Seattle Film Society Nurtures Local Filmmaking Scene
Filmmakers speak about their films with Marcus Baker moderating at February’s Locals Only screening.
Quentin Lebeau / Seattle Film Society
I know I am not alone in discovering that I love something as an adult, then suddenly feeling the racing urgency of making up for lost time. The urge to immerse myself completely in a new interest. For me, that thing is screenwriting. I am 18 months into living in Seattle—still relatively new—and have no idea where to start.
Enter Seattle Film Society. I heard about the group from a friend I met at a public event at Elliott Bay. We found out we’re both aspiring screenwriters, and he pointed me to the monthly Locals Only events hosted by SFS. On the last Thursday of every month, SFS screens thematic groupings of Washington-made short films at Northwest Film Forum. Submissions for Locals Only are open year-round. These screenings are followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and aftershow drinks and discussion at a nearby bar. Introvert that I am, the thought of mingling at a networking event was enough to make me feel nauseous. But I wanted to give it a shot, and it sounded intriguing.
February’s Locals Only event on the 26th featured four short films “of the strange, the experimental, and the downright Lynchian” variety. Thirty minutes before the screening began, the lobby of NWFF was filling up with smiling faces and the sound of people getting to know each other. The films were certainly Lynchian and playfully zany, displaying the imaginative talent of local filmmakers.
In the eerie and humorous Puppet Master Playtime, director Amy Harris captures the aesthetic of an old public access children’s show as a sadistic puppet plots the downfall of the show’s sock puppet host. Meanwhile, what does it feel like to live inside of a pomegranate? by Kamyar Mohsenin uses distortion and dreamlike set design to tell a story of a woman walking through a winter landscape and discovering a giant pomegranate. On the surface a simple surreal tale, Mohsenin explores the mix of nostalgia and discomfort brought on by reconnecting with one’s cultural heritage. My first Locals Only experience was a delight, and I look forward to going more.
Marcus Baker, one of SFS’ seven founders, reflected that he’s noticed a growth in attendance at Locals Only events, particularly in the past 2-3 months. January’s showcase was completely sold out. Once a quarter, SFS also hosts an event called Open Screen. The concept is simple: bring your film on a thumb drive. If it’s under 10 minutes, it goes up. Baker remarked, “It’s a really weird and wild time, and it relies on a lot of trust in the community… That event has really started to grow to the point where we're having people show up and they’re like, ‘I'm not even bringing a film, I just want to see what other people bring.’” The most recent Open Screen sold out on the day of as well.
Seattle Film Society was founded in 2023 by seven local filmmakers: Baker, Tommy Meisel, Kalee Quiñones, Quentin Lebeau, Ben Johnson, and Caity Petterson, with the goal of “organizing, cultivating, and celebrating the greater Seattle filmmaking community.” A nonprofit fiscally sponsored by Shunpike, SFS is entirely volunteer-run. Last year, they added new volunteer roles which will help the organization expand, including a community outreach director and a treasurer.
The project grew out of the need for an initial access point in Seattle for film people to find each other. This applies across the spectrum of experience, from creatives who are just starting out in the industry, to producers and directors coming into town from elsewhere and looking for talent and crew. While Seattle’s beloved independent cinemas and yearly festivals like Local Sightings at Northwest Film Forum and SIFF are vital to the community, “to build a community, you need regular events,” says Baker. “You need consistent opportunities for people to meet, for people to engage with each other.”
Locals Only attendees meet in the NWFF lobby before the short film showcase.
Quentin Lebeau / Seattle Film Society
One of SFS’ monthly programming events is called Director’s Lab. On the third Thursday of every month, filmmakers Tommy Meisel and Harley Sullivan host these gatherings of four actors and four directors at Theatre Puget Sound’s space in Seattle Center. Signups are always free. Two directors will bring a scene, and the first director has 15 minutes to direct own scene. Then, the other three directors have ten minutes to work with it. The process then repeats a second time with the second director’s scene.
This process not only encourages directors to try their hand at working with new actors and getting comfortable with directing, but also allows actors to experience working with directors who have different visions and approaches. Especially when starting out, directors, if they’re lucky, get to work with actors maybe once or twice a year, while actors may not get many opportunities to practice outside of sets and classes. The quick nature of Director’s Lab gets actors and directors alike to think on the spot, find creative solutions to problems, and work together.
Seattle Film Society has also built a large online community on Discord. Currently, the community has over 600 members, and is organized into channels organized by type of resource: a screenwriting group, a “Find a Collaborator” channel, and even a “What are You Watching” channel to invite discourse on films. In addition, SFS runs a weekly Film Discussion Group, analogous to a book club but for movies, with one in-person field trip screening per month. The films are chosen by the group and usually locked in for the next month by the second or third week of the preceding month. The weekly discussion leader rotates. This month, the Film Discussion Group’s topic is Writers on Film, and on Monday, March 9, SFS went to see the new film A Poet at SIFF. Next up for discussion on Discord will be Barton Fink on March 19 and Shirley on March 25.
“There's a real appetite in this community for local filmmaking. There’s a real appetite to build community here. And I think there’s a lot more that can be done than purely film exhibition and purely film education,” said Baker.
Upon joining SFS, I inquired about who to connect with for more screenwriting resources, and was immediately pointed to the Northwest Screenwriters Guild. SFS knows somebody everywhere. It’s a web of connections. A week ago, I also saw a Discord post about an upcoming table read with a local director. I volunteered to act at the table read, even though I am a complete beginner to film acting, and learned a lot. The openness and friendliness of Seattle Film Society is what makes it stand out. People get involved because they’re down to meet each other, and there’s no hierarchy. You can be new, and you will be welcome and can try things out.
In Baker’s words, “I think it’s really important to just have that space to fuck around and figure out if you like it without having to invest a lot of money into it.”
The next Locals Only will be on March 26 with the theme of “change.”
On March 19, SFS will host a staff showcase. The group places a strong emphasis on the fact that they don’t screen their own work unless explicitly stated, so this event is out of the ordinary for them. “We think that's incredibly vital to having a healthy relationship within our community,” says Baker.
