I Would Be a Member of Any Club...

June 29, 2009 3:34 PM

What group/club/organization can I join on L.A.'s eastside? Film-related is a plus.

I'm looking for something, but I don't know exactly what. I'm trying to solve two problems:

1) I feel kind of adrift in my film career. I have made a few short films at an almost-professional level but am yet to make any money at it and still have a dayjob. I've always had issues finding collaborators and am frustrated by the fact that I didn't really meet many people I'd want to work with again on my last project. I want to meet like-minded people to collaborate with, but I really haven't. For the sake of this question let's assume I am not a total clown and have enough ability as a writer and director that i wouldn't be laughed out of a room of professionals or talented amateurs. I'm just not sure exactly what I should be doing next.

2) I moved to the eastside (Silver Lake) two years ago and I really haven't made many friends over here. I have an existing, westside-based group of friends, but I spend a lot of time alone because they often aren't interested in the same things as me. Also, getting back and forth across town is a hassle.

So in an ideal world I would find some kind of film collective- people who were interested in working together to make cool, low-budget indie film type things. In addition, it would provide a peer group who I could talk about film-nerd stuff with. The closest thing I'm aware of is the Echo Park Film center, but they only offer one class longer than one day, and it's in documentary filmmaking, which I am not especially interested in.

I definitely have a lot to learn, but I'm not interested in beginner classes like those offered at a community college at this point. And in an ideal world I would find more like an ongoing club or society than a class.

Even if it doesn't have to do with film, I would love to find any kind of likeminded group of people on the eastside with whom i could share some or all of the following:

1) literature
2) hiking/outdoor stuff
3) good music
4) Even if they're not filmmakers, people who are interested in good movies- more like the Agnes Varda double feature I saw Sat. and less like, say, Transformers II
5) writing, screen or prose
6) still photography
7) Anything else I haven't thought of where I might interact with creative, open-minded people

Just a few more notes:
1) I have tried and failed to start something on my own before, a writer's group. I found it exhausting to maintain on my own and I really wasn't able to grow it how I wanted, and eventually it fell apart.

2) I am mainly looking for specific things I can join on L.A.'s eastside. General suggestions like "join a club" or "volunteer for something" aren't that helpful because I have tried and I am struggling to find the right thing for me.

3) i work a dayjob and am gone from home 7am - 6pm every weekday. this rules out things that take place on weekdays, like tutoring at 826LA in Echo Park, which i would love to do otherwise.

thanks!!

posted by drjimmy11 to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

Addenum: I am also interested in sketch comedy, but I already graduated from the sketch writing program at what was then Improv Olympic and put on several shows of my own there. I hear good things about classes at UCB, but I feel like if I joined a beginner class at this point, it would be a waste of everyone's time.

I would be interested in writing sketch again with the right people, although i don't know if I have the energy to put together a show on my own again, especially since my ambitions lie on film and not stage for the most part. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm being incredibly picky, but I don't want to join anything with a half-assed commitment.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:21 PM on June 29

I don't know, but I live on the Eastside and am interested in most of the above, so we can start a group if you want. Message me.

Bam!
posted by hamsterdam at 4:26 PM on June 29

What about volunteering somewhere like the Silver Lake Film Festival? It might not fulfill your exact needs, but rather be a step towards those people in your area that have your similar interests, and you can get more information/contacts.
posted by Vaike at 4:37 PM on June 29

Vaike, as best I can tell the S.L. festival has ceased to exist. I looked into it a while ago, wanting to submit my film, and could find no info about the 2009 or 2010 festivals at all.

The website says only this:
Plans for the next Silver Lake Film Festival will be announced in the summer of 2008.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:47 PM on June 29

I loved hiking with the Angeles chapter of the Sierra Club when I lived in LA. There are lots of outings to choose from, including regular conditioning hikes through Griffith Park.
posted by HotPatatta at 7:13 PM on June 29 [1 favorite]

What hamsterdam said. I'm in Echo Park.
posted by chicainthecity at 12:03 AM on June 30