September Newslettter
Film Fest anyone? ArtPrize On Screen, Fresh Coast, Hell's Half Mile and Soo to name a few.
Just when it seemed as though the Fall season had dug in its heels and was here to stay, Mother Nature does us a solid with at least another week of Summer-like weather. So please, put away the pumpkin spice and get outside and enjoy some Pure Michigan sunshine.
Schedules seemingly become jam-packed each Fall, and that is certainly the case with film and creative industry related events. In this months newsletter, we'll cover ArtPrize On Screen, the Fresh Coast Film Festival and the Soo Film Festival. We'll also recap what was a successful few days of the Digital Summit Detroit and get you primed for the upcoming Detroit Design Festival.
Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Traverse City Creatives Sought to Collaborate on Creative Chamber Initiative
 Calling all creatives in:
- 1)
Advertising 7) Fashion, Garment & Textile
- 2)
Architecture 8) Film, AV & Broadcasting
- 3) Arts Schools, Artists & Agents 9) Literary, Publishing & Print
- 4) Creative
Technology 10) Music
- 5) Culture &
Heritage 11) Performing Arts
- 6)
Design
12) Visual Arts & Craft
The Michigan Film & Digital Media Office and its
designated 5 local business organizations are here to serve you! Our partners
are working at the local level to help you unleash your potential as a
creative, grow your creative or traditional business and elevate your community
as a great place to live, work and play.
First thing’s first - we need to know who and where the
members of Michigan’s creative industries are. Please help us serve you by
completing the form below. This information is critical to informing future
outreach and engagement, which will be led by our designated local business
partner.
ArtPrize On Screen Debuts This Week
 ArtPrize On-Screen is back for another year! Sponsored
by the MFDMO, 13 films will be playing between September 20th and 23rd,
beginning with the highly creative Dina
and ending with futuristic The New
Radical. These diverse films are bound to make an impact on anyone
watching.
Kicking off the week, Dina is a film about a
neurologically diverse couple trying to navigate a world that doesn’t
understand them. But when 49 year old Dina asks her fiancé, Scott, to move in
with her, anxieties and insecurities overshadow any outside complications.
Screening at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday,
September 20th. Preceding this is the Michigan made short film It Ain’t Over, telling the story of a
retired pastor with ALS.
Next is 12th and Clairmount, a
documentary, with home video footage supplied by metro Detroiters, about the
causes and aftermath of the 1967 riots. This event shaped the city into what it
is today and will hit a chord with any Detroiter. Screening at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, September 21st.
Preceding this is the Michigan made short film The Festival, about the Bay-Rama Fly Fish Festival.
Friday,
September 22nd is jam-packed with features, at 11 a.m., 6 p.m., and 9 p.m.,
respectively. First is the GRPS Student
Screening of More Art Upstairs,
which tackles the question: can culture be democratized? Preceding this is the
Michigan made short How Do We Sing?
Following is The Vietnam War, a documentary that took six years to make,
collecting archival footage, firsthand accounts, and much more. This epic tale
capture the Vietnam War in a way that has never been seen on screen. Preceding
this is the short film Official Shorts.
Lastly, the Public Screening of More Art Upstairs. Now it’s your
turn to answer the question: can art be democratized? This is preceded by the
short film Red Skies.
Finally, we have two films lined up for Saturday, September 23rd.
First is Human Flow, a documentary, filmed in 23 different countries to
capture the mindboggling breadth of the global refugee crisis. Screening at 6 p.m. This is preceded by the Michigan
made short Manifesto. And, last but
not least, the final feature of the program: The New Radical. In a
world filled with embittered young people, born into a dreamless and
corporatized generation, Cody Wilson and Amir Taaki create an App that allows
users to “go dark”. But when you’re facing the government, there’s no guarantee
of survival. Screening at 10 p.m.
This is preceded by the Michigan made short film The Party Foul.
All of these movies are screened at the Ladies’
Literary Club, at 61 Sheldon Blvd SE. You can get your tickets in advance here:
https://celebrationcinema.com/artprizeonscreen
. Now what are you waiting for? Get your tickets now and enjoy the show!
Freshcoast Film Festival Promotes Our Great Lakes Lifestyle
 Do
you have a passion for film, the great outdoors, and athleticism? Then look no
further, as Michigan will be hosting its second annual Fresh Coast Film
Festival beginning October 19-22 in the Lake
Superior harbor town of Marquette. This new tradition will be held during the
peak of fall, as green fades to orange, and mother-nature’s warm breath slowly
starts to become frigid. This film festival is an incredibly genuine, as some
of the world’s leading environmental activists and filmmakers will come
together to witness a unique form of storytelling centered on the Great Lakes
and its astonishing culture.
This year, the Fresh Coast Film Festival
is expected to screen 100 films at seven different venues in downtown
Marquette. One of the venues is the historic Delft Bistro, a restaurant that
provides customers with an appetizing dining experience with a surprise twist
of cinematic entertainment. Before its modification into a restaurant in 2016,
the Delft Bistro was originally built in 1914 operating as a movie theater.
This venue once premiered many classical role, and despite its gentrification,
it still plays a role in Marquette’s rich history.
Despite
being a film festival, the Fresh Coast Film Festival is capricious to a film
festival’s generic tone. The festival provides its guests with a wide range of
activities to do around the Marquette area prior and during the event. Some of
these activities include early morning yoga classes, hiking on the Echo Lake
nature preserve, mountain biking around the south trails and more. The festival
will also feature a family-friendly concert featuring the Grammy-winning Okee
Dokee Brothers. The most tenacious reason for any film or outdoor enthusiast to
attend is the networking benefits with outdoor athletes, environmentalists,
media specialists, and business professionals and executives in the outdoors
industry.
For
more information on how to submit a film, purchase ticket packages, volunteer
or to subscribe to the festival’s newsletter, visit https://freshcoastfilm.com.
Ampersand Project Sets Marquette Creative Chamber Up for Coworking Success
 What is Ampersand Coworking?
Ampersand Coworking will be right in the heart of downtown Marquette, in the
Masonic Square. At 5,200 square feet, there will be enough room for fifty people
to work, side by side, in a variety of workspaces. There will be nine private
offices, fifteen semi private desks, and twenty five open work stations
available to rent by the day, week, month or year. Ampersand users will have
access to all amenities including conference rooms, printing service, community
programming, mail service and all the coffee they can drink. Ampersand will be
so
much more than just a space—it'll be a collaborative environment, curated
around community. It will provide affordable alternatives for modern businesses
to call home.
Ampersand Coworking is a project of the Marquette Chamber of Commerce. Using
the traditional strengths of Chambers, networking & cost sharing, we are
building something that serves our members, and the community, while ensuring
Marquette stays in sync with the modern economy.
For more information, visit www.ampersandco.work
Additional Articles
Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival Brings Together Cinephiles and Audiophiles in Bay City
 The 2017 Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival (HHMFMF) combines the best of independent film and music over the course of next weekend in Bay City, Michigan. What really sets Hell's Half Mile apart from other film festivals is that it truly is a grassroots effort, supported by film and music aficionados in the Tri-Cities and Great Lakes Bay regions.
At last years festival, event organizers partnered with Seed&Spark to bring an innovative concept HHMFMF. They began a crowdfunding rally, in essence turning film goers into film contributors for projects the audiences most connected with. The Michigan Film & Digital Media Office took note and in 2017 we made the crowdfunding rally at HHMFMF part of our official sponsorship. We certainly support independent film and because HHMFMF is so ingrained in their local community and throughout the state, the sponsorship seemed like a natural fit for us. We hope this clever format of crowdfunding can be adopted at other festivals around the state.
With 21 feature length documentaries and narrative films and 41 short films, the HHMFMF definitely has the variety of content to please most any taste.
HHMFMF's musical lineup also boasts a wide variety with musical styles ranging from Synthpop to Delta Blues to Indie Rock to Punk and bands which hail from Atlanta to Detroit to Chicago to Nashville. In total, 16 bands and musicians makeup this years lineup.
So make your way to Bay City next weekend and support some wonderful independent films and music!
Michigan Film & Digital Media Office to hold Advisory Council meeting at Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival
The Michigan Film Office Advisory Council will meet at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, September 29, 2017 at the Space Explorers Hall, Delta College Planetarium & Learning Center, 100 Center Avenue, Bay City, MI 48708. Driving directions can be found on Mapquest.com.
You can see the agenda HERE.
If you are an individual who needs special accommodation or arrangements at this meeting, please contact the Michigan Film Office (see below) as soon as possible, and before the date of the meeting, to notify us of the special assistance you may need.
Please call or write:
Michigan Film Office Attention: Lynn McNamara
300 N. Washington Square – 4th Floor
Lansing, Michigan 48913
Phone: (517) 373-3456
If you plan to make comments or give testimony at any of the MFOAC meetings, please bring your comments in written form, with sufficient copies for the MFOAC members. To contact the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council please email: MFOAC@michigan.org.
Soo Film Festival Extended to Six Days
 The 2017 Soo Film Festival (SFF) had a bit of a different look than in years previous. Not because of a shortage of great films, but this years festival added a few additional days in order to better accommodate all that amazing content.
SFF got underway last Tuesday evening with a screening of the poignant documentary feature "The Stone Circle," and closed with Sunday evenings screening of the powerful documentary feature, "Detroit Under S.T.R.E.S.S."
Three narrative features were entries into this years SFF and they included "As You Like It," "Nowhere, Michigan," and "Shotgun."
Festival organizers are always looking for features and shorts with a strong connection to the Great Lakes, and two feature documentaries fit that bill in "Making Waves: battle for the Great Lakes," and "The Michigan Ice Film."
Native American culture was highlighted with feature documentary "INAATE/SE/," and the "Native American Voices" shorts program.
Additional programming included feature documentary "Stuck in Traffic," and short films in the following categories, "Mixed Shorts," "Tunes and Toons," "Student Films," and "Foreign Films."
All-in-all, the 2017 Soo Film Festival was huge success. The festival continues to grow and shine a bright light on film as an art form. We look forward to what 2018 has in store for the SFF.
Article
-Soo Film Festival brings movies to the Soo Theatre, Soo Evening News
Digital Summit Detroit Takes the Stage Again
 Digital Summit returned to Detroit for a third consecutive year, and by early accounts was well received by the near-sellout crowd. Headlined by Morgan Spurlock, most well known as a filmmaker, humorist, playwright, television producer and screenwriter. Digital Summit Detroit is the preeminent conference for digital marketing and content creating professionals.
Here is a collection of tweets from the two day event.
Meet Your Traverse City Creative Chamber Program Contact: Kent Wood
 Kent Wood, graduate of Albion College and Michigan State
College of Law, has served several positions in government including Director
of Constituent Relations, Legislative Director, and Legislative Affairs Manager
over the last ten years. Kent’s professional background has led to his recent
position of Director of Government Relations for Traverse City Area Chamber of
Commerce and the program contact for the Creative Chamber initiative. Kent Wood
deals with advocacy for businesses and developing talent in Traverse City. “I
want to create a natural connection between the program and the city.” Says
Kent. “I want to focus on what’s needed to grow the creative talent in the
area.” Traverse City has a strong art community and the Creative Chamber
initiative is going to work to be an extra stepping stool for this area. “We
want to find a way to impact and market the efforts that are already being made
and do some story telling throughout the state about how Traverse City welcomes
all creative talent.” Traverse City is home to a lot of creative tech people
and welcomes a very artistic culture. The Traverse City Creative Chambers has
an opportunity to fill in some of the gaps and market the opportunities that
are present to talent and businesses across the United States. There are
already so many great initiatives in this “creative arena” and the Traverse
City Creative Initiative plans to only bolster these efforts.
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Detroit Design Festival Celebrates the Cities Heritage of Design
 To
quote the late Steve Jobs, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels
like, design is how it works.” These words can serve as the foundation for the
Detroit Design Festival, a five day event that commemorates the field of
design. This event places heavy emphasis on how s design thinking approach can
help solve some of Detroit’s most critical problems. The Detroit Design
Festival is coordinated by the Detroit Creative Corridor Center, otherwise
known as DC3. The DC3 is an economic development organization composed of a
partnership between Business Leaders for Michigan and College for Creative
Studies. This organization helps provide the necessary resources to connect
people to the creative community in Detroit.
The Detroit Design Festival showcase
numerous visually appealing workshops and exhibitions. One of the exhibitions
that is looking to gain notoriety is the “Art of Play” by Miller Melberg. This
exhibition explores the role in which architecture plays in society, and how
its color and form can change the way we view the world around us. Another
notable exhibition that will be open to the public is the Eastern Market after
dark. Detroit’s Eastern Market, which will undergo a visually appealing
transformation, is one of the oldest public markets in the nation. This
festival interactive experience allows Detroit’s own designers and artists to
exhibit their galleries and pieces for the public to observe, and will feature
food, fun and games to ensure a family friendly event.
Be
sure to check out the Detroit Design Festival from September 26-30, it is
something every art aficionado should not miss! For more information as well as
the complete schedule, visit https://www.detroitdesignfestival.com/schedule/.
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Seed&Spark/Duplass Bros. Crowdfunding Rally, #Hometown Heroes Has Gone Live
 Great stories happen everywhere. And great film can be created anywhere. The Hometown Heroes Crowdfunding Rally champions the next generation of filmmakers making movies with their local community and resources: talent, locations, production houses and partners.
Follow the films YOU want to see, and contribute to the campaigns that speak to you. The top 10 projects that reach the green light and have the most followers by October 13, 2017 will qualify for the finals and get to pitch The Duplass Brothers.
Call for Submissions: Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation's film touring program
 CALL FOR
FILM SUBMISSIONS:
Apply now for the
opportunity to take your film on the road with Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation's
film touring program. All-expense-paid tours connect filmmakers with new
audiences across the mid-Atlantic region.
"I would have loved to
visit even more locations, the experience has been memorable and
enriching." - Touring filmmaker Jessica Vale
On Screen/In Person provides opportunities for independent
filmmakers to tour throughout the mid-Atlantic region with their recent films
and foster greater understanding and appreciation of their work through direct
audience engagement.
How it Works
- Nonprofit
venues and arts organizations in the mid-Atlantic region apply to partner
with Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and serve as host sites for the touring
filmmakers.
- Six films
and filmmakers are selected to tour by the appointed host sites through a
competitive review process.
- Each
selected filmmaker is scheduled to visit between five and ten host sites
during a tour of approximately two-to-three weeks.
- Each engagement
on a tour includes a public screening preceded or followed by a question
and answer session with the filmmaker, and a community engagement activity
collaboratively developed by the filmmaker and the local host site.
What Filmmakers Receive
- All travel
expenses are paid by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
- A $200 per
diem for each calendar day the filmmaker is on tour.
- A $400
stipend from each host site/screening engagement.
To
learn more about the program, eligibility requirements, and connect to the online
application, please visit the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation website
(link opens in a new window).
Submit your film for free today! The deadline
to apply is November 20, 2017.
Questions? Contact Kimberly Steinle-Super at Kimberly@midatlanticarts.org.
On Screen/In Person is a
program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation made possible through the generous
support of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Detroit Homecoming Event Brings Ex-Pats Back to the Motor City
 The fourth annual Detroit Homecoming
came to a prosperous close. Detroit Homecoming is an invite-only event that brings
in iconic native-Detroit innovators in business, athletics, music,
philanthropy, and more to share their stories that celebrate the rapidly
gentrifying city, while also offering reasons to invest in it. The event kicked
off Wednesday, September 13th on the ground floor of the
(temporarily renovated) Michigan Central Station. Wednesday’s speakers included
philanthropist Stephen Ross and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors.
How often do you get the chance to witness a Wolverine and a Spartan set aside
their historic rivalry to talk about their shared love for the city of Detroit?
Every year brings about a different
theme, each designed to talk about subjects that help facilitate productivity
and progressiveness. This year’s theme is something we can all easily stress
the importance of: connections. In accordance to the theme, the event will also
hallmark the 50th anniversary of the infamous 1967 Detroit riots,
with the intent to reflect on the past in order to inspire guests to network
with other Detroit residents to rebuild and expedite the city’s growth. More
than $300 million has been invested in a variety of urban and city construction
projects since the very first Detroit Homecoming in 2014.
Thursday and Friday’s venue was held at
the Factory at Corktown, where Detroit’s own Mayor Mike Duggan and other
prominent figures such as Arn Tellem and Rev. Larry Simmons will discuss jobs
for Detroiters and urban planning. Duggan addressed his proposal for a merger
among metro Detroit’s three bus systems. On Friday, Detroit schools
superintendent Nikolai Vitti took the opportunity to convey his plan to create
more opportunities for both students and teachers, and explained his reasoning
behind his decision back in June to cut 70 jobs in order to develop a 7% pay
increase, a far more competitive salary for teachers. For a full recap on all
of Detroit’s pioneers, visit http://www.detroithomecoming.com.
Upcoming Events
September 20-September 23 - ArtPrize On Screen - Grand Rapids
September 20-October 8 - ArtPrize - Grand Rapids
September 22 - Social Mitten - East Lansing
September 22 - 2nd Annual Noir City Detroit Film Festival - Detroit
September 24 - Art House Theater Day - Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor
September 26 - Retail Boot Camp Showcase - TechTown, Detroit
September 26-30 - Detroit Design Festival - Detroit
September 28-October 1 - Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival - Bay City
September 29 - Michigan Film Office Advisory Council meeting - Bay City
September 29 - 'Urban Myths' Red Carpet Premiere - Royal Oak
September 29-30 - Blue Bridge Music Festival - Grand Rapids
October 8 - NJFK: The Music of Star Wars - Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor
October 11 - Creative Placemaking Summit 3 - Lansing
October 21 - Grand Rapids Feminist Film Festival 2017 - Grand Rapids
**If you have an event, training, or workshop you'd like promoted through this newsletter, on the Michigan Film & Digital Media Office website or through the MFDMO social media channels, send the details to mfo@michigan.org, thanks.**
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