Are you in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, or points in between?  Are you part of a filmmaking community?  Then Docs In Progress Executive Director Erica Ginsberg would like to meet you.

She'll be coming to your neck of the woods in late August/early September en route to the National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture's (NAMAC) Leading Creatively Conference in Minneapolis.   While she could have flown, she decided this was a good opportunity for a roadtrip.  And since she's not the sort to be making a 20 hour drive in one long sitting, she decided to stop along the way to meet with counterpart organizations and filmmakers along the way.  This is very much a crowdsourced trip and she wants to get some feedback from you.

Here's a rough schedule:

Pittsburgh:

Monday, August 27-Tuesday, August 28

Cleveland:

Tuesday, August 28- Wednesday, August 29

Chicago

Thursday, August 30-Friday, August 31

Milwaukee

Monday, September 3 - Tuesday, September 4

Madison

Wednesday, September 5

NAMAC Conference in Minneapolis

Thursday, September 6-Saturday, September 8

Journey Back (via Indianapolis? Columbus? What do you suggest?) - September 9-14

Here's a little more on the goal of her trip:

FROM MARYLAND TO MINNESOTA: A ROADTRIP THROUGH TODAY'S FILMMAKING COMMUNITIES

The contradiction of a world connected by virtual communications and social media is that there is a greater need than ever for media-makers to connect with each other face to face.  As access to media production and distribution is further democratized, there is a new generation of filmmakers who are eschewing film school and production apprenticeships to make films, but are still yearning for a community of likeminded individuals.  How are media organizations (community media centers, nonprofit film organizations, or homegrown efforts) responding to these needs, especially outside of larger coastal film centers?

As Executive Director for Docs In Progress, a grassroots nonprofit organization which has built a community for emerging documentary filmmakers in the Washington DC area, Erica Ginsberg has been fascinated by what filmmaking communities are and can be.  En route to her first ever NAMAC Conference in Minneapolis, she decided to turn this question into a roadtrip into the heartland to look at what the needs and realities are of today's film communities.  In the days leading up to the conference, she'll be blogging about the filmmakers and film organizations she meets along the journey and ask others to share their own perspectives on what makes a strong filmmaking community in their own cities and towns.

So Where Do You Come In?

This is very much a crowdsourced trip.  If you are a filmmaker, let us know if you are in any of the cities en route and if you'd be interested in meeting up, have recommendations of film organizations not to be missed in your city, or just what you think about your film community.  We'd also love to know any recommendations for her return route that will still allow her to get home in about five days of max 5-6hour/day drives.  You can respond in the Comments here or, even better, respond via this survey.