This month at the NoCo Filmmaker meetup.

May 19, 2025 7:00 PM

MEET THE FILMMAKERS

It’s Gonna Be MAY!

Okay it’s already MAY!

I hope that the beginning of May has been good to you all. I personally feel a little attacked by this change in the weather. Here I was ready to full embrace Summer and then we were violently thrown back into fall. In a few days, it will all be a thing of the past. I’m really excited to get back to the Lyric this month and to see how everyone has been doing.

This month : MEET THE FILMMAKERS

of Green and Gold

Director/ Writer Anders Lindwall and Production Coordinator Jess West-Walker share all about their careers and the making of Green and Gold, their feature that premiered last year.

A SMALL CHANGE IN THE AGENDA!

We will start the evening at 7:00 with announcements and check ins, then move on to SCREENINGS of YOUR projects! Make sure to submit via the website if you have something you want to share! We’ll finish the evening with our MEET THE FILMMAKERS conversation with Anders and Jess at 8:00.

Watch the trailer for GREEN and GOLD and rent the movie on AMAZON before the meetup!

ANDERS LINDWALL

WEBSITE

Narrative & Commercial Film Director / Producer

Anders was raised in the woods of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That upbringing has honed his attention for stories that sit in the crosshairs of undiscovered saints and the natural world. His hope for his work is to temporarily draw people out of the universal ache of human suffering and inspire them with child-like goodness and beauty.

He’s collaborated alongside Oscar-Nominated Director, M. Night Shyamalan, and short-listed for a Young Director’s Award at Cannes Lions. He’s directed a unique mixture of talent from Will Smith to Craig T. Nelson, Bad Bunny to Tim Tebow. He films commercially for major brands like Nike, Google, Levi’s, Arc’teryx, while just completing production on his first feature film.

JESS WEST-WALKER

WEBSITE

Producer / Writer/ Production Coordinator

Originally from the US, Jess has spent the majority of her life travelling and living overseas; Japan, New Zealand and London have all been homes to her. After 16 years abroad she returned stateside, where she transformed her commercial construction career into a production career. Now instead of building high rises, she loves the magic of building brand dreams.

She is passionate about establishing and maintaining a clear creative vision and nailing all the details to execute a fun and seamless shoot. Leaving no stone unturned.

A LITTE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT the TOWN HALL INITIATIVE!

With over 250 attendees, this event marked a significant moment for Colorado's creative community to come together and address critical challenges in our industry. Guided by the findings of the Colorado Film Study, we explored seven key obstacles impacting creators, including funding access, workforce development, and infrastructure gaps.

Additionally, attendees shared personal stories and challenges unique to working in Colorado, fostering a collective understanding of the barriers many face. These honest conversations laid the groundwork for actionable solutions that can strengthen and grow the film and media industry in our state.

We did a survey before the event to get interest and volunteers, and sent out a call for "save the date" prior to the event, which grew our mailing list of people opting in to over 500.

We also sent a follow-up survey for those interested in getting involved, and we now have 45 people that would like to participate in a task force to continue the work. They are spread across the state, which is exciting to see!

We then had a follow-up zoom meeting in January, and 26 people showed up to do a working session. Shawna had prepared a slide deck that she gave edit access to, and the folks on the call broke out into small groups and added to each of the pillar ideas, created this epic list of ideas on how we could push our flywheel forward.

We are now meeting in small groups for each pillar to determine what the most valuable first push would be for each one of our pillars. This isn't locked in, but here's the first pass of our discussion.

For the next step, they will take this shortened list of a top 2-3 ideas for each pillar and gather the leaders from the Film Office, regional liaisons, non-profit organizations, union organizations and any other crucial leaders and present and discuss to make an informed decision on what platforms, initiatives and programs should be our first focus, and which organizations would like to own and lead them over the coming year.

Thank you to everyone who came to WIFMCO’s Annual Industry Fair Jan 15-16th!

We had so many Northern Colorado Filmmakers and Creatives that attended AND volunteered. I was so excited to introduce a lot of our Denver members and community to the incredible folks working up here in Northern Colorado!

Big shoutout to Maya Jairam for spearheading our volunteers and involving so many of you!

We hope you all had as much fun and were as inspired as the WIFMCO board members were! We will post the videos from our 4 panels on our website soon so keep an eye out.

THE EXPERIENCE OF WORKING IN FILM/ TV and MEDIA: Melanie McLean Brooks and Katy Petrella speak with moderator & WIFMCO Secretary & Creative Angel Williams about what its like to work in the industry as a woman.

THE DIRECTORS : Samantha Shada, Amy Sabreen, Regan Linton, Devon Wycoff and Kimberly Greenwell speak on the directors panel, moderated by WIFMCO Treasurer & Doc & Feature Director Julie Jackson