Two of the three obvious benefits of being a filmmaker from West Michigan will be on stage as a part of the West Michigan Film Video Alliance's monthly 4Walls event next week.
For this very special night, the first benefit is the inclusion of three excellent panelists: Christian Gaines, executive director of ArtPrize; writer, director, and actor Anthony E. Griffin, who also happens to be the festival director of Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival; and Grand Rapids filmmaker Joel Potrykus. They will all be on stage to discuss how to navigate the choppy waters of the film festival circuit.
The second bonus is that this topic of advancing the talent of our region comes at a critical juncture in our filmmaking community's history; never before have so many tools and talent been in one place ... and in such abundance.
Potrykus knows this first hand based on the experience he had making his last two films, Ape and Buzzard. Both received international acclaim for his direction as well as for story and actors. (Buzzard's leading man, local actor and musician Josh Burge, made his mom so proud when he was named one of the Top 10 actors to watch this year after his SXSW debut.)
Not only did Potrykus win the Best New Director award for Ape at the 2012 Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, but his follow-up feature, Buzzard, premiered at SXSW and was picked up by film distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Before Gaines arrived in Grand Rapids, he worked in the film industry in various positions and was the Director of Festivals at the American Film Institute and Director of the Hawaii International Film Festival. He even worked with other film festivals, including Cannes and the Sundance Film Festival, as well as served as the Director of Festival Strategy and Business Development at IMDB.com.
Griffin is no shrinking violent, as he has proved well-versed in tackling just about any role a film has for him, from writer to director to even actor. He has shot and produced films that have been in more than 90 film festivals around the world and picked up awards, including best picture awards from India's The Stepping Stone Film Festival, The Twisted Spine Festival in Cleveland and Detroit's Shorts Festival. Even locally he is wracking up impressive numbers as the Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival has established Michigan as an international destination film festival for genre movies since its debut in 2006. (In 2014 the festival will land at UICA.)
Hoping to corral these folks on stage will be local filmmaker Chris Randall, who moved back to Grand Rapids after spending time in Los Angeles. Randall, along with Keith Golinski, founded Fulvew Productions in 2001, producing numerous television shows, commercials, web videos, music videos, and short films. Fulvew's first feature film, America’s Most Haunted, currently has North American distribution through Echo Bridge Entertainment.
And that third beneficial element I mentioned earlier? You.
Because if you have ever desired to make a film or be involved at some point of production, there has never been a local stage so full of such up-to-date and modern filmmaking expertise in one spot. If you are into film or simply curious about connecting to a community of filmmakers, please consider this insider's event.
Admission: $5 non-members, free to members.
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