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New Speaker Series focuses on community media

(Traverse City, Michigan) January 7, 2010 – The Northwest Michigan Community Media Center/LIAA will launch a new “Speaker Series” focusing on community video/film production. The series will debut next Thursday, January 14th from 6:30-8PM at LIAA (324 Munson Avenue, Traverse City).

Laurie Cirivello, Executive Director of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center, will present Citizen Journalism: A Confluence of Traditional and New Media. At a time when traditional local news sources are facing challenges, citizen journalism is coming into its own in progressive communities. Ms. Cirivello will discuss how the Grand Rapids Community Media Center is establishing a network of news bureaus that give citizen reporters the tools, structure and medium by which to gather, write and report on local news and events.

The Speaker Series is open to the public and admission is free. No reservation is required. For more information please contact the Northwest Michigan Community Media Center/LIAA at (231) 929-3696 or visit upnorthmedia.org.

The Bay Theater is delighted to present Seraphine.
Not Rated - 125 min

Based on a true story, Seraphine centers on Séraphine de Senlis (Moreau), a simple and profoundly devout housekeeper whose brilliantly colorful canvases now adorn some of the most famous galleries in the world. Wilhelm Uhde (Tukur), a German art critic and collector - he was the first Picasso buyer and discoverer of naïve primitive painter Le Douanier Rousseau - discovers her paintings while she is working for him as a maid in the beautiful countryside of Senlis near Paris in the early part of the 20th century.

Visit the official website trailer and more!

Here's how it works:
One film per month -only $5.50 each
February 7-9 - Treeless Mountain (South Korea)

March 7-9 & April 11-13 - To Be Announced

Choose a showtime: Sunday @ 2:00, Sunday @ 5:00, Monday @ 6:00, or Tuesday @ 6:00.
Don't worry, if you can't make it to your showtime, we'll accept your ticket at one of the other times.
If you would like to receive a brochure complete with movie descriptions, photos, and subscription form, please send your mailing address to thebay@chartermi.net
Or call 231-271-5800.

The Northport Community Arts Center will once again host their movie series, starting Sunday, January 10 at 2:00pm with The Good Bye Girl, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings.   Followed by Chinatown on February 14, Paper Moon on March 14, and Robin and Marion on April 11.    All movies start at 2:00pm and are free to the public, but donations are appreciated.   For full description of the moives or more information contact visit the Northport Community Arts Center website or call 231.386.5001.

Michigan's movie production tax incentive, which became effective in April 2008, is drawing some of the industry's top movie makers to our region. "Youth in Revolt," which stars Michael Cera and Justin Long, was filmed last June in Lake Leelanau, Frankfort, and Empire.

MyNorth.com talks about some of the behind the scenes moments:

Lake Leelanau was one of several Michigan filming locations, including Frankfort, Ferndale and Ann Arbor. The sparkling, family-run Lake Leelanau RV Park transformed into Restless Axels Trailer Park for a full week, where Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad) played the leading man in the adaptation of C.D. Payne’s bitingly hilarious novel about whip-smart, sex-obsessed teen Nick Twisp.

Frankfort will once again play a part in the movie, as The Garden Theater will have a sneak preview later this month. The Record Eagle reported:

But in tiny Frankfort, the VIP is ... well, Frankfort. The refurbished Garden Theater there will offer a special screening of "Youth in Revolt," a movie filmed in the area in June 2008, on Dec. 29. It won't be released until next month. The "pre-screening" is scheduled for 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will be available beginning Saturday.

It took some work to score an early viewing, according to Rick Schmitt, co-owner of the newly restored theater.

"We've been working on it for over a year," Schmitt said. "I guess persistence was a factor."

Another movie currently be shot in the area, is A Year in Mooring by 2009 Michigan Filmmaker of the Year, Rich Brauer. All this activity means more money in our area's downed economy.

The 2009 Traverse City Film Festival, now in it's 5th year, strives to give movie goes," Just Great Movies," while helping to save one of America's few indigenous art forms - the cinema.  The festival, which takes place July 28 - Aug 2,  offers over 100 screenings, including free outdoor movies, panel discussions with film industry professionals, TCFF Film School, and  a few parties.  The festival has grown to become one of the largest film festivals in the Midwest and one of the most respected in the country.

Film festival organizers give special emphasis to foreign films, American independents, documentaries, and films which have been overlooked but deserve the attention of a public starved to see a good movie.  A couple movies worth noting include: Julie and Julia, about the early days of renowned chef Julia Child's career, and Julie Powell's attempt to cook and blog her way through all 524 recipes in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking,"  and  Waterlife, which presents a tour of the beauty and ecological distress of each of the five lakes.  Please visit the TCFF website for a complete movie guide.

For in-depth coverage of the Traverse City Film Festival, please follow festival sponsor, Absolute Michigan, as they offer a a special On Location: 2009 Traverse City Film Festival Blog.   The Absolute Michigan crew will be present during many of the movies, parties, panel discussions, and paying very close attention to the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council Meeting which takes place on Friday, July 31st.

Still hungry for more TCFF, visit Interlochen Public Radio for more festival updates, along with the TCFF blog, which is updated constantly.  Since you never know who you might see in the crowd, be sure to check out festival photos from the TCFF Flickr and the Traverse City Film Festival photo group.  Or reminisce with highlights from the 2008 TCFF.

Photo:  Panel Discussion by Beth Price from the Traverse City Film Festival 2008 slideshow.

Be Here Now is a film from Traverse City based Weston Film that brings together our community and its locations, talents and financial resources to showcase the region through a story that embraces local cultural arts and music.

Next Wednesday (May 13) there will be a fundraising reception at the Inside Out Gallery in Traverse City at 7 PM. Cast, crew and producers will be on hand along with musicians from Earthwork Music to screen the introductory trailer and discuss the project.

Click the poster for details!

This month the Traverse City Record-Eagle celebrates its 150th anniversary (check that link for their 40 page commemorative issue):

Traverse City, 1858: Rutted, muddy streets framed by wooden store fronts that touted dry goods and hardware. Saw blades screeched as they ripped into virgin white pine. American Indians camped on the mouth of the Boardman River.

And that November, 150 years ago, a businessman named Morgan Bates printed the initial edition of the Grand Traverse Herald. In doing so, he helped give birth to the Traverse City Record-Eagle.

Photo of Morgan Bates courtesy Traverse Area Historical Society.

In celebration of this milestone, the State Theatre is presenting five newspaper-themed movies. Citizen Kane and Newsies have already played.  Tonight you can see Deadline - U.S.A., Wednesday is The Year of Living Dangerously and Thursday is All the President's Men.

Traverse Area Community Sailing (TACS) presents the premier showing of Disney's Morning Light on Thursday, November 13 @ 6 p.m. at The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay with dinner across the street at The Village Inn.

The film the story of a group of intrepid and determined young men and women, on the cusp of adulthood, as they embark on life's first great adventure. Racing a high-performance 52-foot sloop in the TRANSPAC, the most revered of open-ocean sailing competitions, the crew of "Morning Light" matches wits and skills in a dramatic 2300 mile showdown against top professionals.

Tickets for the movie and dinner are $20 for students, and $30 for adults. Only advance tickets are available and can be purchased at Bahle's in Suttons Bay. For more information search the TACS website at www.tacsailing.com.

Traverse Area Sailing Team, including students from four area high schools, Sutton's Bay, Glen Lake, Traverse City West and Traverse City Central will be introduced at the event. Also, information will be available on how to join the area's only high school sailing team as well as how to enroll in TACS summer sailing camps. A non-profit organization, TACS mission is to teach and provide sailing opportunities to the young and old in the Grand Traverse Region.

Photo: Changing Gears by Jim Sorbie. See more pics of TACS right here!

Leelanau.com is a sponsor of the annual Traverse City Film Festival. We do this because it's one of the coolest events in our area year after year. Through the work of hundreds of volunteers, our area is able to host a film festival that can stand eye to eye with almost any in the world.

I really hope that you take some time, and some chances to see some of the great films that are still available like Anvil (which will be followed by a live performance of the band), Hamlet 2, Trumbo and many more. Even if you can't catch a film, there are filmmaker panels every morning at 10 AM at the Opera House and all kinds of things happening all over town like the premier of locally filmed movie Blind Pursuit at Inside Out Gallery (click for a trailer) and free movies on the big, big screen at the Open Space.

You can also follow along with photos from the TCFF Flickr and Traverse City Film Festival photo group and the TCFF blog which is updated constantly!

The photo is The Crowd by Raffi Appel and it's one of many in the Traverse City Film Festival 2007 slideshow.

My friends Micheal, Ingemar, Lisa and Rick of the band Song of the Lakes have a new DVD titled Live at Interlochen. It features a full-length movie of Song of the Lakes 25th Anniversary concert by Rich Brauer & Brauer Productions and the documentary Journey to Joy by Rebecca Glotfelty of Real People Media.

The DVD premiers at the State Theatre in Traverse City on Tuesday, March 25, 2008. Be sure to come because it's a fantastic show!

They'll have a link to order the DVD from their web site.