Bob Dylan is in Chicago this weekend and as always he has me thinking about the times we live in.

Not too many years ago if you were a Chicago based filmmaker and didn’t have a production office in the 312 area code you were not a player. All of the major production houses, post-production facilities and recording studios were within a few blocks of each other. While many still are there, the film community has expanded and your physical location is nowhere nearly as important. These days an ftp server or secured website is as important as an office. More often than not we post rough cuts and let the client see them when and wherever they want to. This comes in very handy when a handful of people need to screen a cut.

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Last week I met with a potential student for the fall of 2008 who is trying to decide which discipline to select at Flashpoint Academy. I began as I always do in this situation, asking just one question: “Of these four creative areas, can you identify where your passion lies?” He started with detailed descriptions of his love for filmmakers and sound designers from the Czech Republic, “You’ve got to check out Daisies by Vera Chytilová,” he said. “It’s got an amazing soundtrack for a film from 1966.” He went on to say he’s planning a trip there next summer that will last three weeks, starting and ending in Prague—one last jaunt before school begins. He told me about the music he’s making, the videos he’s shooting and editing, the animation he’s messing around with. He also told me about his recent wanderings—to the East Coast and back—trying to find something that works for him. Finally, he said, not any one of these disciplines seems to speak louder than the others.

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