2015/03/12 Optik Allusions Meeting

Regular meeting: Attendees

• Ice breaker: 2 truths and a lie
  • Sarah is a screen writer and tries to make films. I absolutely love tomatoes, I went handgliding when I was fourteen, I went to France. Actually, she hates tomatoes
  • Nicolas: I wanna do videos, I'm twenty one year old, I love tomatoes and I love to ride bikes. That was two truths and a joke.
  • Shawn, I started here with the Oscar grant project. I'm an interior decorator, I live in San Diego, I love veggies. Actually I have no idea about interior decoration.
  • Ohana: You don't want me in sales or marketing. People will say, people will buy from you, but i usually say: I don't think you should buy them. I like anything that has to do with interpreting things differently whether it's through art or writing or anything that frames reality dfferently. I'm new in Cali and I love it this my dream. I break dance, my favorite halloween costume was a goodyear blimp, I have seen the big boy for real at pee wee herman. She never wore a halloween costume, actually.
  • Adam: I haven't been involved with film yet. In the future i'd be interested in writing dialogues: I accidentally smuggled into an american military base a few years ago. I'm a pickled tomatoes connoisseur. I try to run around 3 miles every morning.
  • Noemie:I like SArah's gombo, I used to be a professional ice skater, I was born in Strasbourg in the east of france.

Announcements

• Free Marissa Alexander project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV7giGx9nu4

OpAl Proposal

• 1. Mission Statement: What do you do? What happens in the world because you exist?
  • Optik Allusions is a digital filmmaking collective dedicated to social change, based in Oakland, California. We share resources, skills and knowledge to help each other tell stories that might otherwise remain untold. We make films in a spirit of collaboration and solidarity, share a lending library of film equipment for creative projects, organize free, at cost or donation-based workshops.
• 2. Origin and group history: How did you start? What have you done?
  • Optik Allusions had its first meeting on 07/09/14, as a group of artists affiliated with various collectives within OMNI. Since then, we have organized workshops for screenwriting, editing, filming and sound recording, and we are curating a growing equipment library. We have also filmed and set up lights for many ballroom events. We collaborated on the Omni’s fundraising video[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zccga90hcY ] and produced 13 short videos for the "Omni in 30 seconds" series [1]. We are currently working on two short documentaries: One on gentrification in West Oakland (in collaboration with ACCE, an activist network that is fighting to stop evictions around the Bay Area). One about the Oscar Grant Committee, with the collaboration of the OGC's members.
• 3. Participation in the Omni: Why are you interested in becoming a member? How does your group intend to use the space? What are your needs?
  • Currently, OpAl is not seeking membership but to be a tenant in solidarity, with the possibility of applying for membership in the future.

We would steward a room as a commons by setting up and maintaining a few computers with the Adobe Creative Suite installed on them, for anyone to use to do media and post-production work. The space will be available for people to reserve to host workshops, hold editing sessions, or have small screenings of the work they’ve created.

• 4. Group finances and paying rent: What does your group do to support itself financially? What is your best plan for contributing your potential share of rent to the Omni?
  • OpAl is financed by the personal contributions of its members. We also intend to throw fundraising events.

We have a recommended monthly membership of 20$ and we’d like to contribute to the Omni utilities with the amount that we’re able to raise from our membership, which we estimate will be $100, but we’re hoping to reach $150 as our membership grows, and we’re willing to reassess the amount in 6 months.

• 5. Dedicated space: If your group would like some dedicated space at the Omni, what square footage and what features are you looking for? Which specific rooms do you feel might be suitable?
  • Currently, OpAl has been operating out of the small room to the left of the stage. We would like to move the computer suite to the room directly above (which people usually refer to as the radio room), and we would like to change the deadbolt on that door so that it doesn’t lock automatically; thus making the room more open and available to others. This room is 89’ square on the main floor, with a lofted space that is 43’ square, for a total of 132’ square.

The small room below would then be available for storing stage-related equipment, and we are willing to prepare it for such use by installing shelving and lockable cabinets. However, we would like to continue storing our film equipment in this room, since it will be secure and it is an ideal place for us to access it when we use OpAl gear for ballroom events.

• 6. Other contributions to the Omni: This question should inspire some imagination. We are exploring ideas to pay rent and purchase the building in the long-term. The basic plan is for each group paying a share of rent. Potential plans include groups sharing profit from their activities, producing Omni events, and booking other events. What is the best-case scenario for using the Omni space to further support your group?
  • We have ideas for dinner-and-a-movie type fundraisers (one of our members is a culinary artist), and we plan to restart weekly movie nights. We are also exploring a partnership with a global film activist network called Films For Action (filmsforaction.org) through which we would host screenings on a bi-monthly basis. Proceeds from these kinds of events can go to the Omni, and they have potential to bring in new folks and a regular crowd of film enthusiasts. As always, we are happy to provide production assistance for any kind of event requiring lighting, sound, projection, or filming.

Anti-gentrification project

• Prepare Deutshe bank video, pitch: I'm a business student at Haas (business school)and we're doing a video work in leadership strategy in the bank world.
• Let's try from the highest
• Next monday, at 10 am we meet to make the call.
• Edit Annette's interview.
• Charles Mouton
• West Oakland: how to make a portrait of the neighborhood. Print shop in 27th and San Pablo. Block Party.

Adam

• Adam just released a tool to build a community from the ground up. There are many people that we just walk by and are really close to us. Very little contact between strangers. We started on an application for the I phone.
• Can it be used for media: on a set.
• Local form of broadcasting media.

OGC video

• We're filming Gerald on sunday, probably, must be confirmed. Anka, Shawn and Noemie.

Fundraising dinner

• Sarah wants to sell the gombo at the fundraiser.
• Logistics: What kind of film are we gonna show. I'd like people to contribute a little bit of money.
• Noemie will do the booking.

Action items

• Adam and Sarah: contacts and Berekeley student ID
• Sarah and Anka are do research on people's background
• Justin to know which contacts
• Monday we make the call
• Noemie to prepare questions for itv
• Anka will bike around and think of spaces in West Oakland
• Noemie will figure out a date and time with omni. Sunday night would be nice. Figure out if we can sell alcohol.
• 5 dollars at the door for the movie and ask for donations for food. 5 dollars for the food. Suggested donation but no one turned away for lack of funds.
• Noemie and Anka and Sarah will make a cool flyer.