OHIO– After graduating from Denison University in Granville, this group of eager young filmmakers packed up and headed to the big city - Not L.A., not New York...but Columbus. 

Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, Loose Films has expanded from working across Ohio to all over the world, but Ohio will always be home.

​“I did a one month job in new york city like right between starting loose films and being out of school, and I was miserable at that job. It was like a freelance animation thing, and I was like I don’t want to live in new york city although I love visiting it - came back here and just started doing anything we could do.” Loose Films’ Ori Segev tells us. 

And they really have done a bit of everything...

“We’ve done documentaries, short films, music videos that we’ve submitted to film festivals and have kind of gone in the film festival circuit. But in order to keep the business going we’ve also worked with a lot of clients here in Columbus and a lot of agencies around the world really,” says Loose Films’ Noah Dixon. 

They’ve also built relationships across the state that have helped build their business. 

“Ohio’s been great. We’ve met a lot of other filmmakers, and it’s got us really excited, and it feels like a great place for us to be as filmmakers and I think it does feel like it’s up and coming and there’s a lot of things happening.”

 “We definitely found our place there’s so many people in our network that are amazing filmmakers we work with them on every project. We kind of have this loose crew that we continue to use on projects …we’ve all gotten to grow with each other as well and that’s kind of what we started this company with…with that idea.”

An idea that has caught on, giving them opportunities all over the globe, and generating income that can also support their original works. 

“What’s really cool about the film industry in general and us being here in Ohio…a lot of our clients are all over the world, so we’ve traveled almost everywhere in the U.S. We’ve gone to Mexico, Paris, but Columbus is this home base for us. It’s super important because after those projects when we want to work on something creative that’s a loose original…we have this home base that we can afford.”

And affordability has been key to Loose Films’ success---a big reason they have put down roots in the buckeye state. 

So how much of an incentive is that when you can do it for a lot less? 

“It’s a huge incentive.” says Dixon. 

“Being here the past five years we’ve been able to buy a lot of our equipment, rent studio spaces for a lot cheaper than if you’re out in L.A., and that’s been super important for us as we build our portfolio and work on more and more projects.”

And has there ever been an itch go out west? 

Dixon responds, “we do travel out west to L.A. sometimes or in new york, and we have friends that have done that….Right after graduating from college, they moved out to those big cities, but I think it has been really beneficial for us to kind of work on our craft here in Columbus so that when we do go out to la or new york, we’ve perfected our craft here in Columbus - so I think that’s been really beneficial for us.”

As for what’s next for the budding filmmakers? 

“We’re really excited …we’re in the process of shooting our first feature-length film here in Columbus using Columbus based talent…Columbus actors and actresses. It’s kind of a big undertaking for us to be working on our first feature-length film and it’s kind of comforting to know that we’re working with people we’ve worked with the past five years.”

“it’s been one of the most amazing things we’ve all gotten to grow together and just continue to make projects that we’re proud of and doing that with your best friends…you can’t complain.”