2014/11/25 Optik Allusions Meeting

Attendees

• Icebreaker: "What's the most impactful thing you've seen at a protest"
  • Nicholas: [Works for a non-profit building stages, also part of a group that puts on free showings of locally-made short films at parks in SF] When I was about 10, I was at the theater with my stepdad and brother. We came out of the protest and it was so violent, there was a lady on the ground and people were kicking her, there were police everywhere, and my dad grabbed us both and ran outta there
  • Sarah: My very first protest at age 12, anti-iraq war. I went with my dad and he was so happy that I was there with him, because when he was my age he was out protesting the Vietnam war
  • Noemie: In France, protests are not as violent as here. I'm not used to being surrounded by helicopters.
  • Liz: First raid at OSF
  • Helena: 2004 in Dublin, Ireland, G20 protest, Black bloc. The police had water hoses, and I got hit with a rock from another protester. So it wasn't really police brutality but protester brutality, haha. There was a lot of looting and rioting, broken windows, fires.
  • Kwic: Rodney King protests

Announcements

• Yesterday's protest: Stephen, Noemie and Sarah were there
• Liz: Offered to make a fundraiser video for La Commune, anyone else interested? :D
  • Noemie, and Helena depending on the timing of it

Sharing space and aspirations with Unit 1

• Stating our goals, vision and what we have in common
  • Kwic: Unit 1's goals - A media department to capture the progress and expression of the Omni community.
  • OpAl's goals - Production team, provide filmmaking resources/classes/equipment to communities who usually don't have access or whose voices are generally not heard (women, people of color, queer, etc).
  • What Unit 1 does/ has done/ will be doing concretely - One of the main things we'd like to do is highlight the positive things happening within the Omni. Part of the organizing group for the fundraiser launch, will document the event, broadcast on internet/radio/cable forums.
  • What OpAl does/has done/will be doing concretely - We plan to make media about Omni, but also go out to events and document happenings elsewhere. OpAl has completed one grant video and a fundraiser video for Omni. Sarah will be teaching a screenwriting class soon.
  • What we have in common - digital film production, Omni-related media
  • What we don't have in common - things that one group does and the other one doesn't - document protestsand events beyond Omni
• Sharing space
  • Respective Visions:
    • OpAl: Making the space and resources accessible to the wider public. Using the space to make omni/independent/activist media. Equipment library to be made accessible to the public. Center for Omni/independent media production.
    • Unit 1: Would like to use the room for video and radio production, will be conducting interviews.
  • Organizing the space in an equitable manner - log in reservation system?
  • How to keep it a commons and make sure it is used in a non proprietary fashion
  • concrete plans for space organizing
• Sharing aspirations
  • Opening the possibility of doing things together.
• Communication somewhat breaks down - we have some misperceptions to clear up, will table the conversation until next time

Action items

• Blueprint for layout and use of space (Upper room and small room beneath)

Creative chaos/Pizza Party!

• Making a short film, love story, from the knee down.
• Making short vignettes for the funraising campaign: life at the Omni. Francisco making soup / Lynice teaching how to be a spiritual warrior/ Food Not Bombs distributing Food/Kwic's awesome sunday event/Mesh folks setting up a node on the roof/ etc.