Warehouse 21 Will Be Incubator for Budding Filmmakers
By the end of this year, Santa Fe's Judd Apatow wannabes will be making their own short films at Warehouse 21. Thanks to a gift of $5,000 in software provided by National Geographic's All Roads Film Project and the Santa Fe Film Festival, budding young filmmakers will find a creative incubator in the teen center's new space at 1614 Paseo de Peralta. The software will be used in the new 17,000-square-foot building's 16-computer media lab. The new $3.4 million structure is slated to open by the end of June.
"The Santa Fe Film Festival is definitely a future collaborator on future projects," said Ana Gallegos y Reinhardt, Warehouse 21's executive director.
National Geographic tries to support the communities in which it works, said Francene Blythe, All Roads Film Project director.
"When we have the resources to be able to contribute, National Geographic will do that," Blythe added. "We already have a partnership with the Santa Fe Film Festival. They know the community, and they thought this was a good idea. I had the software available."
In the past, Warehouse 21 has hosted "video slams" for students who produced films in school. The addition of the software in the new media lab will offer aspiring filmmakers additional freedom, Gallegos y Reinhardt said.
"This gives them the opportunity to do something outside of school," she said, "more cutting edge and more independent."
Santa Fe Film Festival attendees will provide mentoring for the students to make high-quality short films, she added. Warehouse 21 will host a screening of the films, and a panel of jurors will choose a few to premier at the Santa Fe Film Festival.
Warehouse 21 has historically drawn an average of about 2,200 people annually, Gallegos y Reinhardt said.
"It's come at your own whim— free and low fee," she added.
Construction on the new building started in September. The structure— 41/2 times the size of the original facility— will triple the center's occupancy potential with two performance spaces and a 250-seat theater, a fashion design studio and a gallery for teens and young adults. The organization will also offer Web design and game development.
When it opened about 10 years ago, Warehouse 21 was known primarily for its concerts, Gallegos y Reinhardt said. The old 3,500-square-foot building was demolished in April 2007. The center has been homeless for about 15 months. Gallegos y Reinhardt said to expect to see other arts organizations partnering with Warehouse 21, which has already raised the $3.4 million needed to pay for the building.
"It's like an adoption program, in a way," she said. "We are very fortunate that our building is paid for, so we're not in debt."
