I found this in my notes online when reflecting on the success of Independent Filmmakers with the recent listing of The State Theater by the Motion Picture Association of America (click here) as the best in the world. It has been an interesting journey.
August 1st, 2005 4:13 pm
TC Film Fest Tallies 50,000 Admissions
Up north community rallies behind movie magic
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- The first Traverse City Film Festival was an overwhelming success, with nearly 50,000 admissions, 500 volunteers pitching in, the resurrection of a historic downtown theater, and sell-outs at most of the festival's 31 films.
"It was a success beyond anything we had imagined," said festival founder and Oscar-winner Michael Moore. "For a city that has a population of only 20,000, to have 50,000 admissions at a film festival here, words can't describe how we feel."
The festival screened 31 indie flicks, foreign films, classics and documentaries. Festival award winners, announced on closing day, included:
Scariest Film: "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
Preservationist Award: "Les Miserables" and "Italian for Beginners."
Stanley Kubrick Prize (for taking risks): Jonathan Caouette, "Tarnation"
Best First Film: Andrew Wagner, "The Talent Given Us"
Nonfiction Prize: "Czech Dream"
Fiction Prize: "Downfall"
Audience Grand Prize: "The Baxter"
Founders' Grand Prize: "The Edukators" and "Grizzly Man"
The festival will purchase copies of all 2005 films for three county library systems, providing free public access to the movies for all.
The July 27-31 festival's free daily panel discussions with directors, writers and Hollywood insiders were packed, and more than 6,000 turned out for the festival's free outdoor cinema along Grand Traverse Bay, where "Casablanca" and "Jaws" were shown. With 50,000 overall admissions, turnout for the inaugural festival was triple what organizers hoped for. Downtown businesses reported record sales for the week.
More than 115 local individuals and businesses rallied behind the festival to underwrite costs, including Michigan's former Republican governor William Milliken, founding sponsor Herrington-Fitch Foundation, and a local radio station that airs conservative icons like Rush Limbaugh. Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream was the festival's sole national sponsor. Festival partners included the world-renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts and its new film school.
The Traverse City Film Festival aims to bring "just great films" to the region. It was organized in about nine weeks by a core committee of about 20 local film lovers and a growing army of volunteers that soon numbered about 500 people.
Volunteers worked nonstop for four weeks to revive the State Theatre, which had been largely shuttered since the mid-1990s, and local businesses donated everything from carpeting and paint to pizza and tile to help restore the venue. Opening night at the State featured a lighted marquee, a packed house and the pre-teen dancers who'd starred in the acclaimed documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom."
For more information, visit www.traversecityfilmfestival.org.
August 1st, 2005 4:13 pm
TC Film Fest Tallies 50,000 Admissions
Up north community rallies behind movie magic
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- The first Traverse City Film Festival was an overwhelming success, with nearly 50,000 admissions, 500 volunteers pitching in, the resurrection of a historic downtown theater, and sell-outs at most of the festival's 31 films.
"It was a success beyond anything we had imagined," said festival founder and Oscar-winner Michael Moore. "For a city that has a population of only 20,000, to have 50,000 admissions at a film festival here, words can't describe how we feel."
The festival screened 31 indie flicks, foreign films, classics and documentaries. Festival award winners, announced on closing day, included:
Scariest Film: "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
Preservationist Award: "Les Miserables" and "Italian for Beginners."
Stanley Kubrick Prize (for taking risks): Jonathan Caouette, "Tarnation"
Best First Film: Andrew Wagner, "The Talent Given Us"
Nonfiction Prize: "Czech Dream"
Fiction Prize: "Downfall"
Audience Grand Prize: "The Baxter"
Founders' Grand Prize: "The Edukators" and "Grizzly Man"
The festival will purchase copies of all 2005 films for three county library systems, providing free public access to the movies for all.
The July 27-31 festival's free daily panel discussions with directors, writers and Hollywood insiders were packed, and more than 6,000 turned out for the festival's free outdoor cinema along Grand Traverse Bay, where "Casablanca" and "Jaws" were shown. With 50,000 overall admissions, turnout for the inaugural festival was triple what organizers hoped for. Downtown businesses reported record sales for the week.
More than 115 local individuals and businesses rallied behind the festival to underwrite costs, including Michigan's former Republican governor William Milliken, founding sponsor Herrington-Fitch Foundation, and a local radio station that airs conservative icons like Rush Limbaugh. Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream was the festival's sole national sponsor. Festival partners included the world-renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts and its new film school.
The Traverse City Film Festival aims to bring "just great films" to the region. It was organized in about nine weeks by a core committee of about 20 local film lovers and a growing army of volunteers that soon numbered about 500 people.
Volunteers worked nonstop for four weeks to revive the State Theatre, which had been largely shuttered since the mid-1990s, and local businesses donated everything from carpeting and paint to pizza and tile to help restore the venue. Opening night at the State featured a lighted marquee, a packed house and the pre-teen dancers who'd starred in the acclaimed documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom."
For more information, visit www.traversecityfilmfestival.org.
