May Newsletter
Creative Chamber Pilot Program Launches, Needlestick Hits VOD, Cinetopia Primer and much more
As the month of May is quickly coming to a close and we celebrated Memorial Day weekend with family and friends while honoring our brave fallen service members of the armed forces, let's get ready for what will be an adventurous several months ahead. The MFDMO is launching a pilot program called the Creative Chamber and we'll fill you in on all the details. Also, happy to share some news about Michigan Film Incentive Alum, Needlestick, which recently hit the video on demand circuit and enjoyed a DVD/Blu-Ray release. We'll also get you primed for the soon-to-arrive Cinetopia Film Festival. That and much more inside this months newsletter.
MFDMO Launches Creative Chamber
Michigan: State of Creativity
Last week the Michigan Film & Digital Media Office launched the Creative Chambers initiative. This pilot program is spread across five communities: Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Traverse City. Creative Chambers is a program which seeks to fill a void that has long existed between the traditional business sector and the creative industries. Another important goal for the Creative Chambers is to attract, grow and retain talent among all of the creative industries thereby strengthening the creative economy across the entire State of Michigan.
Official Press Release:
Additional Articles:
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New "Creative Chambers" Program Aims To Attract And Keep Creatives In Michigan, Daily Detroit
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Michigan's job creation initiative focusing on creative industries, by Mike McNamara, Screen Magazine
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$1.5M state project pitches 5 Michigan creative centers, by Jim Harger, MLive
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Downtown Detroit Partnership gets $400,000 to launch Creative Partnership, by Tyler Clifford, Crain's Detroit Business
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MEDC Initiative Aims To Attract Creative Talent To Traverse City, The Ticker
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$222,600 to help grow creative jobs, by Mary Wardell, The Mining Journal
2017 Cinetopia Film Festival Primer
In its’ sixth year running, The
Cinetopia Film Festival will present 65 films in locations across southeastern
Michigan, specifically Ann Arbor and Detroit. The festival has grown from a
mere 5,000 attendees in 2012 to an expected 30,000 at this years’ festival.
Cinetopia 2017 will feature full-length dramas, comedies and documentaries
collected from film festivals all around the world. 30 of the films to be shown
are making Michigan premieres this year.
Screenings begin June 1 at the
Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, with The
Hero, staring Sam Elliot. The festival continues through June 11, with
screenings at the Detroit
Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Wright Museum of African
American History in Detroit, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and
the Maple Theatre in Bloomfield. Detroit
Free Press and MLive
have each made lists on the films they’re most excited to see at this year’s
festival.
Ticket prices range from $9-12 per
screening, or $150 for a full-festival pass. Full-festival pass holders are
invited to exclusive events and parties, as well as provided with complimentary
parking. There are six films that are free to the public, as well as Q&A’s
with directors, writers and stars before and after many of the films. Panel
discussions dealing with topics of film distribution and the life of the
creative, will be held after film screenings on June 3 and 10 respectively. Needless
to say, The Cinetopia Film Festival 2017 will keep you entertained during the
first weeks of summer, whether you’re attending just a single screening, or
staying for the whole festival.
How to watch Michigan Film Incentive alumni film, "Needlestick"
The doctor is in! The indie horror-thriller “NEEDLESTICK” stars Lance Henriksen, alongside Michael Traynor (THE WALKING DEAD), Harry Lennix (THE MATRIX Sequels, BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN, THE BLACKLIST), Katie Savoy (NCIS: NEW ORLEANS, SEQUESTERED, SHARKTOPUS VS. PTERACUDA), and Jordan Trovillion (JACK REACHER, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JOHN GOTTI) with a music score by Harry Manfredini (FRIDAY THE 13th) and cinematography by Bryan Greenberg. Filmed entirely in Detroit, the story develops as a young intern (Traynor) who comes to work for his mentor (Henriksen) but uncovers his macabre experiments to lethally extract a cure for aging from unwitting patients.
“NEEDLESTICK” is now available in stores at Family Video, online at Amazon.com, and video on demand on iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Dish, and numerous other outlets! Be sure to catch this Michigan-made film before your time runs out!
Watch the trailer below:
MCACA Grant Deadline This Week
 This is a reminder that
the grant deadline to apply to the Michigan Council for Arts &
Cultural Affairs is June
1, 2017, for arts-related projects taking place between October
1, 2017 – September 30, 2018. We don’t want you to miss this important grant
opportunity.
If you have questions
about applying for a grant with MCACA, contact the appropriate program manager:
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Alison
Watson: watsona11@michigan.org;
517-241-3968; for Operational Support grants (apply for up to $60,000)
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Chad
Swan-Badgero:
badgeroc@michigan.org;
517-373-8669: for Arts in Education Residency (apply for up to $20,000)
and Project Support grants (apply for up to $30,000)
They're looking forward to receiving your
application. And remember: READ
THE GUIDELINES (this is our best piece of advice). You
can find those on our website.
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Integrate a CS First education into your summer camp
Looking for a great summer program activity for 4th-8th grade students ? Consider starting a CS First Club!
We are the Michigan Film & Digital Media Office, and in 2015, we partnered with GOOGLE to offer the free, online CS First program to Michigan middle schools and middle school students. You can learn more about our unique program here.
By registering for the CS First club through our portal, your club is eligible for some special ‘extras’ : up to 20 free headphones for your location, an opportunity to enroll in a digital badging program that allows you to certify that your students have earned their badges (this is a distinct take-away for the student … their badge can be posted to their social media sites, etc.), and an opportunity for active clubs to participate in an annual winter event focused on digital technologies and the local organizations/businesses that employ that technology.
2017 Courageous Persuaders Awards Celebration Recap
 On Wednesday, May 3rd, the Detroit Auto Dealers Association presented the 2017 Courageous Persuaders Awards Celebration at the Emagine Theatre in Royal Oak. Courageous Persuaders is an annual scholarship competition, awarding students who make short films to warn of the dangers of drinking and driving and texting while driving. One feature unique to the Courageous Persuaders competition is that a portion of the judging is taken through peer voting.
We want to congratulate all the winners from this years competition, and offer a special shout out to Becca Messner of Royal Oak High School who won the Michigan Film & Digital Media Award this year.
Article:
Nearly $30,000 in Scholarships Awarded to High School Students at Courageous Persuders Gala, PR Newswire
View Photo's:
Courageous Persuaders 2017 "Red Carpet Arrivals
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Upcoming Events
June 1-11 - Cinetopia Film Festival - Detroit & Ann Arbor
June 2-4 - Festival of the Arts - Grand Rapids
June 6-July 4 - Ann Arbor Summer Festival
June 7 - Sunrise 002 - Detroit
June 8 - Detroit Creative Corridor Center Networking Event - Cinema Detroit
June 8-July 11 - Detroit Music Weekend
June 9 - Taste of Country - Lansing
June 10 - Pony Ride Market Summer Series - Detroit
June 15 - Symphony in D - Michigan Premiere - Detroit
June 10-25 - Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival - Metro Detroit
June 15 - NPR Presents, Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me - Detroit
June 16 - Northbound Season 2 Red Carpet Premiere - Iron Mountain
June 16 - Tech Trek - Ann Arbor
June 22-25 - Electric Forest 1st Weekend - Rothbury
June 23-25 - Detroit River Days
June 29-July 2 - Electric Forest 2nd Weekend - Rothbury
June 30 - 99.5 WYCD Hoedown 2017 - Detroit
July 6-9 - Common Ground Music Festival - Lansing
July 13 - Lowing Studios Summer Party - Grand Rapids
July 16 - 1st Annual Detroit Festival of Books
List of Summer Festivals via Detroit Free Press
List of Summer Concerts via Local Spins
*If you have an event, festival, or workshop/seminar with a creative bend to it which you would like promoted through this monthly newsletter or on the MFDMO website and/or social media channels, please send the full details to mfo@michigan.org. Thanks!*
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