When the historic Portage Theater on the Northwest Side reopened in 2006, attracting independent filmmakers was an important goal of the revitalization, says Dennis Wolkowicz, managing director and founding partner of Portage Theater Management.
Since then, the Portage has given the Chicago film scene a big boost by providing a theatrical venue for the many movies made by local filmmakers.
Besides indie films, the theatre hosts film festivals. The annual Silent Film Festival, featuring a live theatre organ, just ended and coming up Sept. 4-5 is the Star Trek Chicago Film Expo with William Shatner.
The theatre has 1,321 seats, a 20×40-ft. screen with 35 mm, 16 mm and DVD projection capabilities.
Rental rates range from $650 Monday through Thursday, and go up from there depending upon weekend availability.
“Lots of times independent projects have already spent all or most of their money, so they really don’t have a budget for test screenings and extensive set-up. We include all of that in our fee,” Wolkowicz says.
