Ten years ago Jeremy Decker had an idea. To exhibit independent narrative feature films, documentaries, and short films in local venues in Omaha in a several-day-long event. Films you wouldn’t have an opportunity to see unless you traveled to LA or New York or found an independent film festival somewhere else in the country. Films created by filmmaking professionals and enthusiasts from around the world, independent of the Hollywood Studio System, and exhibiting all of the heart and soul of the medium. It didn’t take much convincing to have Jason Levering and Marc Longbrake get on board and start putting together the framework of the Omaha Film Festival. In nine years they’ve received over 3000 independent films from 145 counties and have put over 600 of them on screen for their audiences while hosting hundreds of out-of-town filmmakers. By participating in the festival those filmmakers were given an opportunity to screen their work to an enthusiastic crowd and participate in Q&A sessions and interact with the audience. In addition to the screenings they’ve focused a lot of attention on education and cultivating a higher level of understanding and appreciation of the art form by bringing in dozens of working industry professionals during the festival to put on seminars and hold Q&A sessions, as well as reaching out to local and regional schools to hold classes and teach people who are interested in learning more about filmmaking. As we look forward to 2015 and our Tenth Annual Omaha Film Festival, we’re excited to continue to bring the City of Omaha and beyond an opportunity to participate in screenings and events that they wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to see. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, we’ve been given an opportunity to participate in the annual #OmahaGives! campaign. Our directors and board members don’t receive a salary and 100% of the income raised by the festival goes into its daily operation and annual events. With an annual average of over a thousand volunteer hours and over a hundred thousand dollars of in-kind sponsorships, we rely on grants, entry fees, and ticket sales to keep the festival going and participating in an event like Omaha Gives is a great opportunity to help raise some much needed funds that will help the festival grow. What is Omaha Gives? It’s a 24-hour charitable challenge organized by the Omaha Community Foundation. The online giving holiday will take place May 21st from midnight to midnight and we will need your help! We will be joining over 550 local nonprofits in raising support and competing for matching funds and prize money. The more money we raise, the larger percentage of the match pool we will receive. The more donors we get to give to us, the more likely we are to win prize money. Omaha Gives! is a one-day event led by the Omaha Community Foundation to raise as much money as possible for local nonprofits through online fundraising. It is a community-wide event to show off Omaha’s spirit of giving, raise awareness about local nonprofits, and celebrate the collective effort it takes to make this city great. Learn more at OMAHAGIVES24.ORG. So, anytime between midnight and midnight on Wednesday, May 21st, please log in to the link below and consider giving! Thank you for your support! https://omahagives24.org/#npo/omaha-film-festival
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 03:59:04 +0000