MANY HOLLYWOOD AND LOCAL EXPERTS will lead seminars and panels May 7 during the Sundance Institute’s ShortsLab:Chicago at Columbia College, showing how filmmakers can show and promote their work, either at festivals or innovative distribution.
Speakers include directors Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Aaron Schneider (Get Low) and Kyle Henry (Room); from Sundance, film festival programmer Kim Yutani and shorts programmer Todd Luoto; Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler), Bob Mocydlowsky, Topspin Media, Linda Olszewski, co-head of Global Acquisitions’ for Shorts International, Romen Pidzyhun, Movieola corporate head of programming.
Local speakers will be DP Pete Biagi, SAG president Ilyssa Fradin and legal director at Lawyers for the Creative Arts Marci Rolnik.
Tickets are $150.
GORDON QUINN AND BOB HERCULES’ documentary A Good Man, about choreographer Bill T. Jones and his Lincoln bicentennial show at the Ravinia Festival last year, had its world premiere Sunday, April 17 at the Full Frame Documentary Festival in Durham, North Carolina.
Joanna Rudnick is producer. The filmmakers’ respective companies, Kartemquin Films and Media Process Group, coproduced. See agoodmanfilm.com
BEVERLY RIDGE PICTURES’ outfit drama Chicago Overcoat, starring Frank Vincent (The Sopranos) as a hitman taking one last contract to finance his Vegas retirement, screens at the 6th annual Mofest on Sunday, April 17, in advance of its home video release April 19 for Miami-based MTI Home Video.
The Mofest screening is at 8:30 p.m. at the Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Ave.
DIRECTOR JACK C. NEWELL and producer Don Victorine shot the web series pilot The Comeback of Buck Rydell: MMA Legend. Writer James Cook (Flannagan’s Wake) stars in the “over-the-top action comedy set in the high-octane world of professional mixed martial arts,” Victorine says.
Newell’s short Typing screened at last year’s Chicago International Film Festival. The three partners all attended the Second City Training Center. See buckrydell.com.
DANIEL NEARING (Chicago Heights) of 9:23 Films is in postproduction on the short film Goalie, featuring star Colorado high school goalie Tenner Creel. Rudy Thauberger wrote the script. Sanghoon Lee shot on black and white CineAlta HD. Seth McClellan (King in Chicago) produced.
See 923films.com
FORMER BEARS QUARTERBACK Jim McMahon will be featured in Derek Braasch’s Cheevies Film Productions’ spring premiere for his thriller feature The Icing, about an ex-cop (Tony Marino) who’s hired to assassinate a state senator.
It also features Katie Cleary (America’s Next Top Model), and Kelly Lamont. David Meyers wrote the script. Kevin Braash and Mark Sartain produced. See cheeviesfilms.com
FAITH PENNICK’S DOCUMENTARY Weightless, about Big Adventures, a scuba camp for overweight women, premieres Tuesday, April 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Intuit Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Pennick directed the 2007 abortion documentary Silent Choices. See orgchaos.com
IFP PRODUCERS SERIES EVENT May 18 is “Meet Your Digital Partners,” at the Nightingale Theatre, 7 p.m.
CHICAGO FILMMAKERS TRASH OR TREASURE SALE May 21-22 is accepting donations of cameras, tripods, decks, projectors, 16mm and Super 8 accessories, computers, hard drives, monitors and electronics of all kinds.
Proceeds will benefit Chicago Filmmakers to upgrade programs, facilities and gear. To schedule a pickup, Email coop@chicagofilmmakers.org, or call 773/293-1447.
PRIDE FILMS AND PLAYS 2nd annual Great Gay Screenplay Contest seeks stories with gay and lesbian characters or human stories of parenting, marriage, faith, and love that become a cultural bridge to understanding.
Final deadline is June 30. Five finalists’ scripts will be performed as staged readings at the Hoover-Leppen Theater at Center on Halsted, Oct. 23-26. Each finalist will receive $400. In addition, there will be one Juried Winner and one People’s Choice winner.
See PrideFilmsandPlays.com for details.
Send news of your indie films to Edmkoz@hotmail.com
