for those interested in independant film:

[UnfluffyBunny]

Well, A guy I work with recently started telling me he wanted to set up a "hub" for people to meet, discuss, and even create indy films, and thismorning hthe hub site went live.
now, first off, the only thing up right now is the forum, and it looks a little 2 bit, because they've hired professional webdesign for the site and forum and they're waiting for it to come through, I will state right now, this is a very serious project they've sunk over £1000 of their own money into to create this hub which will be completely free to join, and free to use.
the basis behind the hub is where he and his friend (the other co-founder) used to meet once a week to work on their own films, but living in different cities put on large constraints, and so they began this, here's the introduction from the site:

Introduction

My name is Philip Woodward and I am the co founder of iKrew a website currently in development for independent filmmakers across the globe. The site will bring together many people from all places and walks of life to connect through our network in order to create and eventually make various types of films. Our aim is to make it easier for people to get together and realise their ideas more quickly and without costing them a fortune. with news and reviews of the films conducted by its own members and the all in one events calendar and second to none tutorials it will become a mainstay for future directors, editors, producers and actors alike.

USA, UK and Europe
We are currently based in UK but we are not just a UK site we are designed to be used on both sides of the Atlantic and in Europe. Anyone can join and form krews wherever they are. We are not territorial and will be establishing homepages for USA, UK and Europe. But this is just to stop the confusion of whom what and where. U can still join groups from anywhere and chat with all members across the globe. Just bare with us while we establish these ideas

About Us
Ikrew was created after me and Luke found it difficult and time consuming to meet and discuss our ideas. It became a task because like most we work and finding the day we both were able to meet was hard work, some weeks almost impossible. Eventually though we were able to find certain days that worked for us but this is where it gets worse.

We don't live near each other, so we have to travel to a meeting place to discuss ideas, which usually ended up being a pub right next to a train station that some days was empty and very awkward that we had to buy a drink followed by another and so on, eventually our lightweight bodies gave way and we ended up straying off target. Other days it's a packed house where we had to shout and scream while listening to the continued selections of pop cheese and 80s music.

Even when we decided to go a little further from the station there really wasn't any public place we could relax and discuss our ideas. It was hard work and on top of that we had to travel so it would cut short our meeting leaving us with only a couple hours of scribbles and sketches each week. Spending 2 hours a week was just slow in any kind of work.

It just doesn't work and we finally figured that out after we managed to get a crew of 6 people to help us with a project and found they had to travel to. We met a few times in Brighton and Southampton and Portsmouth even a couple times in central London so that each person eventually didn't have to travel far to meet the team. But it soon fell apart after one week there was three of us, then two of us, then four and im ashamed to say one week even I couldn't meet up due to work and left Luke the sole man to go meet the rest. They didn't turn up and eventually we lost contact. Shame really they were nice people.

It was at this point that we decided to do something worth while not just for us but for the community as a whole. Create something that can bring the community closer and give us more time to do our stuff. Ikrew was born out of an idea I had from my spare time days tramping the world of online gaming. I saw the way they used a comms system to interact with each other and with crystal clear clarity they talked about anything and everything. They would play games, chat, discuss anything on their minds and they never left the house (not always a good thing). Its was a community connected through voice.

I was interested to find out more and got in touch with several different hosts to get the low-down on what is involved. The main three were teamspeak and ventrillo both with their own stamp in the gaming world that were crying out to be used elsewhere and skype which can be used for free to other skype users and enable group chats. And it dawned upon me these are FREE to use as there are no call costs and like skype you can chat for as long as you like and it is still FREE. We began to draw up plans to take over the world....um I mean to create a place for filmmakers to come that works in the same way.

First we researched the web and found many sites that had cast and crew listings and film discussions and profiles and filmmaking networks but none of which really enable full contact ability with the members. They were all good but none of them helped me and Luke. It was then we came up with the idea to make it a place to not just discuss ideas but to realise projects in full and get together with like minded people and form the so called myKrews, where u can have your own private comms to meet with your own team of people to discuss and make your own films. Having public comms for those who just want to chat and private comms for the krews to utilise would revolutionise the way filmmakers interact with each other and enable people to break in to the film world as many people fall short due to lack of opportunities and money and we want to create a place they can come too. Ikrew is that place and we are currently launching new bits everyday its far from the finished article and I hope people stick around or even help us establish it.

Future of iKrew
We decided that also unlike most sites we wouldn't charge a fee for members to subscribe to us and that everything will be FREE across the board. We invested our own money yes, but its to benefit us more in our projects than financially because we to want to make films and this is a place we can do that without the hassle of travel, costs, finding time and also for some lazy people the hassle of getting dressed lol. You just log on, enter ikrew, find the rooms you want and chat away. Easy as 1 2 3.

It's going to take a while for ikrew to fully get the sections working but with your help we can do it faster. We have many plans for the future of ikrew including the following.

*A fully functional website that will be the hub for the community

*A full crew of staff to help maintain both the site and forums that many of you can apply for

*Fully working search engine to find crew, actors, projects and krews to join

*iFest we want to create a twice yearly festival for you the members to showcase your projects on the big screen

*A massive employment section for those seeking jobs, experience and those seeking employees.

*A fully realised myKrew network that will have profiles and cv's plus group listings and pages for each krew to utilise.

*A cross continental hub that caters for USA, Europe and UK. Enabling easy understanding and regional news

*An online tutorial for every aspect of film from software to tips and with areas on how to do........

*Course lists and links for those wanting more education

*Also any ideas the members have can be added when approved

*Many many more.....

The Forum
This will be a complete message board for members and non members alike to converse in film and anything they desire, it will become the centre for ideas and film. At this time each section is being developed at our available speed and ability and any help would be truly and gratefully appreciated
We are currently designing a website and a new forum skin as the one we are using is only temporary and will look much better when finished. More will be added to forum like personal blog abilities for members and the ability to download.
Once we have a fully working staff we will be able to maintain the site to a professional standard, in both topics and ideas. Also competitions will be held for members to enter here and along with the coming soon Lounge section be able to have fun with your fellow filmmakers. A good way to relieve the pressures

Comms
The comm system will be the biggest part of ikrew enabling voice comms, message centres and profiles that can connect you with unknown possibilities.
We will have the regular public voice forum for those intrigued and just starting as a member followed by private myKrew comms and finally the internal messaging service. We will also set up an IRC for those who like to idle and a universal messaging program for those who want to utilise msn, yahoo and so on.
More details to come soon......


ikast
iKast radio will be used to shower the members with news reviews and music to suit their tastes, with requests from you the member an important part of the station. On this will conduct interviews with actor's directors and anything related to film. Even broadcast your own work.

iKast TV will showcase your work whether through our future video network or through links to outlets like youtube and future myspace TV. It will become the entertainment centre for members to showcase their work and become legends in the hallowed ikrew halls hehe.
More details to come soon......


If I have missed anything out I will add it at a later date, but I would like to begin by saying welcome to ikrew and enjoy your time here. Thank you for taking time to read the letter and I hope it all goes well

Phil co-founder of ikrew

just to expand a few details I was clued in on today, the comms system will feature 5 local servers which can each hold 200 people for voice chat.
within joining Ikrew you can put your own "krew" together to work on projects (keep in mind this is still all free to use) and can have your own private channel just for your krew (yup still free)

without dropping names pre-emptively, they're also having some large business names as patrons, and have alot of interest in sponsorships, in addition to the "currently uk based" note, they're being sponsored to open in the US too, and are "absorbing" some currently existing websites.

anyway, long post, i've typed as much as I can remember off the top of my head, I know there's some interest about the place for this, and so I thought atleast some of you guys would like to hear about the place :)

[Mr. Hamrick]

definitely interested

big surprise, huh

could you shoot the add y to me or post the addy so I could check it out.

:)

[UnfluffyBunny]

well crap I knew I forgot something, lol
http://www.ikrew.com
(you may wanna jump directly to http://www.ikrew.com/forums )

[Reepicheep]

This caught my eye big time. Good find, UFB.

I'll have to check it out later.