Barbara Roche, Author at Reel Chicago News

R.I.P. Mary Kay, the calming voice of a chaotic industry

By Ruth Ratny Oct 27, 2011

If you remember my original Screen magazine you’ll undoubtedly recall the dulcet voice that answered the phone and faithfully took your messages. “I can still hear her voice...

Walmart leads pack of explosive Q4 spot production

By Ruth L Ratny Oct 26, 2011

THE COMMERCIALS DAM has burst and this last quarter of 2011 should be busy and profitable for the commercial production/post scene. Directors’ reps are swamped fielding agency...

Lewis Lazare

Groupon’s first in-house ads disappointingly mundane

By Lewis Lazare Oct 25, 2011

A major moment of reckoning is coming for Chicago’s very own tech darling (at least for now). Yes, we refer to Groupon, the online discount coupon company founded by former No...

Curtain Calls

Stage 773 gains Congo Square and Shattered Globe

By Kerry Reid Oct 21, 2011

STAGE 773 SHOWED OFF its newly renovated space on Sunday, Oct. 16 – and also gained two resident companies for the year. Congo Square Theatre Company, which lost its venue at ...

Lewis Lazare

DDB missed chance to keep Bud Light before the ax fell

By Lewis Lazare Oct 20, 2011

It has been said one can tell much about a man’s character from the way he handles defeat. If this is so — and we most assuredly believe it to be — then the image that DDB...

Alessandra hosts Coffee Break script Seminar Oct. 26

By Mike Morgan Oct 19, 2011

One of L.A.-based screenwriting guru Pilar Alessandra’s missions when she returns to Chicago Oct. 26 is to meet with one of her former students who writes for Rosie O’Donnel...

Reviews in: ‘Boss’ is a big winner with great future

By Ruth L Ratny Oct 19, 2011

EVERYONE HERE who worked on the Chicago-set, Chicago-filmed “Boss” - all the unions, the Cinespace owners, all of us who believe in our industry and want to see it thri...

Bob Newhart to be inducted in IBA Hall of Fame Friday

By Ruth Ratny Oct 18, 2011

With 50 years of entertainment under his belt and no signs of stopping anytime soon, actor/comedian and Oak Park native Bob Newhart will be inducted into the Illinois Broadcaste...

Stephen Baldwin to star in local $3 mm indie feature

By Ruth L Ratny Oct 18, 2011

More than a decade ago, local theatre and dance teacher and arts writer Lucia Mauro became intrigued with an equestrian statue on the Janiculum Hill in Rome: A woman wielding a ...

Lewis Lazare

Modesto and Immesoete bring new spirit to Marc USA

By Lewis Lazare Oct 18, 2011

So now we know. After months of waiting and wondering where Mark Modesto would turn up, it turns out he has landed just a short distance from DraftFCB, the shop from which...

Curtain Calls

Kohler-Drake is back with Actors Talent Group agency

By Kerry Reid Oct 16, 2011

The name “Maryann Ziesch” may not immediately register. But as Maryann Kohler-Drake, she spent over ten high-profile years as a film, television, and theater agent for Stewa...

Director Scott Smith wins IFO’s Shortcuts film contest

By Ruth L Ratny Oct 16, 2011

MULTI AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR SCOTT SMITH won the Illinois Film Office’s 4th annual Shortcuts short film contest with his 12-minute short, “A Certain Breed,” an humorous im...

Producers seek candidates for Chicago reality series

By Mike Morgan Oct 14, 2011

Yuri Rutman of Noci Pictures has teamed with two Hollywood partners to produce a pair of reality television shows that will be set and shot in Chicago and seek candidates for st...

Lewis Lazare

Walgreens’ ‘Ellen and Edith’ spot eases flu shot pain

By Lewis Lazare Oct 13, 2011

And you thought the world was full of them? Well, think again.When we inquired about the making of the latest Walgreens flu shot spot, aptly titled “Ellen and Edit...

Curtain Calls

Sandra Delgado recipient of $15,000 theater grants

By Kerry Reid Oct 13, 2011

SANDRA DELGADO RECEIVES THE $15,000 Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship from the William and Eva Fox Foundation and Theatre Communications Group. Delgado, a longtime member...

Lewis Lazare

New Yawker Rosie’s show leaves a lot to be desired

By Lewis Lazare Oct 13, 2011

Rosie O’Donnell, the VERY New Yawky talk show host unveiled her new talk-and-whatever fest, “The Rosie Show,” on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, this week. “The Rosie Sh...

John McGrath a partner in 3D/CGI shop re:think post

By Ruth L Ratny Oct 12, 2011

After an almost two year absence from local production, former Cutters’ general manager John McGrath came back in full force as a partner in one of the city’s first wholly d...

WIF Focus honoree Chaz Ebert reveals favorite films

By Kerry Reid Oct 11, 2011

In his newly released memoir, Life Itself, Roger Ebert begins the chapter about his wife with “How can I tell you about Chaz?” and says that “her love was like a wind push...

Lewis Lazare

“Limelight” nightclub doc also a lesson in marketing

By Lewis Lazare Oct 11, 2011

You really had to be there — to appreciate fully the new documentary film about fallen nightclub magnate Peter Gatien titled “Limelight, the Rise and Fall of New York’s G...

Filmmaker Harris takes a risk with Englewood Film Fest

By Ruth Ratny Oct 10, 2011

Filmmaker Mark Harris of 1555 Filmworks is doing something bold and brave, without any sponsorship support to speak of, for the love and hope of his neighborhood, which happens ...