Nashville Film-Related Organizations, Public Offices, Educational Institutions and Events

New Kids on the Block –
Kamera Sutra
A group that hosts monthly screenings of films made in Nashville at the Belcourt Theatre. We think they’re forming a secret society replete with secret handshake and elbow bump, so you might want to go down there and check out the films and/or submit your own works:
http://kamerasutra.com/KameraSutra/Welcome.html

The Belcourt Theatre
While we’re at it — Nashville’s last arthouse theatre, which has now spent nearly a decade supporting all the arts and general community of Nashville, has increasingly been a champion of local filmmakers and film events, including the Nashville 48 Hour Film Project, the annual Film/Television Town Meeting, Nashy Award, and numerous screenings of locally made films over the last several years. If the Belcourt didn’t exist, we’d have to invent a place just like it.
www.Belcourt.org

Association for the Future of Film & Television
State-wide trade organization set up to lobby for legislation in the best interests of Tennessee’s film, television and video communities. Supporting AFFT by becoming a member [only $25/year] will help the continuous and growing future of everyone involved in our community and industry:
AFFTtennessee.org

International Black Film Festival – Nashville
An important and growing annual film festival with screenings, workshops and parties, held in October. Participants, filmmakers, volunteers, grantwriters, and corporate sponsors are welcome as this event and organization expands. A very special thanks to Regal Cinemas Opry Mills for supporting the IBFFN:
ibffnashville.com

Nashville Jewish Film Festival
Now entering its 10th year, the NJFF is a six-day event dedicated to the awareness and celebration of Jewish life in contemporary society. The films chosen each year are meant to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the Jewish cultural, religious, historical, and social conditions of the modern era:
templenashville.org/_njff

Tennessee Screenwriting Association
Hardest working group in show biz — the TSA has been around for about 20 years, and has been meeting every week since the beginning, providing inspiration and business info to aspiring screenwriters. They have annual screenwriting and other competitions, as well as regular events with guest speakers involved in screenwriting and the fiilm biz. Currently meeting Wednesdays at 7 pm at Watkins Film School:
tennscreen.com

Women in Film & Television – Nashville
Important organization in the Nashville filmscape — WIFTN meets the first Monday of every month, providing networking and other opportunities those involved in the film and television industry. New members and ideas are most welcome:
wiftnashville.org

Nashville Film Festival
The oldest film fest in the Southeast and one of the four oldest in America — but the energy ain’t old. Thousands of moviegoers annually experience international films, great workshops, big parties, and very cool celebrities, at one of Nashville’s greatest cultural events. Very special thanks to Regal Cinemas Green Hills for providing a home for NaFF:
nashvillefilmfestival.org

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences — Nashville/Midsouth
This is the regional organization of the national academy, the professional organization dedicated to improving the quality of television at all levels, internationally known for presenting the Emmy Awards. In addition to participating in national functions, the local chapter grants the Midsouth Regional Emmys, awards scholarships, conducts National Student Television Awards of Excellence, provides a nationwide job bank, and many other valuable services:
emmyonline.org/nashville

Nashville Composers Association
Nashville’s organization for professional and aspiring composers for film, television, theatre, dance and any other application someone might dream up. The NCA hosts very innovative events, and occasionally appears on WPLN to perform music — and sometimes poetry accompanied by music. If you’re a composer, this org is great to join; if you’re a filmmaker looking for a composer, this is the place to go:
nashvillecomposers.org

Nashville 48 Hour Film Project
Now in its seventh year, the Nashville 48 Hour Film Project has overseen creation of more than 270 short films made by a combination of professionals, film students and aspiring filmmakers not tied to any company or school. The winner of the annual local competition goes on to compete with the winning filmmakers from 70 cities around the world in the international 48 Hour Film Project. The Nashville 48 Hour Film Project is produced by FilmNashville. The international competition is at:
48HourFilm.com

Watkins Film School
Watkins Film School has had a major presence in the Nashville film community, teaching everything in a 4-year degree program from screenwriting to physical production, with students having produced hundreds of short films since the school’s inception in the mid-1990s. Recently, a team of Watkins film students created a Nashville 48 Hour Film Project that was accepted at the Cannes Film Festival. Watkins has also been a host to many film organizations and events over the years, and continues to provide open-door support to our community:
watkins.edu

DoorPost Film Project
DoorPost specifically champions meaningful, life-changing films. In less than three years, the competition has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes and funding for Doorpost finalists. The organization has other big things in the works, and this year’s contest is already under way:
thedoorpost.com

Art Institute of Tennessee-Nashville
AI-TN offers a solid program of practical courses related to all aspects of the production process. Filmmakers are creating narrative works, and in 2009, five AI-TN teams entered the Nashville 48 Hour Film Project. And we hear they eat really well down there because they also have a culinary arts program:
http://www.artinstitutes.edu/nashville

Nashville Screenwriters Conference
Now in its 12th year, the Nashville Screenwriters Conference is an industry-oriented [i.e. not general consumer-oriented] event that takes place the first weekend in June, designed for professional and aspiring screenwriters who’d like to sell works to the film or television industry. Each year, the NSC brings in about two dozen industry veterans who have been integral to projects ranging from Law & Order and Grey’s Anatomy to X-Men and Dead Poet’s Society. They provide inside observations about the current state of the industry:
nashscreen.com

Vanderbilt University Film Studies
Vanderbilt offers an interdisciplinary major / minor that focuses on the theory and production of cinema within the context of of broader cultural, historic and aesthetic understandings, providing the foundations for filmmakers to create work of meaning and cultural impact. This program continues to expand each year:
vanderbilt.edu/filmstudies

Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission
The TFE&MC provides great information about film and music, including a state-wide production directory. Their hard-working staff provides assistance regarding locations and other needs for those making film and television projects, and the Commission is where inquiries should be directed regarding film incentives for the state of Tennessee. They have successfully recruited feature film and television activity to the state of Tennessee, and we all look forward to more of that occurring:
tennessee.gov/film

Mayors Office of Economic & Community Development
Mayor Dean recently spoke at a press conference in support of the growth of Nashville’s filmmaking industry. The Mayor’s Office of ECD handles film permits, and currently has a number of huge tasks and initiatives in the Nashville area, including the proposed Music City Center:
nashville.gov/ecdev

FilmNashville  [501c6]
FilmNashville Foundation  [501c3]
FilmNashville is a 501c6 trade organization whose primary mission is to facilitate creation of more film, television and documentary activitiy in the Nashville area. The organization produces the Annual Film/TV Town Meeting, the Nashy Award, the Nashville 48 Hour Film Project, symposia on financing and distribution, a prison outreach program, a Nashville film projects registry, information for indie filmmakers, the FilmNashville Bulletin and other initiatives to support the local film community.

FilmNashville Foundation is a relatively new 501c3 non-profit designed to pursue grants and other funding opportunities for local filmmakers and other non-profit partners, as well as provide grantwriting workshops and other seminars on various subjects related to developing the local filmmaking culture:
filmnashville.org

Film-Com
Inaugural event launching in 2010 that will bring distribution companies, financing and co-production partners to Nashville and Tennessee. Film-Com focuses on works-in-progress that need packaging, completion funds, domestic and/or foreign distribution, where filmmakers have the opportunity to present their projects to industry executives. The event includes an industry networking gathering and a financing & distribution summit that will be both live in-studio and a virtual webcast:
film-com.com

Guilds & Unions
The following unions, guilds and organizations are designed so that film and television workers can have fair compensation for their contributions to projects that their professionalism helps to create —

IATSE Local 492
International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees
Tennessee Studio Mechanics
4610 Charlotte Avenue
Nashville, TN 37209
or
P.O. Box 90174
Nashville, TN 37207
Phone: (615) 386-3492
Phone: (888) 492-8366

Teamsters Local 327
1006 Russell Street
Nashville, TN 37206
Phone: (615) 781-1630

AFTRA
American Federation of Television & Radio Artists
1108 17th Avenue South
P.O. BOX 121087
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: (615) 327-2958

SAG
Screen Actors Guild
South Region representation, including Nashville
7300 North Kendall Drive, Suite 620
Miami, FL 33156-7840
800:SAG.0767

ASCAP
American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers
http://www.ascap.com/nashville/
615:742.5000

BMI
Broadcast Music Inc
http://www.bmi.com/
615:401.5500

SESAC
Society of European Stage Authors & Composers
www.sesac.com
55 Music Square East
Nashville, TN 37203-4362
(615) 320-0055
615:320.0055

Please support the above organizations as they work to make a difference for our film and television community.

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Serving the Film & Television Community
FilmNashville 501(c)(6)
FilmNashville Foundation 501(c)(3)
www.FilmNashville.org

Film-Com
www.Film-Com.com

FilmNashville
@ Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau
One Nashville Place
150 4th Avenue North, Suite G-250
Nashville, TN 37219
*   *   *   Community is defined by those who care enough to actually show up.  *   *   *