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Fall 2019 Wednesday Night Filmmaking Classes

Who: Our classes are for adults 18+. Most attendees are in their 20s-50s. Skill level ranges from newbies to people who have made a few short films (and even won some major local awards as indie filmmakers).

What: Taking classes here and there on an a la carte basis is permitted. However, we also want to build a cohort of people who will take all 10 Wednesday night classes together.

Where: Our 10 Wednesday classes are taking place at Advent Coworking in Plaza Midwood (park on street or free gravel lot across Louise Avenue). Come to the front porch of Advent which faces Otts Street.

When: Our 10 Wednesday classes start at 6:30pm and end at 8:30

Why: We want to help you make more/better films, meet people and work together to create more. From our first cohort (spring 2018 semester) we’ve seen deep friendships formed, people have won awards with films they’ve worked on together and they’ve gotten deeper into this world of indie filmmaking.

How: We provide light snacks, awesome, clean, convenient classrooms, free parking and the best local film professionals to teach you.

Additional Classes this Fall 2019:

Thanks to our partnership with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, we are offering a workshop on Screenwriting, (4) Saturdays hands-on filmmaking experiences for adults who have not been on a film set before and (2) documentary filmmaking classes. Check out all our classes here.

The Charlotte Film School does two things really well:

1. We bring together the best working professional filmmakers and the men and women who want to learn from them through in-person workshops and classes. We meet in clean, modern spaces and all of our teachers are down-to-earth and experts in their fields.

2. We organize dozens of events, all listed on our meetup page  (meetup.com is free and is easy to use) including film screenings, cast and crew calls and meetups in coffeeshops to discuss various topics, monthly “Coffee with a Film Festival Director”, monthly “Gathering of Documentary Filmmakers and Wannabes, Lunchtime screenings and discussions of short films, and a wide variety of classes and workshops.

We created Charlotte Unconventional Film School for people like you:

  • We vary racially, by age, background, interests and ethnically but share  a love of film, a curiosity about improving  our skills, an urge to create and a desire to learn filmmaking by doing filmmaking.
  • We have some experience with filmmaking but want more.
  • We know the power of this medium.
  • The only drama ’round here is what you’ll find in some of our films.
  • Our workshops are for adults 18+

Here’s a Short History of Us

Summer of 2017, started with informal meetups in parks and coffeeshops with the intention of gathering local men and women to talk about various filmmaking related topics.

Spring of 2018 was our first semester. Starting with a cohort of ten people, we had 12 classes with 12 different local film pros as teachers. We made four short films about local non-profits at the end of our semester. Many deep friendships were built during this time and many films have been made by folks who met through that semester. In addition to the cohort, each class was open to anyone to take “a la carte” A generous grant of $7000 from the Unconventional Pilgrim’s Fund gave us what we needed to run this first semester. Our name is a tribute and a nod to these people who first believed in this vision.

Fall of 2018 we offered an array of top quality classes, this time without a previously recruited cohort of students.

Spring of 2019 we partnered with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library to offer 10 free classes on Saturdays, serving over 600 local Charlotte men and women.

Spring of 2019 we partnered with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library to offer 10 Saturday Filmmaking workshops. More than 600 seats were filled at these 10 workshops. These were offered for free to the community.

Fall of 2019 we are partnering again with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library to offer three types of classes this fall including two sessions of a four-week Documentary Filmmaking class, a one-day session on screenwriting and four small-group (only 15 people permitted) hands-on classes on four different Saturdays (can only attend one of the four) where we will film scenes. In addition to these, we are currently (August 2019) solidifying our schedule and will feature classes in Spanish and English plus ten various classes on Wednesdays. keep checking out our page on meetup which is the most up to date place where we put our info: https://www.meetup.com/Charlotte-Independent-Filmmaking-Meetup/

Contact Us

Where we Meet There is not a building that is our building. But, there is a city that is our city: Charlotte. For Fall, 2019, most of our events will take place in the state-of-the-art rooms of various Charlotte Mecklenburg Libraries and at Advent Coworking.  Where to find our most up-to-date listings of upcoming events… Continue reading Contact Us

People like you study with us. They say…

“I would like to improve my craft. I think I understand the process but I need to learn to pay more attention to detail. I would like to know more about I need to think about.”

“Learning with others and any chance I would have to give back.”

“I have no experience with film making so I want to learn everything I can, especially when it comes to making something that can affect people in a positive way.”

“It’s an excellent opportunity to be part of a community of folks trying to improve their filmmaking skills.”

“Being able to be around and learn from other creatives.”

“1) hands-on production 2) professional coaching 3) collaborative expertise and support.”

“Learning more about film through workshops and networking.”

“I caught the film bug late in my college career & love the process, especially editing. I’m not sure I can afford to go …to pursue technical knowledge. Currently I have one client that I create promo videos for their business & I try to get as many PA jobs as I can manage in the area.”

“Learning and collaboration with like minded individuals.”

“Techniques of this communication format will positively inform my communication style.”

People like you study with us.