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.

There’s a ton of filmmaking talent in this state, but it is not being utilized to the extent it could be. Yes, we have a vibrant independent film community, but the truth is, if you want to get paid, you have to do commercial work, and frankly there’s not enough of that to go around.

We need a robust, native film industry in this state that can provide well-paying, stable jobs for Washington residents. How do we accomplish that?  That is what the Seattle Film Summit is about.

When we started assembling the panelist roster I was inspired by the response by our industry, community, and governmental leaders. These people are passionate about Washington film. They are not being paid to be at this event, they are attending because they think it is important. They are not coming to talk AT the attendees, but to talk WITH them. To discover the answers together.

I can’t wait to see what comes out of the summit. We will use the collective knowledge of everyone who participates to build a living charter, a unified direction for Washington film.

Join Ben, Washington Filmworks and other voices of the Seattle film community this weekend at the Seattle Film Summit. Registration is required and more information on the schedule and panelists is available through their website.  Be a part of the conversation.