With a multimedia space + programs like ours comes a unique OPEN HOUSE / MEET UP hybrid created just for you…
Our 14,000 sq ft space is a unique hybrid combining quality & accessible alternative education year-round in film & creative media via Austin School of Film and a 4,000 sq ft make/work space and an all ages venue to present & gather via Austin Cinemaker Space. The first of its kind with a 20 year non-profit history to back it.
LET’S MEET 001 will feature three inspiring guest speakers from the MMAC diverse community, a pop-up portrait studio by Austin Cinemaker Space members & creative team Essentials Creative, complimentary bites & sips by Community Partners, and the chance to mingle, meet new faces, and learn more about our programs.
Whether you’re considering joining our make/work space or taking a class at Austin School of Film or you’re already a part of our community— this is a chance for us to gather, connect, and create!
GUEST SPEAKERS
Tonya Pennie
Austin Cinemaker Space member, Founder of Dance Africa Fest
Tonya Pennie believes in the power of dance to unite community, heal historical trauma, and raise body as voice to a transcendent communal artform. She is a leader in West African dance, having created large and small community events to share the tradition. She is the founder and director of Dance Africa Fest in Austin, TX, which provides the opportunity for Central Texas communities to experience, explore and engage in music and movement of the African/Black diaspora. Her vision, professionalism, and playfulness - synergistically create magic in ways that delight, inspire and heal audiences. Pennie leads West African dance classes and intensives across Central Texas. Tonya has been a member of Austin Cinemaker Space since we launched our make/work program in 2016.
Tania Romero
Austin School of Film faculty, Documentary Filmmaker & Activist
Tania is Nicaraguan filmmaker, teacher, and scholar, has a degree in Psychology with a Film Studies minor and a Master’s in Media Studies. She has worked on several film projects including “Ya Basta” (2007) which screened at South by Southwest Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival selected shorts “Sarathi” (2010), “Clay” (2012), and “A Perfect Cocktail” (2013). Her film “Quinceanera” (2015) won a San Francisco Film Award of Merit, was an official selection at the Official Latino Short Film Festival and was screened at the Mexic Arte Museum. Her short “Silla de Ruedas” (2015) was an official selection at the Icaro International Film Festival in Guatemala and the Central American International Film Festival. Recently, her short documentary “Even with their nails” was screened at Cannes, Cine las Americas in Austin, and won an Icaro Award in Guatemala for Best Documentary Short. She is the lead educator for Documentary Filmmaking at Austin School of Film and has been a lead for over five years in our Cine Joven: Filmmaking in Spanish program.
Fox RedSky
Austin Cinemaker Space member, Documentary Filmmaker & Activist
Fox is a Lipan Apache, Veteran, Filmmaker. She completed her first feature film, Keep the Fire Lit - Lost Tribes of Texas earlier this year after 3 ½ years traveling all over Texas and Parts of Mexico, and even making a trip to Standing Rock, North Dakota with her at-the-time 2 year old daughter in tow. Fox was a past student at Austin School of Film and current member of Austin Cinemaker Space for 2+ years.
POP UP PORTRAIT STUDIO
Presented by Essentials Creative
Essentials is a multi-media collective producing holistic applied arts experiences. These multi-faceted events incorporate disciplines such as photography, fashion, graphic design, video, projection, animation, music, and installation. Although a single image may include many Essentials members, there is always a unified vision of experimentation, fluidity, and diversity.
Essentials will create an immersive pop-up portrait experience and guests have the chances to get their portrait taken in our blackbox studio. All portraits will be shared via social media & emailed to each participant.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
MERIDIAN HIVE
Complimentary local and ethical drinks by Meridian Hive!
WHO WE ARE
Our space inhabits 14,000 square feet of a repurposed industrial warehouse in East Austin providing a creative community hub as well as crucial resources for people of all ages in central Texas. We provide alternative education, resources, tools and a safe creative space for everyone to learn, work and create.
Motion Media Arts Center is a 501c(3) non-profit independent film, art, and technology center that supports every aspect of production from creation to presentation. Located in East Austin and founded in 2002 by a collective of artists + educators, our goal is empower, support and educate emerging artists of all ages to become active participants in shaping our culture, and to engage communities to rethink the way we view film, art and technology. We provide alternative ways to work, learn, create, and consume the arts in the digital era.
We accomplish this through our programs Austin School of Film (providing over 500 classes year-round in art, film and creative technology) and Austin Cinemaker Space— Austin's only non-profit, low-cost, co-working makerspace for artists and creatives.
WHY IT MATTERS
We are dedicated to the belief that involvement in the arts can (and should) be financially accessible, both in and outside of the classroom. MMAC serves 25,000+ people year-round and 67% require financial assistance to access education, resources, and the creative space to build successful nows & futures. Our #1 objective is to continue to help pave pathways for future generations to work, learn and create.