May Chairman’s Notes

First off, yet another big congratulations to Alan Cross and all of you that were involved in The Briefcase which has won yet another award. This time at the prestigious Birmingham International Amateur Film Festival last month. Unfortunately, Alan and I were attending another festival in London that was an unfortunate clash of dates. Alan though scored more brownie points by sending a short video acceptance speech, which went down very well with the BIAFF organisers.

I’m pleased to let you know that we have now conducted our first two external shows under the auspices of the new regime. On Friday May 9^th we presented a great show to the Friends of Hove Stroke Group which was attended by around 15 people and was very well received. SDFM were represented by Alan Cross, Jason Vaughan, Ian Barber and myself. We wanted to make sure that everything went well and that we didn’t have any of the issues that had occurred previously with equipment. There had been an issue playing Blue Ray discs that was overcome by using the back-up DVD system. Nobody except us noticed and even then, it was still good. Our new speakers worked well and the show went off without a hitch. Following the show, I took the equipment home to try and figure out the problems and I’m pleased to report that it was solved by swapping out a small piece of equipment with another type and then everything worked.

Our second show on May 14^th for the Ferring WAGS group was for around 40 lovely ladies in almost home territory at Ferring Village Hall, but the larger hall. The ladies very much appreciated the show we put on for them and are keen to welcome us back in the future. Our new sound equipment worked well, but happily member Ian Barber was able to step in and loan us some of his own mixing equipment. We have now also got our own sound mixer, but it arrived about half an hour after the show so much thanks to Ian for ensuring a smooth event.

I look at these events as being the first positive steps in revitalising the club. External shows have always been a vital income source for our club, but equally importantly it keeps the name of our club at the forefront with the local organisations that enjoy the film shows that we provide for them. I like to listen to the small chat that goes on during the shows as many of the places and people that feature in our films are recognisable to our enthusiastic audiences. All the whispered “oh, I’ve been there” and “I saw that chap in the garden centre last week” tell us that the audience are engaging with the films thus making them more memorable. If you know of any local groups that might appreciate one of our shows, please get in touch, they are great value and remember the films can’t be seen anywhere else.

The new website is now up and running,as you can see and looking great. Committee member Jason Vaughan has done a fabulous job with it and the outcome is a result of the many hours of hard work that Jason has put in on our behalf. Don’t forget to log into the members area for all the latest news and details of what’s going on. We will have another short discussion about it at the next meeting. There really is a lot of stuff for members that the public can’t see. We even have a forum to discuss any film related things that you want to chat about. Try to keep it cheery in there, everyone likes a moan about something and as in any group of people not everything will be to everyone’s liking, but overall, I think it will promote healthy discussion and pass on useful snippets of information.

Also new is a new Facebook page. Please try and contribute to it with any film related items. Let people know about our club and how friendly we are.  If it’s something you’ve done yourself or something you’ve just seen on TV or at the cinema, let us all know about it and get your friends to join in. Even if you hate Facebook, please join the group and encourage friends and family members to join it too. We need to get the numbers up as soon as we can to give us more credibility on the platform

Lastly for now. I’m looking forward to seeing you all at our next meeting on Wednesday May 21^st and if anyone is planning a project for the near future, let us all know about it and let’s get making films!

Ray Coggin