Leslie Forrester co-stars in a reality series with her famous father

Earlier this year, Towers Productions was looking for unique Chicago women for a proposed reality TV series. In the process, they met Leslie Forrester, who embodied the qualities they sought – but for a different show, as it turned out.

That show, “Plastic Royalty,” with registered nurse Forrester and her famous cosmetic surgeon father, Dr. Leon Forrester Tcheupdjian, bows Sept. 5 on NBC/Ch. 5.   More >

Mayor Richard Daley bolsters Chicago's tech industry

Chicago’s technology industry got a big boost Tuesday when Mayor Daley announced the formation of the Mayor’s Committee on Technology Infrastructure consisting of 20 respected Chicago tech leaders.

They offer specific suggestions on how to meet the explosive and unique space needs of the technology industry for the next generation of tech-based companies and entrepreneurs, the mayor said.

“The fast-growing technology field is an essential part of our plan to make Chicago the most competitive destination in the world for new businesses and new jobs,” Daley said.   More >

Winning team leader Mitch Apley holds trophy for three top awards

“It was crazy,” says Resolution Digital Studio executive producer Mitch Apley, referring to both sweeping 48 Hour Film Production Awards Tuesday night and the non-stop production of the multi-winning film within the exactly 48 allotted hours.

His Aisle 12’s 25-person team won 10 awards out of 14 categories for their 7-minute short, “Everything Tastes Better,” created within the fantasy genre.   More >

In the off chance you can't personally make it to the Detroit International Jazz Festival this Labor Day weekend, just fire up the your laptop or mobile device and tune into Jazz Planet.tv 24/7.

"The technology is putting us on the cutting edge. Great Jazz is now coming to your universe," says Detroit Jazz Festival executive/artistic director, Terri Pontremoli.   More >

New York-based George Motz, Food Film Festival founder

The upcoming first Chicago Food Film Festival has all the ingredients to become a staple of the city that loves to eat and watch films – paired for the first time together in a weekend event.

Concentrated TV partners Mark Cwiakala and Jon Singer, and director George Motz are staging the food-film collaboration Sept. 24-25 at the MCA Warehouse – another first for a screening venue – in the Fulton Market district.   More >

Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris in “What’s Wrong with Virginia” Courtesy TIFF

“What’s Wrong with Virginia,” the first feature produced by TicTock Studios of Holland, Mich. last year and shot on many West Michigan locations, will have its world premiere at the 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival Sept. 15.

It will screen as one of the 18 “Special Presentations,” a category shared with premieres of Woody Allen’s “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” and Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter.”   More >

Actresses Jessica London-Shields and Jacqui Jackson

WENDY JO CARLTON, director of the Sharon Gless drama “Hannah Free,” which won acclaim on the LGBT festival circuit last year, is shooting her follow-up feature, the lesbian romantic comedy “Jamie and Jessie are not Together” in September.

“I’m making the kind of film I want to see more of—a cross between a lesbian buddy movie and a romantic comedy,” writer-director-producer Carlton says.   More >

September 2 - CHICAGO PREMIERE OF “COASTING,” a romantic feature by writer/producer/director Michael P. Noens and co-writer David B. Grelck, starring Jonathan C. Legat, "White Out") and Lauren Stephanie Wyatt, ("Off-Loop") that takes place in the fictional small town of Stillwater, Ill.

At Stages 773, 1225 W. Belmont, 7:30 p.m., tickets $10, available for purchase at coastingmovie.com.   More >