Latest News

Welcome to 2013, Washington. Many of you have New Year’s resolutions that involve taking better care of yourselves and your health. With this in mind, Washington Filmworks reached out to S. Fisher Qua, Director of Health at the Washington Health Foundation. The Washington Health Foundation is a statewide non-profit with more than 20 years dedicated to making Washington the Healthiest State in the Nation. Below is the first of two guest blog posts that address healthcare and health insurance.

The Washington Filmworks production incentive project A Bit of Bad Luck recently wrapped principal photography after shooting 22 days in Seattle and Morton, Washington. Written and directed by John Fuhrman, the film stars Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride), Teri Polo (Meet the Parents), and Agnes Bruckner (Blood and Chocolate). The film was produced by Gerrarda O’Beirne, in association with Meadow Point Motion Pictures and LolitaMoon Productions.

MakerHaus is set to open early next year in Fremont, and will be one of the first businesses of its kind to come to Seattle. Part fabrication shop, part classroom, the organization is intended as a place for craftsmen, designers, fabricators, and other creators to work, learn, network, and build community. How could you utilize the resources at MakerHaus?

Big thanks to our awesome statewide film community, who was out in full force at our Seattle Two-Part Party last night.

Up next this week is our Seattle Two-Part Party on 12/12/12. Join us this Wednesday for our Annual Industry Update and celebration with the community. We’ll announce the funding assistance recipients for the Innovation Lab that night too! More information on the evening here.

    Whidbey and Camano Islands are located in Island County, Washington, total population 75,000. Rural, yet sophisticated, the…

Following a whirlwind weekend, filled with passionate pitches, feedback sessions, and a much-needed reception, Washington Filmworks finally knows who will be awarded funding assistance from the first ever Film Cycle of the Filmworks Innovation Lab.

Washington Filmworks is pleased to announce the five semi-finalist filmmakers for the inaugural Film Cycle of the Innovation Lab. A jury of industry experts, representing all facets of pre-production, production, marketing and distribution chose the 5 semi-finalist filmmakers from a diverse collection of twenty-three quality applications for funding assistance.

Over the last few years the online retail giant Amazon has been experimenting with a controversial new business model for producing original content. Amazon Studios was created to gather scripts, test projects, and determine whether audiences found those to be commercially viable. The studio claims they offer opportunities for new voices and promote the platform as open to anyone. However opponents accuse Amazon of developing a system that takes advantage of green writers, holds their intellectual property hostage, and eventually strips them of valuable rights to their material.

Washington Filmworks is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has approved funding assistance for eight national commercials since the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program was renewed during the 2012 legislative session. These eight commercials spent an estimated $2.2M in Washington’s statewide economy in five short months. Production took place in diverse locations throughout Washington State, including Anacortes, Port Angeles, La Connor, and Seattle.

Washington Filmworks reached out to one of our incentive alumni Producers, Colin Plank, to pen a guest post about lessons learned through the process of making a feature. Colin is a Producer at Centripetal Films based in Seattle. His film, Eden, will be released in theaters in early 2013. Eden is his first feature film.

  Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascades, on the bank of the Columbia River, Vancouver USA…

____________________________________________________ WF APPROVES 8 NATIONAL COMMERCIALS Washington Filmworks is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has…

Next Tuesday, Nov. 6, we vote on several political offices and initiatives. There are many factors that can inform your vote for an elected official and we hope that a candidate’s support of your livelihood is one of them.

The industry has been buzzing this year about the growing sport of marathon television watching, popularly coined as binge viewing. Binge viewing is defined as consuming three or more episodes of a television series in one sitting.

Washington Filmworks invited Kathleen McInnis to pen a guest post designed to help filmmakers think strategically about working the film festival circuit. McInnis has guided films through their festival premieres at Toronto, Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Karlovy Vary, Galway and San Sebastian film festivals among many others. She has been a festival programmer and director at such festivals as Seattle, Slamdance and Palm Springs ShortFest.

Word out of Los Angeles is that the film industry is packing its bags. According to Film L.A., the non-profit organization that coordinates permitting for entertainment shot on location in Los Angeles County, many filming categories they track are in decline, some experiencing severe losses.

Historic Walla Walla is a thriving, friendly community, located in the heart of southeastern Washington’s beautiful wine country….

____________________________________________________ RECENT INCENTIVE FILMS NOW AVAILABLE  Haven’t had the opportunity to catch all the recent Washington incentive films…

Haven’t had the opportunity to catch all the recent Washington-produced films yet? No problem. October is a great month to watch several of these movies through your local cable provider, stream them online, rent on DVD, or catch them in theaters.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet with policy makers who can directly influence the growth of our state’s creative industries. Join us tonight, 10/3/12, from 5-7 p.m. at the Film Music and Interactive Happy Hour in Seattle.

This guest post is from Ben Andrews, independent filmmaker and co-founder of Evil Slave LLC. His passion lies in creating a truly viable and robust film industry in the state of Washington. Ben is one of the organizers of the Seattle Film Summit, which will be held at the Northwest Film Forum this Saturday, Sept. 29th, in conjunction with the Local Sightings Film Festival. The summit is a day-long, participant-directed conference, where attendees and speakers address the tough questions of the local film business.

Governor Chris Gregoire has appointed our newest Board Member, Paul Matthaeus, to represent interactive media and emerging forms of motion picture production. Paul Matthaeus started Digital Kitchen (DK) as the studio for the ad agency he founded in 1992.

This year members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) voted to merge into one union, known as SAG-AFTRA. For this week’s guest blog post, Dena Beatty graciously answers questions from Washington Filmworks about the effects of this merger on area talent and producers.

Washington Filmworks continues the conversation on crowd funding with the second in a series of 2 guest posts…

Change. A major change in how we think about financing independent film has not only arrived, it is maturing – crowd funding. And more change is coming. It seems that everyoneis embracing this newest gift to the “democratization” of the filmmaking journey. But is the change all, and only, good? Does the “gift” come with a catch?

THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND Discover the authentic charm of a Victorian Seaport with its maritime heritage and…

____________________________________________________ WF ANNOUNCES The Washington Filmworks Board of Directors has approved funding assistance for six new projects, including…

One Square Mile marks one of ten projects approved for funding assistance through Washington Filmworks after the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program was renewed during Washington’s 2012 legislative session. These ten projects will inject an estimated $8.6M in the statewide economy in five short months.

The deadline for submitting preliminary forms to the Filmworks Innovation Lab (Film Cycle) has been extended until Friday, September 7th at 5 p.m.