As we all know breaking in to the film industry is an almost impossible thing to do, unless you come from the right background, have endless supplies of cash to support yourself through long spells of unemployment, or lady luck is the girl next door. Although people still do make it there is an enormous waste of new British talent that goes completely unseen.

It is hard and we offer no easy answers. You will not become an instant movie star on joining, but you will get a chance to express your creativity and we offer bundles of enthusiasm to help you on your way.

Andy Isaac formed The Film Exchange after years of challenging the system that let him and others down. A lottery system that does not help anyone except those that have the right cash and profile to milk the funds. Fat cats who do not need the money, who could easily raise funds from other sources were given 30 Million plus, but those of us, the new talent the fund was designed to help, could not even raise 30 quid! Chris Smith proved to be useless and The Arts Council did what only the Arts Council could do, as usual back peddle nowhere and complain how hard things were.

The Film Exchange Works like this:

1. Membership is free.
2. The money raised through our website advertising buys the equipment to train you and make your projects.
3. We organise groups that exchange skills in order to get a project to a finished product.
4. This product is then presented to the people behind the closed doors through a network of parties and fun award ceremonies and by direct contracts from the industry.
5. Every member has the opportunity to complete a show reel showing what they can do or what they have learnt. Most employers need to see us in action and this is hard to do alone.
6. With The Film Exchange you are not alone.
7. The projects are filmed throughout the country, not just London.
8. Should you wish to learn a skill, then training schedules are available.
9. The Film Exchange also hires out the services of their members, the film actors, film crews, film technicians, film directors, film producers and film composers to people in the industry or people who have already started a low budget project and don't know where to go from there.

The Film Exchange have been alive and kicking for over a year now and in that short space of time has achieved some wonderful things for it's members and for the film industry as a whole:

• We have raised interest and funding for a special marquee, the first of it's kind, for independent films in Cannes. This is a major step forward for the short films and independent films that are being made not just by the Film Exchange but by you out there as well.
• We have received interest from massive organisations such as Miramax, who are also keen to reap the benefits from the crop of up and coming new talent which we are finding and nurturing.
• We have had over 50 film shoots this year alone involving our members and giving them valuable experience in front of and behind the camera.
• We have sold our ideas and enthusiasm to the industry without getting caught up or bought up by a marketing policy or coporate investors.