Luton Movie Makers

c/o 39 Bampton Road, Luton LU4 0DD Tel: 01582 508616
E-mail: moviemakers@freeuk.com Website: www.moviemakers.freeuk.com

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 7 May 2009

Held at the Hat Factory, 7.00pm

Present:

Members: Scott Bailey (Chairman), Sue Clarke (Secretary), Paul Clarke (Treasurer),
Frank McPartland, Dapo Awolabi, Peter Farrow, Nina Nelson

Non-Members: Wayne Johnson

  1. Apologies for Absence
  2. Apologies were received from Tony Coutinho.

  3. Minutes of the last AGM
  4. The minutes of the last AGM (see Appendix 1) were taken as read.

  5. Matters Arising
  6. (a) Subscriptions. As there were no new expenses, it was agreed that annual subscriptions should remain at £12.50 for the coming year. After two complementary visits, potential new members, and visiting non-members, will continue to pay £1 at the door.

  7. Treasurer's Report
  8. Paul Clarke explained each item on the Income and Expenditure Accounts for the year ending 2008/9 (see Appendix 2) and the accounts were approved subject to audit.

  9. Chairman's Report
  10. The Chairman read the Annual Report for 2007/8 (see Appendix 3).

  11. Election of Officers
  12. After discussion, there being no other applicants, the following committee members were re-elected:

    Chairman:- Scott Bailey

    Secretary:- Sue Clarke

    Treasurer:- Paul Clarke

    New ordinary committee members volunteered and were elected:-

    Members:- Frank McPartland, Peter Farrow

  13. Future Programme
    1. Possible activities for 2009/10 were discussed.

      Current Activities were reviewed.

    2. Film Library/Archive: Paul Clarke agreed to continue running this and to maintain reference listings on the website. He explained that items are only released with the originator’s permission.
    3. Casablanca Club Filming: Paul Clarke said that after the initial flourish, this had failed to work for the second year running - the films being produced were not being restricted to one evening. He had not had the opportunity to produce one in that time. Dapo said that he too had not been given the chance to produce one and that the films that were produced were not properly scripted. However Frank McPartland thought that it could still be made to work. It was agreed to continue Casablanca Club in the form originally intended, the filming should be kept to short films that could be completed in an evening and everyone should be given a chance to bring scripts, have a go and learn from their mistakes. People wanting to make longer films should do these in their own time. "Club Films" should only be made with everyone's agreement and be properly scripted and discussed beforehand.
    4. Annual Club Competitions: These included Drama, Comedy, Documentary, Animation, Holiday/Travel and Nature. Scott Bailey proposed that we terminate the animation competition because the number of entries was low (2 this year) and we had to pad the evening with externally sourced animation films. This was agreed. Paul Clarke said that a "Recorded Performance (Unedited)" competition had been added to this year's programme. It would cover filming of musicians, actors, dancers, speakers, interviews, etc. and be restricted to 10 Minutes per entry.
    5. Proposed New Activities were discussed.

    6. From the last AGM, Club Premises - This was needed for storage, as it was not possible to store equipment at the Hat Factory, and for permanent set-up of facilities such as blue screen or green screen. Frank McPartland agreed to investigate this and report suitable premises, costs, etc to the committee before we apply for a grant to cover the costs. Peter Farrow and Paul Clarke agreed to advise on the completion of grant forms.
    7. Other Activities: It was proposed that we have other activities such as having speakers, script writing, courses, group projects, visiting clubs, Editing competitions, etc., were proposed. It was agreed to include these in the programme where possible.
    8. Luton Heritage Filming: Frank McPartland proposed we film "personal profiles" of local residents for the film archive (similar to the sound archive at Luton Museum). Paul Clarke pointed out that this was already being done as part of other filming of local events. It was agreed that we should look into getting a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for this.
    9. Little Theatre: Frank McPartland proposed we work closely with the Little Theatre in Dunstable. He agreed to find out conditions/cost of using their hall, which seats about 100.

  14. Any Other Business
    1. Insurance: Paul Clarke brought up the issue. This was discussed and we concluded that the IAC scheme, costing £55/yr. would not give us benefits for personal club member injuries or for equipment damage. We would only need third party cover if a filming location required it. So it was decided to continue without insurance until this situation arises.
    2. Helping Non-Members: Scott Bailey proposed that when non-members come to us asking for help on film making matters, we could help them if they gave the club a donation. We thought that each case would have to be considered as it arose.