|
Making
Movies and Doing Good
By Joe Flood
 The
camera pans across the noisy Dupont Circle bar crowded with
Washington's nascent film community. There are screenwriters
looking for agents. Actors seeking fame and fortune. Production
assistants looking to break out of a rut. Directors seeking
funding for their Tarantino-esque visions.
Standing
on a chair, struggling to be heard over the noise of future
moviemakers is Allison Silberberg, founder and director of
the Film Biz Happy Hour. Started in the summer of 1996, Film
Biz has grown well beyond her expectations. It has proven
to be more than just a networking event for those seeking
to break into the film business; it has also raised more than
$32,000 for local charities in its nearly seven years of existence.
Silberberg
at last gets the attention of the crowd. She announces that
May's charity is the Dance Institute of Washington, an arts
education group for under-served communities. Tonight, Film
Biz has raised $900 for leotards, tights, and ballet slippers
for underprivileged students. Admission to Film Biz is a minimum
$8 donation -- about the price of a movie ticket. The Executive
Director of the Dance Institute, Fabian Barnes, matches tonight's
donations dollar for dollar, raising the total to $1800 to
fund the dreams of Washington's future Baryshnikovs.
A Home
Away from Hollywood
 In
a quieter setting, Silberberg explains that she founded the
group to, "create a sense of community for the local
film and video industry." Film Biz helps end the sense
of isolation that artists may feel, struggling for recognition
so far away from Hollywood.
Silberberg
has strong roots in the DC film community. She graduated from
American University and taught screenwriting there for several
years. In addition to her work with Film Biz, she founded
Lights, Camera, Action!, a national non-profit corporation
committed to helping young people realize their potential
through film. Working with Anacostia students, Allison directed
and produced the program's first film, Poppy, which premiered
at The American Film Institute at The Kennedy Center in 1994.
For Poppy, the LCA! students collaborated on the script, acted
in the film, worked as 1st assistant directors, and handled
lighting and sound equipment. Poppy went on to win the1995
CINE Golden Eagle Award and a 1995 Excellence for Local Programming
Award from the American Association of University Women.
When she
started Film Biz, Silberberg was told that it would never
work, that DC's film community was too small and apathetic.
She's glad to have proven them wrong, that the friendly, informal
atmosphere (never an agenda) has attracted ever-growing numbers
of participants. "I try to meet everyone," Silberberg
says, "and keep it a fun, inclusive, team atmosphere."
Despite
the fact that Film Biz is endorsed by 18 local film organizations,
and is enormously popular, what has been most gratifying to
Silberberg has been the impact Film Biz has had on charities.
Film Biz chooses local charities that focus on children's
needs and families in distress. And then she surprises them
with a phone call. "I get to play Santa Claus,"
Silberberg explains. "That's very rewarding."
Once chosen,
all the charity needs to do is show up at the happy hour.
Charities picked by Film Biz frequently receive more than
money - Film Biz participants have also donated their time
and expertise in the form of public service announcement or
videos after learning about the charity at the happy hour.
The Film
Biz Happy Hour takes place the first Tuesday of every month
at Biddy Mulligan's, inside Jury's Hotel in Dupont Circle.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Flood (www.joeflood.com)
is a starving writer cursed to live only blocks from Fresh
Fields. He's lived long enough in DC to know that you stand
to the right and talk like you're on the left. When he's not
writing, or watching "Blind Date," Joe enjoys drinking
free booze at art gallery openings.
|
