I was lazing at the beach when my buddy mentioned an event that evening. “Free short films,” he said. Okay, I’m interested. “Door prizes.” I’m listening. “And free drinks and food.” Let’s hop on a tram! I really enjoy short films, and of course, anything with the word ‘free’ or ‘party’ makes my ears prick.
Straight from the beach to watching films with my friend J.
This was the launch of Meetup group Final Cut Films at their new venue, Thousand Pound Bend, er, 1000 £ Bend. Along with fellow Meetup groups Cocktails with Creatives and Melbourne Film Club (seriously, how many Meetup groups are there?), the monthly film night showcases locally-submitted short films.
Film fanatics and networking noobs
We rushed up from St. Kilda Beach to be there at 5:30pm, where the promised goodies from new sponsors G-Technology were handed out. Walking home with a brand-new shiny key-shaped USB drives made the night that much better.
Notes on the films + free USB sticks
It wasn’t incredibly obvious (to those of us who hadn’t read the event description, that is…) that the films weren’t going to be shown until after 7pm. Or that we were supposed to be networking for the first part of the night. My friends and I contented ourselves at our table by sipping our free drink, while watching a rotation of short films projected onto the wall in the spacious back room of Thousand Pound Bend. After 7, the screenings started in earnest upstairs. They were a great mixture — some poignant, some dark. The best part was being in a room full of talented, creative filmmakers. My only wish is that they would make sure to showcase more women: I counted only a few female names on the runsheet.
It wasn’t until afterwards that I found out Melbourne’s only Bitcoin ATM was tucked away somewhere. I’ll have to go back to see it (closer to 7pm next time).
Final Cut Films:
last Tuesday of the month
Doors at 5:30pm; films at 7pm
Thousand Pound Bend, 361 Lt. Lonsdale St.
@ShortsForEver
See all of our film coverage, and check out our calendar for select events like this one!
-Theresa
