A quick, but heartfelt CONGRATS to two IFP/Chicago members! First off, to Laura Cohen and Joe Winston for their film What’s The Matter With Kansas being selected as one of Roger Ebert’s 10 Best Documentaries of 2009!

And last but not least, congratulations to Lizzy Donius (former IFP/Chicago Executive Director) and Amy C. Elliott for their film World’s Largest being accepted into the 2010 SXSW Film Festival in the Emerging Visions Section!

Reported by ReelChicago.com

Toronto studio owner buys Ryerson Steel property

A $5 million state grant approved Friday set in motion the purchase of the former Ryerson steel property that will be converted into the biggest state-of- the-art film studio outside of Hollywood.

Cinespace Chicago, located on 50 acres of prime city property on the Near Southwest Side, is now under construction and one 330,000-sq. ft. stage could be ready for action by January.

Cinespace Chicago owner, Nick Mirkopoulos, is a highly successful and respected Toronto studio owner, who will invest an estimated $80 million to convert the six contiguous buildings into a film and TV production center.

When completed in 12-15 months, Cinespace Chicago will create a projected 6,000 jobs.

“A big studio like this is long overdue,” said John Coli, Sr., secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 727 and president of Teamsters Joint Council 25, who has worked tirelessly behind-the-scenes for several years in an effort to convince a major studio owner with a successful track record to establish a film complex in Chicago.

The Ryerson campus, as it is called, consists of 1.3 million sq. ft. of buildings under one roof, situated on 48.5 acres of land between Ogden and Western Avenues, a scant five miles southwest from State and Madison Streets in the Loop.

Mirkopoulos reportedly paid $18 million for the property. An asking price of $22-$26 million had been listed with an industrial real estate broker for the past 18 months.

Production business is expected almost immediately

After receiving news of the state grant approval Friday, Mirkopoulos on Monday flew his architect to Chicago to meet with contractors to immediately begin converting one of the property’s six 572×572-sq. ft. buildings into a sound stage, which is expected to be completed within an estimated 60 days.

“They claim they will have business for the studio by then,” said Coli.

Chicago will be an extremely attractive place to produce movies and TV shows, said Coli, thanks to unions that have committed to providing lower costs for filmmakers and Illinois’ sustainable 30% tax credit.

“The unions are very flexible and have liberal work rules, which makes Chicago very user friendly,” Coli said, which positions Illinois nose-to-nose with competitive film incentive states.

Most importantly, Coli added, studio business will have a tremendous, positive economic impact on the city, bringing new business to suppliers, hotels, restaurants and more.

Chicago’s “trickle-down” economic impact from film production revenues has been estimated at 2.5% for many years; meaning, the city benefits 2.5 times from movie-related expenditures.

With a studio of this magnitude, coupled with Chicago’s established infrastructure, crew and talent pool, Coli and Local 476 business manager Mark Hogan expressed confidence in a steady flow of visual media production here.

Nick Mirkopoulos has exceptional Hollywood connections that he has built over the 21 years he has been in the Toronto studio business.

The Chicago studio can be sold as a parallel production source, given the parity of the two locations in terms of incentives and the current rate of exchange.

The state grant money was part of Senate bill #1181 and was appropriated from the Build Illinois Bond Fund to the Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the purpose of building the studio.

Hogan, who represents approximately 800 members of the IATSE craft union, is so pleased with the immediate construction of the studio that he said “I can’t stop smiling,” as he anticipated the work the studio will generate for members, who have been working in Michigan for the most part.

“I see this studio as a start of a new era of Chicago filmmaking,” he said, “one that will put us ahead of the game for many years to come.”

Ryerson, Inc. is located at 2558 W. 16th St. John Coli, Sr.’s phone is 773/762-2121; Mark Hogan’s phone is 773/775-5300.

Copyright © 2009

Aaton A-Minima for sale with four prime lenses

Here’s what the package includes:
Aaton A-Minima Super 16mm Camera
w/ black & white video assist by Visual Products
one 200′ magazine
power base
4 pin AC power supply

Prime Lenses
Optar Illumina Four Prime Lenses
9.5mm  T1.3
12mm T1.3
16mm T1.3
25mm T1.3

The package is listed at $16,500 but there is a little room for negotiation. The camera is in mint condition, only shot 600′. The seller is based in Chicago if anyone is interested in taking a look at the camera in person.

For inquiries please contact Curt Wilkinson directly at curt.wilkinson@moody.edu

Radical Disciple: The Story of Father Pfleger

Gene Siskel Film Center
164 N. State St.
Chicago, IL, 60601
Friday, August 28 at 8.15pm
Sunday, August 30 at 5pm

Bob Hercules and Father Mike Pfleger will be present for a Q&A after the screenings!

IFP/Chicago member Bob Hercules is premiering his newest film, “Radical Disciple: The Story of Father Pfleger,” as part of the Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Friday, August 28 at 8.15pm. It will also show there on Sunday, August 30 at 5pm. The film chronicles the radical priest and his struggle against racism and injustice and how that struggle has brought him into direct conflict with Catholic hierarchy.

The Kindling Group has the following equipment for sale:

Camera Packages 1 & 2:  $5,000.00/each
JVC GY-HD110  HDV Camera
Porta-Brace Case
1 IDX VL2 Battery Charger
2 IDX 7s 14.8v  Batteries
1 Cavision wide-angle adapter
1 JVC BR-HD50 VTR Deck

Camera Package 3:  $5,000.00
JVC GY-HD110  HDV Camera
Case
1 IDX VL2 Battery Charger
3 IDX 7s 14.8v  Batteries
1 Fujinon wide-angle adapter
1 JVC BR-HD50 VTR Deck

Kona LHe Card w/ breakout cable and Xenyx 802 mixer:  $850.00

Cavision Baffles w/ Glass Filters:  $1,000.00
Tiffen ND 4×4 0.9
Tiffen ND 4×4 0.6
Tiffen ND 4×4 0.3
Tiffen 4×4 Black Pro-Mist ½
LEE 4×4 Polarizer

Filters are all like-new condition

For inquiries please contact Beth Sternheimer at The Kindling Group:
beth@kindlnggroup.org

IFP/Chicago Production Fund alum Hugh Schulze’s short film ARC OF A BIRD takes flight…and lands in Cannes!

ARC OF A BIRD by Chicago Director Hugh Schulze and Producer Stacey W. Evenson has been accepted in the Short Film Corner, organized by the Festival de Cannes, France. This Festival brings together, in a market setting, the inspiring, independent, and fringe short films that represent the hearts of filmmakers worldwide.
An 11-minute short, ARC OF A BIRD is a sensitive, mysterious film about the disappearance of an artist under strange circumstances after one of his paintings is connected to a series of miracles. A documentary film crew pieces together the details with interviews and archival footage.

Schulze was awarded a production fund grant by IFP/Chiacgo in 2007, and the film was shot in 5 days in May 2008. Evenson was a natural choice to produce, as the two had worked together on many corporate productions.

Resources for this project were provided by IFP sponsors, including Kodak, Fletcher Camera, and Astrolab, among others. Black Cat Films handled post-production, and the DI was done at Nolo Digital. Evenson put together an experienced crew and maximized limited cash funding.

“We are so grateful to all the sponsors for their support of our film and their continued support of IFP. Their generosity has brought this film to life,” said Schulze.

The trip to the Cannes Festival will be a highlight for Schulze and Evenson, in a season of film festival-related travel. Recent festivals the pair have attended include the British Film Festival in L.A., Honolulu International Film Festival (awarded a Silver Lei), and Houston Worldfest, where the film was awarded a Gold Remi. They were also present at the East Lansing Film Festival, where Schulze enjoyed the hoopla that surrounds a native son who has done well.

In honor of this film’s success, let’s all put on our sunglasses and take a stroll by the water…

http://www.cchangeinc.com/ArcSite/

IFP/Chicago Board Member John Fromstein and director Scott Smith of Fulton Market Films win the Wisconsin Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary with…

BEING BUCKY

When you are Bucky, you are forbidden to tell anyone. You do not get paid. You do it for the privilege of upholding a time-honored tradition. The time commitment is grueling enough. The smell of the head is worse. You never know when you’ll get to use a bathroom, but it doesn’t matter because you sweat so much. You can’t talk and you can barely see. When you are Bucky, everyone wants to shake your hand. All the girls want to hug you, and children are in awe. When you are being Bucky for the first time, you’re confused and disoriented and wondering why you ever got yourself into this. By the time you’re done, you don’t ever want to stop. Being Bucky changes you forever. Meet the seven students who play Bucky Badger, the mascot at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the 2007ñ2008 school year. Director Scott Smith grew up in Madison.
Directed by: Scott Smith
Director of Photography and Executive Producer: John Fromstein

Visit the film’s website for more info and to watch the trailer!

http://www.beingbucky.com/

See BEING BUCKY for its Chicago Premiere!

Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema
2828 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL, 60657
May 28 2009, 7pm & 9pm

Congratulations L. Mark DeAngelis!

Huge News: PBS Primetime National Broadcast for OUT OF FAITH

Those of you who follow independent film realize what a significiant bit of news this is. Although the film has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, public screenings (see our website), a national television broadcast usually results in a thousand times more viewers than most documentaries ever enjoy.

Be sure to visit their website to see what you can do to ensure that this great film made by a fellow member is screened in your area.