The Final Neighbourhood Watch This Year!

Right ‘the Neighbourhood Watch no.6′ is the last of this year (and for a little while). If you haven’t been before the format of the evening is very simple: It’s an open submission film night, anyone can submit a film, it has to be a short film, we play the films without watching them first and if I haven’t mentioned already, anyone can submit a film!
(see rules and information)
This is our final ‘NW’ for 2011 and we have a special treat to round it up:

We will be screening ‘Townies’ a feature comedy by local boy Mark Locke. A super funny, super real half hour comedy about thirtysomething guys on a Friday night in their dull home town.

AND

We will be screening our very own documentary on Ian Anderson, founder of the Designers Republic.
The documentary is still in production, but we’re so excited we want to show people what we have so far.
Produced by the Neighbourhood (that’s us!), Directed by Jon Lees of LCM Digital.
It’s only teaser but I’m sure you will enjoy it none the less.

Looking forward to seeing you at VIVID next Wednesday for drinks and popcorn fun times!

Matt + Nicola

The 6th and Final

The Neighbourhood Watch #6 is just around the corner, and it is with a mixed sense of regret and pride that we’re announcing, for the time being, that it shall be the last one.

The normal rules apply and we’re determined to end on a high, so we’re demanding everyone who has ever thought about it but never quite got round to it, dreamt of making and screening a film, and to all our long-standing regular contributors to pull out all of the stops and submit an absolute smasher of a short film.

It’s on the 30th of November. We’ll be kicking off at 7, and showing films until there are no films left in the city of Birmingham to show.

So, see you at Vivid?

Next!

With October here and Halloween close enough to the planned Neighbourhood Watch date for us to get overly excited about it, we’ve decided to make the next short film night a spooky special.

We’ll still be accepting all shorts submitted so long as they get close enough to our guidelines, but we’ll be rewarding those who bring/make something scary with some fantastic prizes (purchased from our nearest pound shop).

We’ve already had a wealth of interest and promise from some of our regulars that they’ll be making some horrors especially for us, and with that in mind, register quickly as spaces are filling as quickly as pâtissier can peddle freshly baked panettone.

It’s on the 26th of October, at the same time as a whole host of other fantastic happenings around Birmingham, a lot of which have been rounded up by the dapper chaps at 7 Inch Cinema, and well worth a look.

We’ll see you at Vivid on the 26th though, for sure.

Belated Roundup.

Right, firstly, sorry! It’s been ages since we updated and it’s unacceptable. But people get busy and we don’t wish to dwell so, onto the positives.

The third Neighbourhood Watch on August 31st was without a doubt a massive success. We owe it to the incredible diversity of the night which included a world premiere, a book reading and an incredible live audiovisual jam by Diura. As always, a mega-thanks to all who contributed.

Given the huge success of all of these additions, we’re very glad to throw the floor open to contributors’ suggestions for readings/live accompaniments etc. alongside their films at future events. Obviously, the standard rules apply, but to anyone keen to get involved, drop us a line at contact@theneighbourhood.org. The next one is on the 28th of September, and the submission floodgates are now open!

The 3rd Neighbourhood Watch

In just under 2 weeks, your televisual taste-buds will be titillated by our open-mic short films (which, might we add have been flying in) and an unmissable live-event. We’ve lined up a feast of foreign-captured footage set to live music by the stonking Diùra. This one’s for everyone out there who, like us, didn’t quite manage to get out of this country during these summer holidays.

As always, submit your shorts through this channel, say you’ll attend on facebook, and come along on August the 31st!

7pm. £2 in. Vivid, Heath Mill Lane.

Good News and Thankyous.

Thanks, firstly, to all who came to the second The Neighbourhood Watch last night. Here is a photo. We tried to take some of you all enjoying the films but they were just too grainy for us to ever admit to taking. Next time, eh?

The great news is that due to the success of the first two film nights Vivid have invited us to continue to produce The Neighbourhood Watch until at least November, (an extra 3 months). This means there will be plenty of chance to show your shorts off, enjoy some spectacular features from wherever in the world we find them and for us to finally justify buying a popcorn machine.

We’ve added a section to our top-banner with the rules, which we’ll update with our back-catalogue when we’ve had a little more sleep.

The next one is on the 31st of August. Register now: We’ve already filled 3 slots!

Our features at The Neighbourhood Watch #2

What’s black and white and stars 14 Hollywood leading lads and ladies? It’s our feature for next weeks The Neighbourhood Watch (Vivid, Wednesday, 7.00pm).

14 Actors Acting, commissioned by The New York Times is exactly what it says it is. This glorious series of studies sees actors doing what they do best and will top the night after our blind-screened shorts.

Of course, that’s not all – it never is with us – and the second of what we’re calling our featurettes for the night comes courtesy of Martin Hampton in the form of Possessed, a spectacular exploration of hoarding. It’s both beautifully shot and incredibly moving.

So, for £2 you get short films, long films, some popcorn and a drink.

We’ll see you there.

The Neighbourhood Watch 2

With a Neighbourhood Watch under our belts, riotous applause and praise from contributors and visitors alike and time spent discussing how we can make the next one even better, The Neighbourhood Watch will return on July 27th, hosted at VIVID.

Unlike most screening nights we will accept films completely blind. We’ve formulated a set guidelines to give the night a little structure. Given our love for bending and breaking rules, however, we stress that these are but guidelines.
1) We suggest films be no longer than five minutes.
2) Films must be have been made quite recently. Let’s say within the last six months.
3) Any genre of film shall be accepted, provided all rights to screen are owned by the filmmaker.
4) Slots shall be filled on a delightfully clichéd first-come-first-served basis. Filmmakers must register their submission before the night by emailing contact@theneighbourhood.org. Last time we closed a week before and all slots were filled. When we’ve filled the one month, we’ll start to collect for the next
5) All filmmakers must attend. We ask that they bring their films on the night on a playable and tested DVD. If said DVD could be rendered in 16:9 aspect ratio (pillarboxed if necessary) our lives become infinitely better.
6) The order in which films are screened shall be selected at random, from an oversized hat. Or a bag, it depends really.

Following the shorts, a specially selected mini-feature will be screened to crown the evening. We’d like to thank all who have suggested films to fill this spot, but a special thanks must go to Kino 10 for the ongoing support and assistance with this.

Admission is charged at £2 and includes popcorn and a drink. Doors open at 7, and films will kick off at around 7.20. Feel free to bring your own refreshments (and a bottle opener) as these events are run unlicensed.

The Garage presents… is a brand new strand of one off events at VIVID embracing music, live arts, installation, performance, digital and sonic media. Check www.vivid.org.uk for details of all ‘Garage Presents’ projects.

Get In touch!

The Neighbourhood Watch Update

With just under two weeks left until the first The Neighbourhood Watch at Vivid and a couple of days left for submissions, we’re delighted to have confirmed our mini feature, curated in association with Kino 10.

The Neighbourhood Watch will be topped off by a condensed cut of Mike Jacobs’ ‘Audience of One‘. This mind-blowing documentary follows a Pentecostal pastor on a mission to shake up Hollywood with a Biblical-cum-Sci-Fi movie inspired by a message from God. It’s simply unmissable.

That’s not all though, we’ve shorts flying at us but there is still chance to register so drop us a line to screen yours!

The Neighbourhood Watch, 29th June, 7pm.

The Garage presents… is a brand new strand of one off events at VIVID embracing music, live arts, installation, performance, digital and sonic media. 

Good morning all.

We’ve been tracking artists Sparrow+Castice on twitter @SparrowCastice. They’re currently doing a residency in the north, and causing some gentle havoc.

Have a look.

They’re a funny pair, and as soon as they’re finished in sunny Wakefield we’re going to grab them to come and work with us.

Follow them on Twitter and show your support.