Local History
Group 101 Copenhagen is a distant chapter of Group101 Films, the Los Angeles-based monthly filmmaking collective. The Copenhagen chapter was launched in the autumn of 2001 by Jesper Siberg, Erik Larsen and Lykke Strunk. Sharing an enthusiasm for the creative freedom of digital filmmaking and the wonders of the internet, we had for some time been producing web tv on cafetv.dk, an initiative of Erik’s, and had also discussed the idea of making short films to be broadcast on the internet.
Only a few weeks later www.group101films.com suddenly appeared on our computer screens, a perfect excuse to get those short films made.
Excited about the concept behind Group 101, Jesper, Erik and Lykke persuaded Nicholas Francis and Ann Duroj that this was the chance they, too, had been waiting for. Our group of five had the first batch of films ready on October 11th. 2001 and by March the 11th. 2002, we’d produced 30 short films between us.
Shaken, but not stirred, the core group of Group 101 Copenhagen launched the second wave of films in September 2002, adding three new members, Angelina Foo, Keli Hlodversson and Andy Rutter. Group 101 Copenhagen was officially on a roll.
And now, yet another six months of stressful, yet hugely rewarding filmmaking is ahead of us in the third wave starting in October 2003... We can't stop, can we?
Why we are doing this
The main reason behind Group 101 is for killing inertia. The original creators of Group 101 Films found out that it was just too easy to find excuses not to start working on their own projects, which reduced them to talking a lot more about their ideas instead of implementing them.
Their solution was peer pressure. It is much easier to get your things done when you have a group of like-minded people bullying you into creating a film every month.
This requires 100% commitment. Each member will create one film every month, securely knowing that every other member will do that as well. Participation every month is mandatory, which in turn guarantees that after six months with Group101 each member will learn a lot about resourcefulness and creativity under pressure and have fun doing it. And they'll have six new short films in their filmography.
The motto is: Because tape is cheap and inertia is expensive!
How It Works
Once a month we launch a unique theme and parameters and assign each filmmaker the task of creating a short film within those constraints.
We regroup one month later and screen our finished projects for each other in a closed group setting - no audience but our own ruthless peers. We thoroughly workshop each film by discussing what worked and what didn't, the director/actor relationship, how to light a room on a miniscule budget, what tricks work to get rid of that video look, working with a crew, working without a crew, the creative benefits of sleep deprivation, and how humbling and enlightening it can be to hold a camera and microphone together while calling "Action".
Most of our projects are shot on MiniDV, though nothing rules out shooting them on on film or HD. Few of our films has had a crew of more than three or cost more than $250 to make from concept to completion. Most of the films are good, but some have been disowned by the filmmaker immediately after the screening. We are sworn to secrecy about them.
