Film group seeks board members

SANDUSKY — The Lake Erie Film Commission's mission is to mentor, promote, and fund Erie County-based filmmakers. Executive director Danielle Murray started the organization this past May and is actively looking to hire a nonprofit controller as well as an executive assistant who will be working with her, side-by-side, to grow the organization. Murray's motivation in founding the organization is to accomplish for the city of Sandusky and Erie County what Tyler Perry accomplished for the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia: create a thriving filmmaking workforce in Erie County using grassroots efforts. In Murray's opinion, there's no lack of talent in filmmaking in the area. But what is needed is an aggressive advocate for filmmakers to create TV and film in Erie County over cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, she said. The commission recently hosted its second board meeting on Nov. 27 at the Erie County Chamber of Commerce in Sandusky. Even though there is no requirement to join the organization, the commission hopes to gain a couple of board members after the Nov. 27 meeting, and Lake Erie Film Commission's goal is to have 10 board members total by 2024. The board member position is perfect for local artists, filmmakers, art enthusiasts, film connoisseurs, film investors and anyone interested in seeing a thriving film and TV scene in Erie County. The commission also hopes to connect with local politicians, policymakers, nonprofit experts, philanthropists and other local "movers and shakers" invested in the success of commission's mission. Lake Erie Film Commission just wrapped its first fundraising event, the Run, Scream, Run 5K — a monster-themed run on Oct. 29 in downtown Sandusky and has five more projects on the docket, including the inclusion of two paid internship opportunities and a female-led, social experiment TV show — slated to film in Erie County in May. Anyone interested in learning more about the Lake Erie Film Commission can email info@lefc.org.