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INDIEHEAT (Las Vegas IndieMeet 2018)

For those of you who are in the area and might want to stop by. Most of the filmmakers are from Nevada and California. If you would like to come, PM me and I will share the address (N.W. Las Vegas). We show films, at night, and do demos during the day, on Saturday.

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I've been hosting this, since 2004. For some reason we skip the years with 7s in them (2007, 2017). Here is a video recap of 2016. As you can see, there are some really cool and talented attendees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w7-v2f3UxI
 
Why did you change the name? I thought IndieMeet said it all. IndieHeat???
 
Why did you change the name? I thought IndieMeet said it all. IndieHeat???

No name change; it's still IndieMeet. "IndieHeat" is just this year's theme, because this is the first time it is being held in July. I thought that if I just announced July, some people might complain about that time of year. I figured I would beat those notions to the punch and make a theme out of it. :lol:
 
No name change; it's still IndieMeet. "IndieHeat" is just this year's theme, because this is the first time it is being held in July. I thought that if I just announced July, some people might complain about that time of year. I figured I would beat those notions to the punch and make a theme out of it. :lol:

Ah, Indyheat.

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Looks costly! Do you use your own funds, or are there sponsors?
 
Looks costly! Do you use your own funds, or are there sponsors?

I pay for it. It costs between $1,500 to $2,800 to put one of these on. I did scale back by starting at later time, this year. I nixed the Friday buffet dinner and the Sunday barbecue, so that saves about $600. We (my wife and I) do accept donations, which help.

Each year is different, depending on if the stage needs new oak flooring, if we need a new projector, or other equipment. Crowd size matters. How hot it is matters (more drinks, etc.)

I tried sponsors, one year. It was a pain in the butt, really. I got $100 cash, and some sandwiches. Then I put up a bunch of logos that made it look like they threw the party.

Someone pointed out to me that they preferred the home grown, grass roots aspect of it. I like that identity, too. The party stays private and we keep it real.

It's funny, I posted that banner pic, on Facebook. It got a ton of reaction, like people understood that this was more than a house party. One example, my wife bought 20 pounds of chocolate chips, just for the cookies. There is an amazing amount of consumption, for 130 people, over the course of 3 days. That's our average crowd. Usually spread out over the different days.
 
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Ah man you need one big or craft beer company to throw u 5 grand send u signage and you serve only their beer. I'm never annoyed by a good beer sponsorship lol. Hoping for a great turnout. Post pics!
 
Hoping for a great turnout. Post pics!

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Sure thing. IndieMeet went something like this:
Build a backyard stage in 110 degree heat.
Strong storm comes in and blows down neighborhood trees...and the stage walls. Rebuild and reinforce the walls.
Repair picnic bench seats and repaint the benches.
Build an 8' X 8' photowall.
Get the carpets cleaned.
Get new ceiling fans installed and make home repairs (holes in walls, broken door, tiles, etc.)
Get the snacks and drinks together, including Sheila's incredible chocolate chip cookies.
Rent and pick up 80 chairs.

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Plus a bunch of little stuff, like scheduling films and getting the event out on social media, and setting up an audio/visual table, which had wireless mics and internet. (We streamed the feature without a hiccup.) The projector is only 2 years old and much of the sound system was new, so audio and picture quality was really good!



All in all, a good weekend. Not the biggest crowd, but certainly one of the best spirited groups we've had. Lots of enthusiasm. Ironically, there was a short called ENTHUSIASM ABOUNDS, which was an appropriate title for the event. We showed about 30 films, including a feature from LA, made by Finnish filmmakers, called SOMEONE SOMEWHERE.

My friend, Garo, who cuts trailers for Lionsgate, has become an IndieMeet staple over the years. He showed his handiwork and shared Hollywood goings on, at his presentation. Garo also just finished shooting his "killer robot" feature, AUTOMATION, which looks like it will be a lot of fun when completed, so watch for that in about 6 months.

Thursday evening I stayed up all night cutting together the Mike Conway interview, which opened the event. I posted it on another thread, HERE.

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While it's probably not a good idea to go into hosting a 3 day weekend on no sleep, the adrenaline kicked in and we started outside, on Friday. The standout film that night was THE PHANTOM MENACE, which was about a married cosplay couple at a convention. The film is making its festival run, now.

This was the first IndieMeet held in July. Sure enough the monsoon rains came in on Saturday evening and forced us inside....

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As you can see, the crowd was totally upbeat about the rainy situation. This is where the new ceiling fans really paid off! Fortunately, the A/V table and some Altec Lansing tower speakers were already set up for the afternoon demo presentations. I put up a Da Lite screen and the projector, and we were good to go.

Festival movie, ANGORA ROAD was amazingly well crafted, complete with a battle using explosive pyrotechnics. Also, a music video, ARTIFICIAL, was very well done.

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Sunday, we were back outside. This turned out to be my favortie movie night, as there were a slew of cool shorts - KILL THE POOL BOY, GREY CANYON (discussed on this very forum, but not yet seen because of its festival run), ESCAPE FROM LAS VEGAS and STOVER HILL. There were many more that were also well done.

Monday afternoon, I packed up the chairs and brought them back. Until next year.
 
Looks like a good crowd to me!

Don't tell me you offer lodging!!!! :rofl:

PS. Do you have to rent porto-potties?
 
Don't tell me you offer lodging!!!! :rofl:

Why, do you want to stay over, next year? For you, I would make a spot and provide a full beer cooler!

I had one guy from Prescott, AZ, and another from Bakersfield, CA, who slept over. No porto-potties were rented, though someone mentioned the idea. :lol:
 
So those 80 people lined up for your toilet? Damn dude. I would never allow that! :rofl:

Thanks for the invite!!!! ;)
 
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