What It Takes to Build a Local Film Landscape (Q&A)

What does it take to build a local film industry and change the landscape? Here’s a Q&A with the team behind the 2024 Imagination Film Fellowship. 

Why is building a local film scene important?

For Oakley Anderson-Moore, film director of the upcoming UT show “Imagination & the Universe” and partner at Big in Arizona, creating a local crew is paramount to not just this production, but the future of film in the state:

“Somewhere towards the end of 2020, I joined the Design Team for the Universe Theater along with engineers, designers, architects, educators, and scientists from across the globe designing this space on the ground floor of the ADC. As a filmmaker, my first reaction to the technology that would be employed to create the LED screens and 12.1 sound system of the theater was excitement. Holy mackerel, this was cutting edge stuff! This wider-than-IMAX theater would become a world class destination, and I was thrilled about the artistic challenge of creating for it. My second reaction was a question, how would we create high-end content without a locally existing film industry that regularly works on large format and immersive sound?

There are no sound studios in Arizona who mix to the specs we are talking about, and no shooters in NAZ with a track record of shooting for IMAX or similar. Would we need to bring in outside talent every single time we were to create a new show for this canvas?

It was then that the idea first sprouted of using the first production for the Universe Theater as a training ground for what could become a world-class local film production unit.

By combining talented filmmakers in our area with experienced Hollywood and industry mentors, not only could we build capacity for production on the UT, but we would be changing the landscape for filmmaking and representation here in Arizona. The programming team at Lowell Observatory got the vision, and we, LO, BIA, and DLP Productions, were ecstatic to get match funding from Creative Flagstaff to make this program a reality.”

Why is a fellowship program like this important for a career?

For Al Reinhard, a partner at Big in Arizona and co-coordinator of the 2024 Imagination Film Fellowship, career building in film means collaboration:

 “In 2012 a feature film I was producing called Brave New Wild was selected for the IFP (now called the Gotham) Documentary Independent Filmmaker Lab. The lab provided us with mentors, advisors and workshops to help us with the post-production stage of our film. Through three sessions in New York City, we gathered with nine other filmmaking teams that were also going through the creation of their first feature feature. The most rewarding part of the lab was connecting with other filmmakers going through a similar experience of finishing their first feature. These are bonds that 10 years later still going strong and provided a support system through all the ups and downs of creating a film. One of the fellow lab members Mike Ambs (with his film For Thousands of Miles) is even collaborating with us on the “Imagination and the Universe” hybrid theater-film show for the opening of the Astronomy Discovery Center! I’m hopeful that we can help provide the same type of support system and camaraderie for the artists being selected for the 2024 Imagination Film Fellowship moving forward in their career!”

Why is it important to hear (and train) diverse voices in film?

For Deidra Peaches, head of DLP Productions LLC, a proudly Diné woman-led video production company and co-coordinator of the 2024 Imagination Film Fellowship, training diverse filmmakers is the way to level the playing field for voices who have been kept out of filmmaking:

“Diversity is crucial to filmmaking; since the birth of cinema, many groups of people have not had the opportunity to tell stories depicting their unique truths. Learning and acquiring filmmaking skills while having a hands-on approach to the tools needed can open up many opportunities and possibilities that can be applied to numerous disciplines.   

Why is this fellowship an important first step?

For Oakley Anderson-Moore, it’s the start of big things to come:

“Since 2018, I have been teaching an after-school filmmaking class for Indigenous high school students at the Kinlani Bordertown Dorm, and I have been amazed at the talent, dedication, and originality of these young filmmakers. The challenge for me as a filmmaker and educator is to realistically encourage those students to pursue their career possibilities in the real world. As my generation of filmmakers is wrestling with now, the narrow band of success in the film industry often means moving to Los Angeles, working for no or little pay, and somehow surviving long enough until you succeed — or burn out. This isn’t a career path that is available to all socioeconomic backgrounds, and it sure isn’t a path to be admired. Moving from Los Angeles to Northern Arizona ten years ago, I hoped that I might create opportunities in this community.

This Fellowship will bring on five filmmakers in 2024, and I hope it’s the start of more game-changing opportunities to come.”

To find out more information about the fellowship, or to apply, visit www.biginarizona.com/filmfellowship