This time last year in LA, Pete and I went to a media networking group held in a restaurant where members each pitched their projects and interests to the group, got feedback and suggestions from the room, and carried on networking afterwards over drinks. The LA group is chaired by a couple, Marc and Elaine Zicree who have been running it for many years, and have prolific TV credits. Linked groups also run in New York and Miami. It has helped members in areas such as crewing up a film, finding locations, meeting business collaborators, building an audience, organizing a table read of a script or getting updates on relevant industry events. We’re keen to do something similar in London once a month, where members are invited to join The Table either by myself and Peter, or by referral from another member. Once they’ve been, members can come along when they choose to, and can potentially link to Table members in the States. We’ve made a great deal with The Noodle House, a new restaurant with a smart private restaurant/bar downstairs, situated in Shaftsbury Avenue halfway between Tottenham Court Road and Leicester Square tubes. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/the+noodle+house/@51.5127172,-0.1286308,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x370108d142dcab53 VERY tasty food, and cocktails if you like them…or healthy teas if you don’t drink alcohol... They are offering us their pre-theatre menu with a choice of starter, main course and one included drink for £15 per head. This is the minimum spend per person. You can check out the menu here: http://static.squarespace.com/static/52ea7651e4b074062a41f40d/t/54200466... Our first meet-up will be Thursday 6th November at 6.30pm, with food orders and introductions to the group running from 7pm. Many of us are working hard at our creative projects and make our main income from day jobs that may or may not be media related, so the basis for inviting new members is not that you’re making a full time living out of it, but to develop a flexible group of professionals who are passionate about film, TV and/or media and have active projects or aims they are committed to. It’s not for students or complete newcomers looking to be coached by more seasoned pros (although levels of experience will vary): the LA group are structured about giving everybody 3 mins each to present, and they chair it so that that the time given to each person’s input is fair. Marc Zicree suggests that we don’t post on facebook or generic social media as this can dilute the quality of the group. Hope you can join us, and if you can’t make this first date, let us know if you want to stay on the mailing list! Sina Bowyer & Peter Jonas www.crudethemovie.co.uk www.artinfivecities.com
Your Stage : Media Networking Dinner in London Thursday 6th November by Sina Bowyer
Media Networking Dinner in London Thursday 6th November
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Hi Sina, is this group still active?
Hi Elizabeth...not anymore. We did 5 events in all but there was not a big enough network to keep it going. There are so many networking groups in London that I only wanted to run one if it was easy to maintain.
It's a shame this particular idea did not get off the ground. There are so many networks in London that people seem to jump from one to another, so arts groups often have a "transient" feel.
There's a group called The Table that I went to in LA: it meets once a week in a restaurant and around 25-40 people go each week. Everyone gets several minutes to present themselves, their skills and the project they want feedback on...of course very established industry people do not go as they will be hanging out with whoever their current team is, backed by finance. In LA the film industry is everywhere so an event like this is constantly renewing itself and people are hungry for success...in London many film-makers get stuck with completing their low budget projects, and then have nothing new to say after a couple of months! I didn't want to run another group where people share stories but are essentially commiserating about how they are looking for money! Stage 32 is a good forum, plus there are Facebook groups like Film-maker's Forum and Producer's Network, Slated for listing films seeking investors. Guerrilla Film-makers used to run events but not anymore, we've had People in Media, there was the Hub in Soho which ran out of EU finding (one reason I stopped our group was that that the Hub was doing the same job), also Women in Film and TV. Plus there are the private members' clubs like Soho House, Century Club (if in London) and Hospital Club. I recommend all of these things and going to festivals.
Sad. England would have been not too far, but I don't travel around the globe yet, hence, no chance to participate in groups in the U.S. Well, in Germany the groups which meet at film festivals are totally overcrowded or closed circles of invited people and/or you don't find a place to meet because all restaurants etc. are booked out. I recently tried to create a meet-up to meet European filmmakers virtually but only 2 or 3 people from other the U.S. were interested. Too bad actually, but I still think meeting in real life at a round table would be helpful. You won't imagine what I just figured out: here on Stage32 in our Meet-ups is someone who offers Meet-ups with an entry fee of €25!! I think this is exactly what we all DON'T need at all and completely contra productive to the Meet-Up idea.
We just worked out a minimum charge per head with the restaurant to use a private room, and it was a discount meal plus one drink. No profit for us. What is it that you want to achieve from such a group? If for example it is crewing up a short film, there are websites you can advertise on. If you have one longer term partner to work with, such as a producer who shares your vision, it gets easier to build a network. Waiting for approval from closed networks can be disappointing...it is a cliquey world, but if you know and dip into those networks while continuing to cut your own path, things start to link up in new and interesting ways!