I am so impressed with what this organization has done for women -- by women -- in the film industry. And it all started at home, with an idea amongst friends having dinner. For a city like Houston, these are important conversations to be having. We affect change faster as a team of like minds. We are all in this together.
Read MoreMost of us don't often have opportunities to engage in meaningful conversation about our life's work. When we do have the chance, with an embracing group of like-minds, it can be used as both a purposeful endeavor to share all the things you love about your career path, and also a time to reveal some of how the industry's sausage is made.
Read MoreFor the gig economy, the effects from a recession versus the coronavirus pandemic are very different. If it were just a recession, we would just lose corporate and industrial work, for that time period. But with COVID-19 infecting people in groups, there is less chance of any productions continuing since film production is really a team sport. So, how do we continue moving forward.
Read MoreThe Houston Creative Endowment, a non-profit 501(c)3, is dedicated to preserving, protecting, developing, fostering, and supporting the creative industry by focusing on the film and television production industry in Houston, Texas.
Read MoreAs a New Yorker working in the arts sector in Houston, Houston Cinema Arts Society Artistic Director Jessica Green sits down with Lynn Birdwell to discuss how Houston’s diversity can help build the next great global film city.
"There are obviously a lot of challenges, there's a lot of infrastructure challenges, but there is so much potential to develop film production in Houston...We do have a long way to go, but the further we can get, the more we're going to tap into this potential, and it's really, like, endless what could happen here around developing a real film industry."
Speaking from the first-ever Black Media Story Summit at the DeLux Theatre in Fifth Ward, she also talks about the power of film and its healing process for black filmmakers and audiences.
Read MoreFilm Finance Seminar Houston moved to Fall 2020, date to be announced. Houston Creative Endowment, Bird House Productions and FilmPro Finance are deeply encouraged by the strong public response to upcoming The Film Finance Seminar Houston 2020, and are looking forward to hosting the first ever film finance event of this caliber in Houston.
Read MoreFor the first time ever, the Bayou City will host Film Finance Seminar Houston in the Fall of 2020. This event is an initial step towards establishing Houston as a profitable location to develop films and television productions.
Film Finance Seminar Houston is part of a larger initiative to develop a profitable film arts industry in and around Houston and serves as the next major step in building the Houston creative economy through film.
Read MoreTemple Northrop, Director of the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, University of Houston, sits down with Bird House Productions Lynn Birdwell to discuss his strategic plan on how UH is building upon their current program to establish the county's leading film production program at the university level. He also calls for working industry professionals to help him reach his goal of training the next generation of A-list talent.
Read MoreThe City of Houston and Houston Independent School District (HISD) recognize the importance of the arts in education. The newly created Mayor's Office of Education works with schools to prepare students through workforce development and training, including in the film industry.
"There are some amazing programs at the elementary, middle school and high school level for young people to have an opportunity to experience what it's like to be in the film and the arts as a career. You have some places that have full-fledged studios that are operated by young people, and they write, produce, edit, and learn cutting edge technology that they're able to use and have access to," reports Juliet Stipeche, Director of the Mayor's Office of Education.
Read More"We want to make it a practical program, a program that serves as a pipeline to see our students actually working in the field." Fleurette Fernando, Director, M.A. in Arts Leadership Program, the University of Houston, gives a preliminary glimpse at the future possibility of a film degree to be offered at UH to keep students in here to support a healthy Houston creative economy.
Read More"The creative economy in New York City in 2017 delivered $30 billion of revenue to that city -- $30 billion! I believe that we can do that here because we have such a low cost of living and a high disposable income that we could take a huge chunk out of that $30 billion and bring it to Houston." - WOND3R Co-founder Kerry Chrapliwy.
At the December 4, 2019, Work-In-Progress presented by Lynn Birdwell, the team from the creative agency WOND3R talked about their experience working all around the world and how the cities they worked in build creative economies, how they did it, and why they think it can happen in Houston.
Read MoreBird House Productions (BHP) Executive Producer Lynn Birdwell hosted a Work-In-Progress: Production Slate in Development Wednesday night to unveil 20 new film and episodic series projects to be created in Houston through Bird Nest, the development arm of BHP.
Birdwell was joined on stage by creatives and influencers (i.e. directors, writers, producers, artists, and musicians) from Houston and across the nation to present a range of high-level projects, including an art and space project in conjunction with a NASA engineer and a reality TV series focusing on how Houstonians with disabilities overcome challenges and obstacles living in the 4th largest city in the U.S.
Read MoreSean "Crash" Maxwell sits down with Bird House Productions Lynn Birdwell and retells the rise of film in Houston and gives a possible explanation to why production left.
Read MoreBird Nest, begun this year, is the brainchild of myself with the assistance of writer/director Kalli Carter, to hatch major projects we fell in love with or wanted to create. It is the development division of Bird House Productions founded in 2012 by myself and my husband, Director of Photography Raul Casares.
Read MoreBird House Productions Co-owner and Executive Producer Lynn Birdwell discusses why Houston is an ideal city to film a project with Texas Motion Picture Alliance Treasurer Susan Fowler. Susan also highlights how Houston is taking video production education into the high school level so students can graduate with an associate's degree.
Read MoreFilm is the only art form that supports all other art forms. Making quality film and television is a team sport. It’s not just one human engaged in a creative process, there can be hundreds of people engaged in the development and execution of the single creative vision of the film.
Read MoreLynn takes five while at the 2019 TXMPA Impact Awards to chat with Houston Film Commissioner Rick Ferguson about the history of film in Houston including how the current film making process (including incentives offered by the City of Houston) contribute to the CREATIVE ECONOMY within The Bayou City.
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