Monday, September 15, 2025 - 7:00 PM

Monthly mixer for filmmakers to meet up, talk movies, and find crew for their projects

Location (Building)

Esquire Lounge 106 N Walnut St, Champaign, IL 61820

Saturday, September 13, 2025 - 2:30 PM

The 2025 Pens to Lens program will be screened at the Lake County Film Festival. See all the shorts again with a whole new crowd!

Tickets available here: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/WP51KZ4F499P3/checkout/MH4S6LTV5RZHGCOYKABX7KCU

Location (Building)

19351 W Washington St., Grayslake, IL 60030

A011
Monday, August 18, 2025 - 12:07 PM

A monthly mixer to meet up with other local filmmakers to discuss projects, screenings, and other movie related topics. This mixer will specifically be a de-brief of Pens to Lens

Location (Building)

Esquire Lounge 106 N Walnut St, Champaign, IL 61820

Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 3:00 PM

The annual red carpet gala for the Pens to Lens Student Screenwriting Competition. See locally produced shorts written by area K-12 students! See movie posters designed by local artists! Get your picture taken on the red carpet! Celebrate the creativity of our students and future filmmakers!

Location (Building)

The Virginia Theatre, 203 W Park Ave, Champaign, IL 61820-3928

Monday, July 07, 2025 - 7:00 PM

Champaign Movie Makers is hosting a crash course on everything you wanted to know about camera lenses. We'll go over how they work and more importantly, how they affect the image you're capturing. There will be a presentation following by Q&A session and experimentation with a few different cameras and lens options. If you have an interesting lens, bring it to show the group!

Location (Building)

Champaign Public Library 200 W. Green St. Champaign, IL 61802

Robeson Pavilion Room C
Monday, July 21, 2025 - 7:00 PM

A monthly mixer to meet up with other local filmmakers to discuss projects, screenings, and other movie related topics

Location (Building)

Esquire Lounge 106 N Walnut St, Champaign, IL 61820

Monday, June 16, 2025 - 7:00 PM

A monthly mixer to meet other filmmakers and discuss current projects

Location (Building)

Esquire Lounge 106 N Walnut St, Champaign, IL 61820

Thursday, May 15, 2025 - 7:00 PM

Free screening event hosted by the Chambana Film Society

When Will Miller came up to me after the screening of Oscar-Nominated documentary short films and told me he was a documentary filmmaker in the area, I didn't expect that he had Sundance-selected feature, and had sold ALL of his films to major shorts buyers (The Guardian, The New Yorker, The New York Times, PBS, etc.)

Will Miller holds a variety of jobs on these films, including Producer, Editor, Cinematographer, and Director. When I saw what a busy and successful filmmaker he was, I was excited about the prospect of showing his future work at various events, but almost immediately he told me that he had been in town for four years, and was leaving after graduation in May!
I hastily threw together this little event, to share a little of Will's work with a local audience, and hopefully have Will share some of his industry experience and wisdom with the local filmmaking community.
Schedule:
7pm: Doors open. Meet & Greet. 
7:30pm: Screening of Will's movies, as well as some current fundraising videos for his upcoming films. This should run about 40 minutes. 
8:10pm: Q&A with Will.
I hope to see you there!
Location (Building)

Analog, 129 N. Race St, Urbana

Friday, May 02, 2025 - 7:00 PM

The Illinois Student Film Festival is a festival featuring 15 short films made by students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There will be free concessions and refreshments, trivia, door prizes, and a filmmaker panel.

Location (Building)

Spurlock Museum, 606 S Gregory St., Urbana, IL 61801

Knight Auditorium