This email went out to the Enzian FilmSlam email list, but I thought it should be seen/read by those of you not on the list. It's a great (though long) intro to the event, it's history and the passion behind it all. It's written by John Thiesen (listen to an interview with him here) who also runs the Film program during the Florida Music Festival.
Hey Filmslammers,
I wanted to take a second to write a bit of a sappy e-mail by thanking those of you who have been supporting us for years, and also to welcome those of you who are new to the fold. I have been so busy these last few months I have not sent as many correspondences as I would like, and thought this would be a great opportunity to welcome our new friends and family. This year I have been adding new people to our lists of participants by the dozens, and am constantly getting submissions from new faces and filmmakers in our community....all this makes me smile.
Those of you that remember what meager beginnings this event started off with back in the days of the DMAC may also remember how hard it was to fill a room and get our community support to grow. Do not get me wrong, this was always an organically grown event that took time to cultivate, but these last two years at the Enzian has given us a great shot in the arm for our overall exposure, attendance and participation. With a premiere venue in the community and added media attention we now get about 50% new faces per event, and constantly have triple-digit attendance. These are all aspects that some of the new people may take for granted, but for some of us this is a major achievement and one hell of a step in the right direction for the Florida Film community.
With all that being said, I just wanted to thank everyone (New and old) for your continued support and participation. This event is for the film community at large, and way bigger then just one balding egomaniac like me. That also brings me to another point: Although I facilitate this event and oversee the programming...etc, I am always open to feedback.....now I said feedback, not yelling, angst or slander. I respect feedback and constructive criticism in the same ways you all respect it from me when I give feedback on your films. Please never think my doors are shut or I am closed off to new ideas and change. I continue to run this event for the whole of the community, and am always happy to serve the needs and thoughts of that community.
So enough sappy e-mail from me. Thanks for the support. Keep making films and submitting them to us. With no films we cannot have an event, so use your creativity in the proper ways and keep striving to improve your projects, skills and network.
The next event is October 12th (submissions needed by the 1st) and as a reminder, the November event will be the last of 2008. We will be taking December off to showcase all our monthly winners at the Brouhaha Film & Video Festival, but will be back again in January 2009 to start it all up again....
Stay Well,
John Theisen
Programmer/Host
Enzian Film Slam (Website)
Enzian FilmSlam interview