C-U Film Leader: 10.14.2015
The C-U Film Leader appears sporadically on C-U Blogfidential to point our readers towards interesting cinema activity relevant to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and the surrounding area. Please support the artists and their work, attend screenings and events, and otherwise become active in our wondrous little world!
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THE C-U FILM LEADER
10.14.2015
Featuring: CONSUMED shows in C-U,
Rentertainment videos saved & more!
What is wrong with us? Nearly two-and-a-half years have passed since we employed the C-U Film Leader to focus on notable news items in short order. Hit the list to find out what’s piqued our interest!
4 :: GMO-THEMED THRILLER TO CONSUME
SCREEN TIME AT THE ART CO-OP
Last week, Shatterglass Studios producer Brett Hays announced a push to pre-book local screenings of the all-star independent drama CONSUMED, directed by Daryl Wein (LOLA VERSUS) and primarily filmed in the Champaign-Urbana area two summers ago. The booking formula pioneered by Gathr Films, essentially allowing producers to four-wall screens using their guaranteed gross instead of pocket money, is the method CONSUMED partners Zoe Lister-Jones and Wein are using to play their fictional tale of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our foods and corporate shenanigans in the shadows. Some filmmakers have done well by Gathr including director Charles Burns of Champaign, whose Christian period adventure BEYOND THE MASK managed a $1.2 million theatrical gross earlier this spring. CONSUMED presentations are now set at the Art Theater Co-op in Champaign on Tuesday, November 17, a sold-out 7 p.m. show and a 9:30 p.m. encore with seating still available. Click here to reserve yours! Other Gathr-ings are in the works for the feature in Chicago, Brooklyn, Las Vegas, Berkeley, and Beverly Hills, also in November.
3 :: STRONG CAMPAIGN ARMS UIUC LIBRARY
WITH VIDEO COLLECTION
As we mentioned in June, University of Illinois employee Dena Strong launched an awareness and fundraising drive to rescue choice titles from the catalog of That’s Rentertainment before its August closure. With an intent to donate them to the massive University Library system at Illinois, Strong raised $4,000 through a GoFundMe effort and inspired the Library to allot $26,000 of their own funding to purchase 3,000 videos total from the store. As discussed in this announcement by Heather Murphy about the acquisition, local citizens with Library “courtesy cards” will have access to these films and television programs along with the campus-wide community once they’re set out. Until then, why not spend some quality time with the movies you scored during the Rentertainment sale or visiting the nearest surviving rental shop? Coincidentally, RogerEbert.com published over the weekend this compilation of anecdotes from their writing staff about the seminal video stores in their lives, tying in to the release of a similarly-themed memoir by media journalist Tom Roston, I Lost It at the Video Store (The Critical Press).
2 :: DEADLINES FOR MADISON, CHICAGO
FESTIVALS COMING SOON
A pair of indie- and Midwest-friendly events currently have Call for Entries open, filmmakers, so hit the following links if you consider any of your pieces “on the festival circuit” and in need of venues to play! Scheduled for next April in Madison, Wisconsin, is the 18th annual Wisconsin Film Festival, featuring a line-up heavy with international flair and a distinct side of “Wisconsin’s Own,” domestic fare with history connecting it back to the Badger State. (The New Art Film Festival selection THE CROSSING created by Johnnie May of Madison, for instance, made the cut at the 2015 WFF.) If your film meets this latter criteria, hit the official Web site for details; entries are due Tuesday, December 1, while student-produced work has its own deadline of Thursday, December 31. South of the state line, the 23rd annual Chicago Underground Film Festival will return to the Windy City next June; although their early deadline recently passed, windows are still open to meet the regular deadline, also on December 1, or the fashionable late deadline on Tuesday, January 5, in the New Year. Visit CUFF on-line for additional instructions.
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That’s it for today, friends. The Leader has spoken!
If you have news, opportunities, dates, or promotions that you would like included in CULead, please forward the relevant details to cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com.
Compiled by Jason Pankoke
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“The C-U Film Leader” no.85
© 2015 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.