees

 * Kwaku
 * Dennis
 * Dre
 * Bryan
 * Anka
 * Liz

Announcements and cool stuff

 * Kwaku is going to San Diego next week. Cool!
 * We'll have more information about the shooting after the neighborhood meeting tonight
 * Fill out the when2meet page!

Film nights
Feb. 23rd: Skin. Reportback:
 * ≈15 non-LLC attendees
 * $44 in donations
 * Discussion afterwards was a bit unfocused, and the mic was handed to a man who didn't attend the screening and only used the opportunity to soapbox. Let's not do that to our audience next time.
 * Prepare discussion questions ahead of film night: What understanding do we want people to leave with? What prompts can we offer to help them get there?
 * Bench arrangement is not conducive to group discussion; maybe have a circle of chairs for people to move into?

Next film night, March 8th: What Happened Miss Simone?
 * Research about legal issues: No evidence of Netflix pursuing infringers, but they will terminate the account of any subscriber who is in violation of their contract. So it may boil down to whoever's acount we use to stream it, if we can't find a good download.
 * No blocks, just uncomfortable silence

Research film night
Survey people to understand how they find out about film nights:
 * FB
 * flyers
 * Indybay
 * Omni calendar
 * MOCMADA
 * LLC Announce list
 * an LLC member?
 * Another event website
 * What days would work best for them?
 * What kinds of films are they interested in?

Other suggestions
Women's films:
 * womeninfilm.org has a list of 52 films by women
 * http://cinema-fanatic.com/2015/08/22/a-year-with-women-103-essential-films-by-female-filmmakers/
 * http://gowatchit.com/channels/52-films-by-women
 * http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/female-directors-pick-their-favorite-films-made-by-women-20150709
 * http://lwlies.com/articles/100-great-movies-by-female-directors-part-1/
 * Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker. Icarus Films sells the DVD and indefinite distribution rights for $348, but they also do rentals. Liz emailed them to ask about their rates because they have a lot of other interesting films in their collection. Fundi is also available at UC Berkeley but it may not be removed from the premises. :P
 * Anna Mae Aquash: documentary about her murder and the corruption between Hollywood and the American Indian movement. May need more research
 * 3 Laura Poitras films: Citizen Four,
 * Biography of Rosa Luxembourg
 * A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
 * Persepolis
 * Black Girl
 * Doc on Fanny Lou Hamer
 * Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo - Argentinian mothers looking for their disappeared sons
 * Free Angela Davis

Other films:
 * Marcus garvey film
 * Winter on Fire, suggested by a film night attendee (Netflix Original, also nominated for Academy Award)
 * Bandit Queen - women in India (directed by a man)

TBD: When Justice Isn't Just
 * Shirah will let us know when the director is in town so he can attend

TBD: The Waiting Room
 * Bryan wrote to the director, he's asking us to set a date

TBD: Occupy The Farm
 * Director has asked for a springtime showing

TBD: First Friday
 * Bryan knows the director N'jeri, he'll reach out to her

Seeds of Struggle
Reportback for visioning session Friday (2/26) at 7pm: Next steps:
 * Filming at Mandela Foods this Monday, 2/29, 5-7pm - Food Demos
 * Moving forward on a Growing/Production short.
 * Reviewing transcripts & scenes.
 * Bryan will print transcripts.
 * Reviewing scenes next Friday @ 7pm.

Reportback: promo for Freedom Farmer's Market:
 * Emailed interested members, Kwaku will .zip and send photos, Dennis has a CD of photos, look for Gerald's footage, ask for Dre's interview footage?
 * Gail's email addressed bounced, so there has been no communication with her yet.

Reportback, Rhythms of the Land:
 * No contact with Gail yet. Phone number: (415)374-0608

Level up to Ticket Booth room?
Let's take a look at it. I think at $130-$150/mo (depending on square footage calculations) would be a fair offer. Do people think we can make that?
 * Might need to ask for membership fees again, but not much
 * People like the room, we could use the extra space
 * Liz will draft a proposal for Omni

Birdhouse Omni fair booth
Ideas?
 * Liz would like to open up the broken GL2 so people can see how a digital camera works. Also a busted lens in the room we can display, also would like to print out this Wiki image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_single-lens_reflex_camera#/media/File:E-30-Cutmodel.jpg . Other educational stuff as well?
 * Screen our work at a little viewing station

Administrative stuff
(Liz writing here)

I'm working on something like a guidebook for running Liberated Lens (a directory of our internet accounts and login information, checklists for film nights, things we've learned that we could pass on to future members). This book would be made available only to people who are trusted with administrative access to our accounts and finances. I was thinking I would print it out and keep it in a lockbox, and core organizers would get keys. Does that seem secure enough?

I also made a new, simpler equipment checkout form. [ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/116dPvQxOxOuhICL-Yz9bl-_Hi0X1SPGEq033UyFQcgc/edit?usp=sharing ] It's very straightforward, and I would like for us all to get in the habit of using the forms to keep track of equipment. For how informal we've been about taking out gear, we've been lucky to have very minimal loss or damage (like the back of the zoom recorder or the screws on the LED panel barndoors). But as we grow our equipment library it will be necessary to be more attentive.

Interpersonal stuff
Defining acceptable use of the LLC suite:
 * Napping is understandable, but we cannot permit overnight sleeping. We need to talk about this (again) as a group because it presents a breach of trust between our members, and between LLC and other Omni collectives.
 * The crow's nest has no formal designated use; however, it is not appropriate for Liberated Lens members to annex that space for personal or collective use. If we want to expand our square footage, we need to go through the same process as everyone else who requests space in the Omni.

Idea of a social contract/membership agreement?
 * I just went through this process with Buried Seeds to become a partner in their organization. I thought it was good for us to declare our interests and refine our intentions, and have everything written down so that we are accountable for our own social contract. We also clearly defined our roles in the group so there would be no confusion or diffusion of responsibility.

Workshops and equipment
Next budget/workshop meeting: Before Sunday meeting, at 5pm * Kwaku, Gerald, Angel, Brian, Dennis, Anka, Liz, Josh To discuss at that meeting -
 * Liz has been researching equipment again, starting a fourth draft of a budget here: [ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1U0badoGK9nqwJLwG9v-2o3Uz2CM2zIgAkaRzDJp-09c/edit?usp=sharing ]
 * How to get equipment donated, discounted from sellers (Shirah's email)
 * Brainstorm other approaches to giving the workshops
 * Look up places we could advertise. See google doc: [ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TSC3ZiPJtGA8CfRnCLvxRmRwkhfy2WIXVe6kOVCQ8NY/edit ]
 * Research other film courses and see what they offer, what we could offer that's different
 * BAVC
 * Berkeley Community Media
 * Bryan Gibel's classes
 * OWH Studio is looking for volunteers

Planning ahead
Ongoing contingency plan for Omni fallout:
 * Rent a garage somewhere?
 * Berkeley spot? ask Gerald
 * Team up with other displaced Omni collectives
 * Look at other venues to screen in (Rev Cafe, Starry Plough)

Finances

 * Cash box: $469.36
 * Savings: $90.01
 * Checking: $4,570.30

Action items
√ Flyers for What Happened Miss Simone? ready by this Tuesday (Anka) √ Respond to Ukraine guy (Liz) √ Respond to Occupy director, screening in April (Liz) √ Proposal to Omni (Liz)
 * √ FB, Omni calendar (Anka, Liz)
 * Waiting Room director, screening in April (Bryan)
 * Finish Gail transcript
 * update Patxu OS (Liz)
 * Call Gail about trailer, promo (Liz)
 * Gather FFM photos: √ Kwaku .zip, Dennis inquire about CD, look for Gerald footage, Dre have interview?
 * Friday Nights at 7pm: SOS work
 * Sunday meetings at 5pm: discuss equipment and workshops
 * Get a working printer by any means necessary... >_>