Chi Filmmakers aim for $50K in Indiegogo campaign

Chicago Filmmakers is gearing up for its first crowdfunding campaign to raise $50,000 to obtain a matching grant that will go towards renovating its recently purchased historic Edgewater firehouse that will become a center for diversity and literacy in media arts.

Videos are in the process of being edited for the upcoming Indiegogo campaign, says Brenda Webb, Chicago Filmmakers’ executive director. The crowdfunding campaign’s goal is to raise $50,000 to obtain a challenge grant that will match all individual contributions dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000.

Chicago Filmmakers in February completed the $36,000 purchase of the vacant city-owned firehouse at 5714 N. Ridge, a Chicago landmark built in 1928. The million dollar renovation began immediately thereafter.

Webb expects the renovation to be completed and their move-in likely in late fall or early winter. “The elevator shaft is in, and the walls are framed so far,” she reports.

Chicago Filmmakers is also receiving a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, “the largest grant we’ve received in a long time,” Webb says.

Chicago Filmmakers has received NEA grants at the $15-$20,000 level, used for weekly screening presentations, ever since Webb took over the organization in 1978.

It was founded in 1973 by a group of experimental filmmakers who had formed an artist-run weekly screening series to exhibit their work and that of emerging filmmakers, on the second floor at 5243 N. Clark.