Amy Widmer wanted to follow a different career path.
“I’d worked in retail and food service for 10 years. I wanted a big girl job,” said Widner, who started at the Georgia Film Academy in Augusta in January and is now in the internship phase of the program. She’s also working in the film industry.
The Georgia Film Academy has a partnership with Augusta Tech and Augusta University, and classes begin for the fall semester on Aug. 23.
“GFA classes are a fast track towards gaining the needed knowledge and experience to work in the film industry. GFA classes are available for traditional or nontraditional students, and welcome anyone considering a career change or second career,” according to a news release
Classes are held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.Tuesdays at IndieGrip on Gordon Highway. IndieGrip provides lighting, camera and technical crew for film projects.
The program has three components.
“There’s an intro, core courses and the internship,” said Terrence Williams, who instructs the classes and is the operations manager at IndieGrip. “It’s a six to eight-month program.”
IndieGrip has been in several locations but moved into a former Krispy Kreme restaurant about five years ago.
The film industry is booming in Atlanta with Augusta serving as a central location for films in Columbia, Savannah, Macon and of course, Augusta.
IndieGrip is currently part of a project in Columbia.
Williams has worked on several films in Augusta alone in the past few years. Some of those films include ‘The Suicide Squad,” “Christmas Party Crashers,” “Detroit Crossing,” “Awaken,” “Applewood,” “The Hill,” “The Royal” and “Agent Game.”
“I’ve done a lot of Hallmark. They are a great company to work for,” he said.
Widmer said she’s glad to have made the move to go to the film academy.
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She’s had the opportunity to work as a production assistant in a couple of movies as well as working in grip and electrical. She hopes to move up the ranks to eventually work in the art department on films.
“When you watch movies, you don’t know how many people it takes to make a film,” she said.
As more productions are brought to Augusta, it’s important to have crew available locally to fill gaps, according to Jennifer Bowen, Film Liaison with Film Augusta.
“Growing the local film crew is an important piece of continuing to grow the film industry in our community. If you’ve ever been interested in working in film or television production this is a great way to start,” said Bowen, in a news release.
To register, visit https://eris.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/fscmUI/learning/index.html
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
