The Nashville Filmmakers Guild began like most groups, it started with a need. A need for community, growth and collaboration. Jon Bufkin saw this and through his friends and acquaintances sought to begin a group that would fill the void that he and others knew could be filled.
On January 13th 2014 NFG held its first meeting in the upper room of Bongo Java, situated near the campus of Belmont University in Nashville. From that initial group a Facebook group began as a way to communicate between monthly meetings. The group grew from a few dozen members to a few hundred within a matter of months. Many people in the group knew something unique was happening. Each month brought new insights from the very people the community embraced as their own. The same people learning one month was sometimes teaching the next month, the essence of community was permeating the walls of the meeting room.
By the fall of 2014 the group had grown tremendously but at the same time Jon Bufkin was fighting his own personal battles with cancer. Sadly, in December of that year Jon passed. But the group saw what Jon had started and realized a promising future. Interim director Bobby Marko took the helm and with the help of a core team made up of Nathan Thompson, Brian Hallett and Scott Simmons, the group expanded it's vision always keeping the core mission at the heart, to elevate the film and video community in Nashville.
Since re-launching the group in April of 2016 NFG has grown leaps and bounds. It has incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non profit organization. It has pulled in sponsors from leading industry companies such as Abel Cine, Blackmagic and G-Technology. 2016 also saw the launch of the organizations workshop series that included topics such as lighting, VR/360 Video Capture and partnering with Kodak to allow attendees to learn how to use and operate actual film cameras! NFG has expanded its social presence by adding Instagram as a way to elevate the work that the Nashville creatives produce. All the images on the NFG Instagram account are re-posts of how the members in the community work.
The core vision of NFG, to elevate the community through education, collaboration and inspiration, isn't only lived out by doing, it's realized by being, in the minds of its members and all who participate. If it is truly believed that the members are better together, then being an NFG member can play a vital role in the betterment of the Nashville and Middle Tennessee community.
