C-47 on Filmmaker's Friday: Part 4

This little travel-log will be divided into four parts, both for your reading benefit and for my writing benefit.

AFF Bus Tour: Part 4

We were now on our way to our final stop, Lab 601, where the promise jello shots and a tour of the post-production facility that was home to the upcoming horror film The Signal was too much for our tired band of artists to resist. As the FurBus continued on its journey, I continued to ask more questions of the filmmakers.

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Cevin Cathell - Program Director - Sonoma Valley Film Festival

What do you think when you hear "Atlanta"?

Very cosmopolitan!

As a programmer for a film festival, what films do you look for?

The story and the feeling they leave you with.

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Ashley Epting & Jane Cook - Producers

Why should people make their films in Georgia?

Unique settings and a growing film community. You're also a big fish in a small pond as opposed to being out in LA or NY where you're going to be a small film in a big pond.

What films are you working on right now?

We've optioned Ferrol Sams "Whisper of the River" and we're also working on the true story of an art forger called "Art of Deception".

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The FurBus finally arrived at its final destination: Lab 601. What you first notice about this post-production facility is that it has a personality all its own. We have arrived on "Free Beer Friday". As we enter the break room, beer (and no beer tastes sweeter than free beer) and snacks are distributed as we meet and chat with some of the lab's employees. There's also a giant pole in the middle of the lab, not because the building used to be a firehouse, but simply because it's cool to have it there.

But don't mistake Lab 601 as a house of drunken revelry where you'll submit your film never to see it again as it vanishes in a haze of alcohol and foosball. No, Lab 601 is so good at what they do, they're investors on The Signal (which, eerily, was playing on all the video monitors) and provided post-production services on the acclaimed documentary Darius Goes West free of charge.

As our tour and long day came to an end, I slid down the pole in the middle of Lab 601. It had been a unique and unforgettable day as I had the pleasure of meeting numerous filmmakers and visiting the labs that would hopefully one day help them and help you in all your filmmaking endeavors.