Filmmaking in NH Roundtable on Day 2 of NHFF Festivities
The Filmmaking in New Hampshire Roundtable panel took place at 1 p.m. on October 12th, the second day of the Film Festival in Portsmouth’s cozy and string-lit Moffatt-Ladd House. Matthew Newton, Bureau Chief of the New Hampshire Film Bureau, kicked off the panel by taking a selfie with his small, close knit audience before diving into a review of the changes brewing in the NH film industry.
The discussion followed the thread of the various impacts of New Hampshire’s current tax credits in relation to film. Audience members chimed in with their own thoughts on the challenges New Hampshire’s tax credits pose for their lower budget film and potential solutions. In fact, as the discussion proceeded to popcorn around the room, many audience members built off of each other’s thoughts. And in this way, the Roundtable became a conversation between local filmmakers on this subject rather than a one-dimensional lecture.
Midway through, the Roundtable switched gears to the filmmaking community itself and as a whole. The conversation turned to how the filmmaking community in New Hampshire strives to pull closer together moving forward in order to provide networking and support through meetups and more Roundtables.
Dan Hannon, Co-founder of the Festival, added that the filmmaking community should grow to empower filmmakers. And, as the discussion continued, long-time filmmakers didn’t hesitate to help answer others’ questions and give advice to their challenges.
As the hour came to a close, audience members all stood up, and the conversation paused only long enough for a round of applause before the buzz resumed. As Newton had said, “It’s not just film, not just movies.”