by Robert Stewart

    A life-long love of movies and an eagerness to make his own films have led Seward resident Jeremy Bishop to be elected vice-president of Nebraska Independent Film Projects (NIFP).
     Bishop said the comment he hears most often when talking to people about the NIFP is, "I've never heard of it before." With his election to vice-president of the group he hopes to change that.
     "One of our big goals this year is to get more publicity, to get our name out there," Bishop said.
     According to their website www.nifp.org, "The NIFP was created and received a 501(c)3 status in 1991 as an educational and fiscal support group for Nebraska filmmakers...Through our 501(c)3 status we are able to act as a fiscal sponsor to member filmmakers. This means we can act as an umbrella for those seeking funding through other organizations that require non-profit status and private individuals that wish to make a donation towards a specific project."
     Bishop said, in practice, the NIFP works as more of a collective allowing members to draw on each other's expertise and to access equipment for use in creating films.
     "(The NIFP provides) someone they (filmmakers) can call and say, 'Hey, I have this problem, what can I do?'" Bishop said. "There's a lot of collaboration in the group. Some members will be working on a project and a few other people will come over and help them out."
     Bishop said the variety of people involved in the NIFP creates a wider knowledge base for aspiring filmmakers, stating that the NIFP covers independent film, photography, animation and "pretty much anything involved with film."
     Bishop's election to vice-president of the group typifies the casual unity that exists at the NIFP.
     "The former vice-president moved to Wyoming. I just threw my name in and was voted in," he said.
     Bishop has been a member of the NIFP for three years and first found out about the group after hearing an advertisement for a short-film competition on the radio. The NIFP was involved in the competition and Bishop entered and won third place. He joined the group not long after, feeling as though he had found a community of like-minded individuals.
     "I've watched movies for as long as I can remember," he said. "It would have helped me if I'd known about this years and years ago."
     As vice-president, Bishop said his only official duty is to stand at the group's monthly meetings should the president be unable to attend. Other than that he has freedom to develop the office as he sees fit.
     "When I started, the president told me my duties would be whatever I make of them," Bishop said.
     In addition to getting the word out about the group, Bishop would like to create projects that draw on the community of filmmakers involved in the NIFP and that support burgeoning filmmakers.
     "We've talked about all the members of the NIFP pitching in and working together on a project," he said.
     He would also like to develop a summer workshop for high school students that would provide them with the basic knowledge and tools to make movies and start a mentorship program for members of the NIFP so younger members would be able to benefit from the experience of long-time filmmakers.
     Bishop has made several short films here in Seward and would like to see people take advantage of available technology and go out and make their own movies.
     "We can do things that 20 years ago would have taken a half-million dollars worth of equipment and now you can do it for a couple thousand dollars," he said.
     Bishop has his own camera and editing set-up and relies on friends to help with the movies he has made.
     "Almost exclusively the people I've worked with have been from Seward," he said.
     For Bishop, being a part of the NIFP and making movies is what he wants for the long-term.
     "It's like they say, 'This is what I want to do when I grow up,'" he said.