news & updates
02.17.2013 - 2013 Macon Film Festival - Award Winners
2013 Macon Film Festival – Award Winners Narrative Feature – Sal (Sponsored by Kirby Godsey) Narrative Short - The Silk (Sponsored by Kirby Godsey) Documentary - Child 31 (Sponsored by Georgia Film Commission) Student - The Sweatshop (Sponsored by Capital City Bank) Animation - Address is Approximate (Sponsored by Seth Bush Pediatrics) Music Video - A House, A Home (Sponsored by Seth Bush Pediatrics) Best Directing - Alexander Gaeta, Shoot the Moon (Sponsored by Henry and Deborah Oliner) Best Acting - The Silk Best Cinematography - Child 31 Best Sound Design - Shoot the Moon Melvyn Douglas Award for Best in Show - Shoot the Moon (Sponsored by Paula Kapiloff and Marsha Kapiloff) Southern Documentary – Take Me to the Water – The Story of Pin Point (Sponsored by Georgia Power Company) Music Documentary – Basically Frightened: The Musical Madness of Colonel Bruce Hampton (Sponsored by NewTown Macon) Audience Choice (Short) – Groom’s Cake (Sponsored by the Knight Foundation) Audience Choice (Feature) – Miss Dial (Sponsored by the Knight Foundation) Audience Choice (Documentary) – Death of a Cemetery (Sponsored by the Knight Foundation) Festival Premiere Recognition Blind Sight The Cab-Ride Catch Me Echoed Eulogies How We Got Away With It Loading Moving Miss Dial Nick Chopper and the Forty Wolves Night on the Lam The Suicide Kid Pepper Utage Where are you going, Thomas?
02.05.2013 - “The Buddy Holly Story” Kicks Off 8th Macon Film Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 4, 2013
“The Buddy Holly Story” Kicks Off 8th Macon Film Festival
MACON – The Macon Film Festival will screen “The Buddy Holly Story” with director, Steve Rash, on the first night of the eighth annual festival on Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Cox Capitol Theatre, located at 382 Second St. Sony Pictures has made a new 35mm print of the film specifically for the festival. The film stars Gary Busey in the Oscar-nominated title role. The screening begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15, or free with the purchase of a Screening Pass ($50) or All-Access Pass ($100). Rash will also host a free filmmaking workshop on Friday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m. at The 567 Center for Urban Renewal, located at 533 Cherry St. For tickets or for more information visit MaconFilmFestival.com.
At age 8 in Dallas, Stevie Ray Rash began making movies with his father's Super-8 Kodak. His interest in film blossomed in high school when he worked as a press photographer. He studied Music at Texas A&M and TV/Film at The University of Texas, before landing his first professional job as a camera operator at WFAA-TV. Rising through production ranks with ABC Sports, he shot every kind of live sporting event from NCAA and NFL football to The Olympics.
In the 70’s Steve photographed and directed seminal music videos for the TV series “Sump’n Else”, then founded Innovisions in Atlanta, which, through syndicated music programs like "The Now Explosion" and "Music Connection," created the marathon concept now known as "MTV”. His pioneering music videos starred Billy Joel, BB King, Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Kenny Rogers, The Who, etc. Other TV credits include dozens of nationally syndicated musical variety programs.
Drawing upon his music video experience, Steve Rash developed his first feature film in 1978, which critics labeled "the definitive rock 'n roll movie." The Buddy Holly Story was nominated for three Academy Awards and won the Oscar for Music Score. Subsequent films include “Under the Rainbow”, “Vanishing America”, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “Queens Logic”, “Son-in-Law”, “Eddie”, “Held Up”, “Good Advice”; sequels to “Zenon”, “American Pie”, “Bring It On”, “Road Trip”; and this summer’s critically acclaimed Native American film, “Crooked Arrows”.
About the Macon Film Festival
The Macon Film Festival was founded in 2005 to celebrate the art and craft of the moving image, and to introduce independent films that rarely appear in Macon. The Macon Film Festival is dedicated to entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences and filmmakers alike by offering innovative and imaginative films both mainstream and independent in nature. The festival also strives to introduce visiting filmmakers and guests to the Central Georgia community, and to promote film production in the area. The festival is open to filmmakers working in all media, genres, and themes. For more information visit MaconFilmFestival.com.
01.24.2013 - Indy Film Legend Mink Stole Slated for Special Guest Screening With Original John Waters “Hairspray” at Macon Film Festival
Indy Film Legend Mink Stole Slated for Special Guest Screening
With Original John Waters “Hairspray” at Macon Film Festival
MACON, GA – The Macon Film Festival will welcome independent film legend Mink Stole, known for leading roles in nearly every major John Waters film since the early 1970’s, to the 2013 festival. Stole will screen Waters’ “Hairspray” at the Cox Capitol Theatre, located at 382 Second St., on Saturday, Feb. 16. Tickets are $15, or free with the purchase of a Festival Pass ($50) or All-Access Pass ($100). She will also host a free filmmaking workshop on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. at at The 567 Center for Renewal, located at 533 Cherry St. For tickets or for more information visit MaconFilmFestival.com.
“I'm really excited to be coming back to Macon!” said the actress who, in 2009, spent two weeks in town filming Steve Balderson’s women in prison film, “Stuck!”
As an original Dreamlander working with John Waters, Mink Stole has portrayed some of the more outrageous characters in independent film history, including Connie Marble in “Pink Flamingos”, Taffy Davenport in “Female Trouble”, Peggy Gravel in “Desperate Living”, and Dottie Hinkle in “Serial Mom”. Mink has often played mothers and aunts of gay characters as in such films as Jamie Babbitt’s “But I’m A Cheerleader”, Lee Friedlander’s “Girl Play” and “Out at the Wedding”, and the second, third, fourth and fifth installments of Ariztical’s “Eating Out” series. She is also carving out a place for herself in horror, with major roles in Michael Frost’s unusual still-photographed “3 Faces of Evil”, Robert A. Masciantonio’s “Neighbor”, and Joshua Grannell’s recently released bloody homage to the single-screen theater “All About Evil.” As a singer, Mink has performed one-woman shows in Los Angeles and Baltimore, and is releasing her first CD this spring.
About the Macon Film Festival
The Macon Film Festival was founded in 2005 to celebrate the art and craft of the moving image, and to introduce independent films that rarely appear in Macon. The Macon Film Festival is dedicated to entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences and filmmakers alike by offering innovative and imaginative films both mainstream and independent in nature. The festival also strives to introduce visiting filmmakers and guests to the Central Georgia community, and to promote film production in the area. The festival is open to filmmakers working in all media, genres, and themes. For more information visit MaconFilmFestival.com.
01.18.2013 - Soap Opera Actress-Turned Producer, Crystal Chappell, Brings Latest Feature For Special Screening at Macon Film Festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 17, 2013
Soap Opera Actress-Turned Producer, Crystal Chappell, Brings Latest Feature
For Special Screening at Macon Film Festival
MACON – The Macon Film Festival will welcome two-time Emmy Award-winning actress, writer and producer Crystal Chappell as a special guest at the 2013 festival which will be held Feb. 14 – 17, at various venues in downtown Macon. Chappell will screen the pilot episode of her latest web series “The Grove” at the Cox Capitol Theatre, located at 382 Second St., on Friday, Feb. 15. Tickets are $15, or free with the purchase of a Festival Pass ($50) or All-Access Pass ($100). She will also host a free filmmaking workshop on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 9 a.m. at at The 567 Center for Urban Renewal, located at 533 Cherry St. For tickets or for more information visit MaconFilmFestival.com.
“I can’t wait for ‘The Grove’ and Macon to meet, said Ms. Chappell. “The Grove” is the second web series created by Ms. Chappell. The story chronicles multiple generations of two families, one working class, the other wealthy, who live in a Central California community known as The Grove. The cast is a veritable who’s who of daytime television actors including Warner Robins native Bobbie Eakes of “All My Children” (ABC); Peter Reckell, Nadia Bjorlin, Judi Evans and from “Days of Our Lives” (NBC); Robert S. Woods of “One Life to Live” (ABC); Jordan Clarke of “Guiding Light” (CBS); Michelle Stafford, Christian LeBlanc, and Beth Maitland of “The Young and The Restless” (CBS); Linsey Godfrey of “The Bold and The Beautiful” (CBS); and Chappell’s frequent on-camera love interest, Jessica Leccia of “One Life to Live” (ABC) and “Guiding Light” (CBS).
Chappell is well known to daytime television audiences for her Emmy Award-winning role as Olivia Spencer on “Guiding Light” (CBS), as Carly Manning on “Days of Our Lives” (NBC), and in her current role as Danielle on “The Bold and the Beautiful” (CBS). She earned a second Emmy in 2011 for Outstanding Special Class Short Format for her web series “Venice” which she created, wrote and produced. Ms. Chappell’s acting credits also include “One Life to Life” (ABC) and guest starring turns on numerous prime time television shows. She and husband, actor Michael Sabatino, live in Los Angeles with sons Jacob Walker and Dylan Michael Sabatino. For more information about Ms. Chappell visit crystal-chappell.com.
About the Macon Film Festival
The Macon Film Festival was founded in 2005 to celebrate the art and craft of the moving image, and to introduce independent films that rarely appear in Macon. The Macon Film Festival is dedicated to entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences and filmmakers alike by offering innovative and imaginative films both mainstream and independent in nature. The festival also strives to introduce visiting filmmakers and guests to the Central Georgia community, and to promote film production in the area. The festival is open to filmmakers working in all media, genres, and themes. For more information visit MaconFilmFestival.com.
06.27.2012 - Filming of ‘42’ $1 Million+ Impact on Macon & Bibb County
Filming of ‘42’ $1 Million+ Impact on Macon & Bibb County
Macon, GA – The Macon Film Commission announced that the recent filming of the feature film “42” generated expenditures of an estimated $800,000 to $1.3 million during the 18 days of production at locations in and around Macon and Bibb County. According to the Event Impact Calculator that was developed for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the impact of the film on the local economy is estimated at between $1.4 and $2 million.
The production included 300 - 400 crewmembers and more than 1,000 extras, a 50-50 split between Macon and the Atlanta area to work on the scenes shot in and around historic downtown Macon. Scenes were filmed in Central City Park at Luther Williams Field and Field 7, and in the Terminal Station. One major scene was filmed in Jones County, several private homes in the Macon’s Historic district and an abandoned service station on Plum Street.
“The excitement in Macon during the filming was quite evident from the conversations that were happening and the amount of people that came in to Macon just to see scenes being shot,” says Macon Mayor Robert Reichert. “Our reputation as a city that is willing to work with film companies appears to be spreading, and I am thankful for the welcoming reception our community and businesses provided them.”
"The commission would like to thank the City of Macon, Parks and Recreation, the Macon Police Department, Central Services, Bibb County, and the people and business owners who enthusiastically supported this project that generated a large amount revenue for our community in a short period of time,” says Tabitha Lynne Walker, one of five volunteers that make up the Macon Film Commission.
Scouting for this project began in Fall of 2011 when production contacted the Macon Film Commission, which works cooperatively with the Georgia Film Commission. Location scouts traveled from Los Angeles and Atlanta to survey Luther Williams Field in Central City Park. During visits and meetings with Macon Film Commission location specialist Elliott Dunwody scouts for the film began to see that Macon could serve as numerous backdrops for the film. After the multiple scouts it was decided that Macon would be the perfect backdrop not just for scenes in the baseball stadium, (which doubled for City Island Park in Daytona Beach), but also for Brooklyn, New York, (downtown 2nd Street) Pensacola and New Orleans (Macon Terminal Station).
About the Macon Film Commission
Commissioned in 2010 by Mayor Reichert, the Macon Film Commission is an appointed committee of the Macon Film Festival and is comprised of five unpaid, volunteer commissioners. The criteria for nomination included involvement with the Macon Film Festival and film/television industry experience. The Macon Film Commissioners are Elliot Dunwody, J. Cindy Hill, Terrell Sandefur, Stephanie Shadden, and Tabitha Lynne Walker.
Serving as the liaison to filmmakers looking to use the Central Georgia region as a potential location, location scouting is one of the prime functions of the Macon Film Commission. Whether the project is a big budget feature film like “42” or “Trouble With the Curve” which filmed earlier this Spring; or a commercial, music video, documentary or television series, the Macon Film Commissioners provide location assistance, act as a liaison to local businesses and city officials, act as a resource with knowledge about local cast and crew members and other individuals and businesses in the region.
Macon is one of Georgia's three Fall Line Cities and has a unique geography of rolling hills and flat plains making it an ideal location for film production. In addition to its natural resources, Macon is also home to 5,500 National Register historic structures in 11 historic districts. Amazing architecture, multiple industrial locations, a large local talent pool, affordability, and true southern hospitality make Macon a great location for filmmaking.
A production company who was producing a national commercial for Dodge contacted Commissioner Dunwody in 2011 when they were looking for a last-minute alternate race track for their production. Dunwody considered their requirements and took them to the Byron Racetrack. The producers loved the location and instead of shooting one commercial the production team decided to film a series of commercials to introduce the multiple 2011 Dodge vehicles. Once production wrapped the project became one of the largest commercial productions done in the state of Georgia in 2011.
“If you don’t hear us or see us then it means we’re doing our job correctly,” adds Walker, who is also co-founder and current president of the Macon Film Festival Board of Directors.
Currently the Macon Film Commission is working with large and independent filmmakers on scouts two to three times a month. Production crews from Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Warner Brothers, and others have scouted Macon, Bibb County, and the surrounding Central Georgia region for potential film, television and commercial projects. Commissioners often must sign non-disclosure agreements that preclude them from discussing a project until it is finished.
“Film Commissioners are responsible for a bunch of really un-glamorous, behind-the-scenes hard time consuming work that we can’t even talk about” commented Hill, a Macon native who worked for 10 years on professional film and television projects in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Savannah.
About the Macon Film Festival
The Macon Film Festival was founded in 2005 to celebrate the art and craft of the moving image, and to introduce independent films that rarely appear in Macon. The Macon Film Festival is dedicated to entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences and filmmakers alike by offering innovative and imaginative films both mainstream and independent in nature. The festival also strives to introduce visiting filmmakers and guests to the Central Georgia community, and to promote film production in the area. The festival is open to filmmakers working in all media, genres, and themes.
The 8th Annual Macon Film Festival will be held in historic downtown Macon February 14 – 17, 2013. The festival’s call for submission is currently open, and information regarding submission deadlines can be found via the withoutabox.com link on the festival homepage (maconfilmfestival.com).
06.16.2012 - 2013 Macon Film Festival: Call for Submissions!
The 8th Annual Macon Film Festival is currently seeking submissions for the 2013 festival scheduled to be held in historic downtown Macon, Georgia February 14th – 17th.
Festival submissions are accepted through withoutabox.com. The official withoutabox.com submission link can be accessed on the festival’s homepage (maconfilmfestival.com)
2013 Festival Categories
Narrative Feature
Narrative Short
Documentary
Animation
Music Video
Student
2013 Festival Awards
Best in Show:
Overall Winner - $1250.00
Category Winners:
Documentary - $800.00
Narrative Feature - $800.00
Narrative Short - $800.00
Animation - $500.00
Music Video - $500.00
Student - $500.00
Other Prize Categories:
Directing - $500.00
Acting - $500.00
Cinematography - $500.00
Sound Design - $500.00
Audience Choice Winners:
Feature (all official selections compete) - $500.00
Short (all official selections compete) - $500.00
The official selection films competing in the category and other prize competition are jurored by film industry professionals.
The audience choice awards are selected by the attending festival audience.
2013 Submission Deadlines
Early Bird Deadline, July 8th
Regular Deadline, August 22nd
Late Deadline, September 18th
WAB Extended Deadline, October 8th
If you have any questions regarding the 2013 call for submissions please e-mail maconfilmfestival.wab@gmail.com.
04.14.2012 - 2012 Macon Film Festival - Winners Showcase
2012 Macon Film Festival - Winners Showcase
Event Information
April 28, 2012
1:00pm – 9:00pm
Cox Capitol Theatre (382 Second Street, Macon)
Admission
$7.50 - Full Day Pass
$5.00 - With 2012 festival pass or button
Free - Students with a valid ID
Screening Schedule
1:00pm – 2:15pm: Shorts Block #1
2:30pm – 3:50pm: Feature Block #1
4:15pm – 5:15pm: Shorts Block #2
5:30pm – 6:45pm: Shorts Block #3
7:00pm – 8:40pm: Feature Block #2
Shorts Block #1
Kwik Fix (11:00): Runner Up - Student Category
Grow! (51:00): Runner Up - Documentary Category
Shorts Block #2
Suburbia (15:00): Runner Up - Narrative Short Category
Margaret & Evergon (45:00): Winner - Documentary Category (*Nudity & Mature Content)
Shorts Block #3
Missile Crisis (16:00): Winner – Student Category
Ghost of Old Highways (15:00): Winner – Experimental (*Violence)
The Jockstrap Raiders (19:00): Winner – Animation Category (*Language)
The Kook (18:00): Winner – Narrative Short Category (*Language)
Feature Block #1
Who Pays the Hitman (79:00): Runner Up – Narrative Feature Category (*Violence)
Feature Block #2
A Wake (94:00): Winner – Narrative Feature Category & Best in Show Award (*Language)
* Festival film adult content information
04.12.2012 - Shared Organizational Position for Bragg Jam and Macon Film Festival
Shared Organizational Position for Bragg Jam and Macon Film Festival
Position Overview
Maintains records of financial transactions by establishing accounts; posting transactions of both Bragg Jam Inc. and Macon Film Festival Inc. Supports operations by maintaining budgets, contracts, and records; completes special projects for both organizations.
This position is a contract position that will be paid on an annually renewed contract. The schedule is flexible, except during each festival.
To apply for this position please email cover letter and resume to braggjammaconfilmfestival@gmail.com
Essential Job Functions
Bookkeeping of both organizations finances
Data Entry of both sponsors, donors, volunteers, and patrons
Organizing records and files of both boards
Preparing financial statements as needed by both boards
Maintain compliance of all necessary paperwork as required
Work during each respective festival to assist in administrative functions
Other administrative duties as assigned by the festival boards
Non-essential Job Functions
Grant writing
Requirements
Experience working with QuickBooks
Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Office
Track record of database creation and maintenance
Worked or volunteered with a non-profit
Self Starter
Other Skills/Abilities
NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.
02.19.2012 - 2012 Macon Film Festival Winners
2012 Macon Film Festival Winners
Animation
- • The Jock Strap Raiders (director Mark Nelson) - Winner
Experimental
- • Ghost of Old Highway (director Dan Bush) - Winner
Student
- • Missile Crisis (director Jaye Davidson) – Winner
- • Kwik Fix (director Kelly Hucker) – Runner Up
Documentary
- • Margaret & Evergon (director Donald Winkler) – Winner
- • Grow! (director Anthony Masterson) – Runner Up
Narrative Short
- • The Kook (director Nat Livingston Johnson & Gregory Mitnick) – Winner
- • Suburbia (director Antonio Orena - Barlin) – Runner Up
Narrative Feature
- • A Wake (director Penelope Buitenhuis) – Winner
- • Who Pays the Hitman (director Rod Millner) – Runner Up
Best in Show
- • A Wake (director Penelope Buitenhuis) - Winner
02.13.2012 - Not Your Average Joe: Dublin's Uliano To Share Career in Music Industry at Upcoming Macon Film Festival (The Courier Herald)
By JASON HALCOMBE
Working a 12-hour day sounds like shift work.
Fourteen hours: a touch of overtime.
Anything more than that: a double.
In Joe Uliano's case, however, each of those is average and ordinary.
But upon further investigation, there's little "ordinary" about Uliano's life outside of the fact that he's a doting father and husband who still can't wait to get back to Dublin for a sackful of hamburgers from his favorite downtown joint.
With a list of clients that includes the likes of U2, Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters and Dave Matthews, much of Uliano's workdays are spent either outlining potential film or video shoots, or actually doing them in some distant locale like Australia or Italy.
The executive producer, with VH1, MTV VMA and Grammy awards under his belt, who now calls Jesse Dylan's Wondros Studios home, has crafted his life out of using every ounce of energy and focus to pursue a career in music bore decades ago after his sister's boyfriend gave a grade school Uliano his first guitar.
That career will take center stage next week, as Uliano serves as one of the premier guests for the Seventh Annual Macon Film Festival Feb. 16-17.
But one week out from his return home to Georgia, all Uliano was focused on was preparing for a Wednesday video shoot.
"It's like showing up and building a house all in the same day," Uliano said. "Typically I'll get a call, and we'll hear a song. Then we're competing with about eight other people trying to get that same job. If we're lucky enough we get it. And then it's basically like building a house; only in two days."
The "houses" Uliano builds end up on MTV, VH1, or as part of some ad campaign for Levis, Ralph Lauren or Ford.
Long before Uliano was scheduling music video shoots for the Foo Fighters, or filming projects for U2 or Bruce Springsteen, Joey was just another little boy with a big sister trying to make sense of the world.
From the Knights Of Darkness to MC Hammer
Kay Uliano, Joey's sister, was dating a fella named David Wright. And Wright was an artist in his own, well, right.
"He was in the drama club at school, but he also played guitar," Joe said. "He gave me my first 'real' guitar. He was my hero. He moved to New York City and that was inspiration for me. He later came home to take care of his folks, but he's the guy who turned me on to Bob Dylan."
Tagging along with Kay gave Uliano his first opportunities to watch live music performances by Dublin bands like the Knights of Darkness and the Ancestors, which only further fueled a growing interest in music.
Uliano also got inspiration from other sources, including a familiar source in english teachers like Mrs. Martha Green. But he also found inspiration on the football field and basketball courts at Dublin High School.
"I wrote something and (Mrs. Green) really encouraged me," Uliano said. "Also, Ms. Joann Hilburn was another teacher who noticed I was creative and encouraged it. And the other person was Coach Jim Richardson. Between him and my dad. I played B team football and basketball for him. He was very tough on us but taught us how to be competitive. And working competitively; that's my edge. Having gone through that and learned has helped me a lot in this business. I'm here to testify teachers make a difference."
That inspiration, later fueled by some advice from his mother, helped Uliano make a decision to ditch his plans for a business degree and instead enroll in the college Radio/TV Film School at Valdosta State.
"I went to college and, truth is, I was studying like business and wasn't doing so well at making that 8 a.m. class," Uliano said. "I wasn't sure about what to do in college. I told my mom, and she said, 'You really like working at the radio station.' So I tried the Radio/TV film school."
He later became general manager of the college radio station, and used that experience as a stepping stone heading into the workforce.
Following graduation, Uliano continued to pursue work in radio and film, landing a job at a Panama City TV station before doing multimedia work for the Governor of Florida. Uliano never expected or intended what was going to happen over the next several years.
"The only ready I came (to LA) was to get my masters at (the American Film Institute)," Uliano said. "While I was there I needed to work in order to live out here. Someone had asked me did I 'want to do a music video?"
Uliano said yes.
It was the first chance for him to get back into the medium he had just been "messing around with" through a couple of music videos for buddy Joey Lord's band The Isotopes.
"The first music video I ever did was for the Isotopes," Uliano said. "Joey Lord was my next door neighbor and my best friend. I was living in Florida and just messing around with (videos). I did two for his band. And those got onto MTV as a fluke. That was sorta my first round of that."
The second round came following that question.
"I said, 'Yeah. Sure," Uliano said.
All he knew at the time was that he was going to work with an unsigned gospel rapper.
"It turned out to be MC Hammer," Uliano said. "And he didn't have a deal.Then he got a deal and I spent the next two years doing all of he and his band's videos. That's how it all happened."
From Parachute Pants to Family Living
But that hasn't been all of it.
Long since the parachute pants, and the man who made them famous, disappeared into a late-night episode of some VH1 series like Pop-Up Video or I Love the 90s, the scope of Uliano's career has stretched beyond music videos to TV, film and marketing for some of the biggest names in the entertainment business.
While he still gets to work with those same names for Wondros, the focus of his work has taken a more "holistic" approach.
"It's about shared values," Uliano said. "Everything we're doing is about having a message on how we can all help. We're doing work with the Gates Foundation, President Obama's charity, the Mayo Clinic.
Those values, coupled with Uliano's focus on "balance" have helped he and wife Sophie, best-selling author of the Gorgeously Green series, continue to make their family and daughter Lola a priority each and every evening.
"I have a wife and a daughter; I'm definitely blessed," Uliano said. "Even though I'm in this business, we have dinner at the table every night around 6:30-7 p.m. That's part of the new company; focusing and figuring out how to work holistically, still be about quality, doing good work and still have a good life. It's really about enjoying life."
And Coming Full Circle To His Musical Roots
The return to Georgia is somewhat of a "full-circle" moment for Uliano, who remembers all too well the days of Capricorn Records, the Allman Brothers and the era of Southern Rock.
"Macon was the center of my musical universe as a teenager," Uliano said.
But this trip will make Uliano, himself now a music legend in his own right, the center of attention as he highlights a portfolio aspiring producers could only dream of.
"I'm going to show some shorter form projects from people like Antoine Fuqua and David O. Russell," Uliano said. "The guys I work with do a lot of movies, but there may be three to five years between big movies for them, so I help them get a lot of short work to do in between movies. I'll get them music videos, commercials, promos. I want to show how up and coming directors can find work in all shapes and sizes."
Work in Uliano's business was scarce three to four years ago. Just like the rest of the country, Hollywood and the entertainment industry suffered through the Great Recession.
"There were a lot of people losing their jobs, losing their homes," Uliano said. "It's good right now and has stayed good. And the good news is it's the one thing we manufacture. It's the one thing you can't outsource.
"The thing I'm most proud of is when I go on set and see how many people are working. The shoot I'm doing (Wednesday) will employ 45 people. That's one of the most proud things is when I look around and can say, 'I helped a lot of people get their mortgage paid today."
That small-town outlook about helping others is one reason why it shouldn't be a surprise that Uliano has enjoyed so much success over his long career.
"For a guy from Dublin, who grew up and went to Moore St; To have seen the world because of this is fantastic," Uliano said. "A lot of people will say 'There's Joe's picture with so and so.' But it's work. And I'm sorta the contractor/architect getting the job put together. Bringing the right people together. Managing the budget and seeing it all the way through. It's a lot of responsibility. I have a lot of great people I work with. For me, I have a great time when I do it. And I think that's why people like to work with me.
"It's a lot of work, but I'm blessed to be doing it. And honestly, at the end of the day, I'm doing this because I'm probably the biggest fan."
02.12.2012 - 2012 Macon Film Festival Workshop Schedule
2012 Macon Film Festival Workshops
Film festival workshops are free and are open to the public. All workshops will take place on the second floor the 567 Center for Renewal (533 Cherry Street). Space is limited so please arrive early.
Workshop: "Life Between the Feature – Don’t Quit Your Day Job."
Guest: Joseph Uliano (Grammy Award winning executive producer, Wondros Music + Vision)
Description: A discussion on the types of work that filmmakers do between films. Filmmaking as a day job.
- • Friday, Feb 17 at 11:00am
- • The 567 Center for Renewal – Second Floor
- • Free and open to the public
_____________________________________________________________
Workshop: "How Hollywood is Like Dating: Tips for Surviving in the Screen Trade."
Guest: Sarah Treem (Head Writer/Producer for HBO series IN TREATMENT. Writer/Producer for HBO series HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA)
Description: Sarah Treem was a 26-year-old playwright when she accidentally landed a job writing a few scripts for a new show on HBO called IN TREATMENT. In this workshop she'll talk about how she survived and became an executive producer, discuss the screenwriting process, and answer any questions the festival audience might have.
- • Saturday, Feb 18 at 11:00am
- • The 567 Center for Renewal – Second Floor
- • Free and open to the public
_____________________________________________________________
Workshop: "How Do You Find Your Casting and Why Anyone Can Learn To Act."
Guest: Beth Grant (Actress - The Artist, Donnie Darko, Speed, Rain Man, No Country for Old Men, Sordid Lives)
Description: Beth Grant was a delusional, overweight, Southern debutante, and a character actress who wanted to be Marilyn Monroe when she arrived in New York many years ago. Beth will talk about her journey to be one of the "Hardest Working Actors in Hollywood," (Entertainment Weekly) by accepting her casting and developing her acting technique. Beth will share her story and her specific approach to acting, which she believes, with work, anyone can learn to do.
- • Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2:00pm
- • The 567 Center for Renewal – Second Floor
- • Free and open to the public
___________________________________________________________
Workshop: "Georgia: Location! Location! Location! "
Guests: Craig Dominey (Film Location Specialist, Georgia Film Office)
Elliott Dunwody (Macon Film Commission)
Description: Filming in Georgia and in Macon.
- • Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2:00pm
- • The 567 Center for Renewal – Second Floor
- • Free and open to the public
02.17.2011 - British director, actor Moran headlines film festival guests
01.26.2011 - Macon Film Festival set to REEL in Filmmakers
Macon, GA – The 6th Annual Macon Film Festival will launch on February 17th at the Cox Capitol Theatre, The Douglass Theatre and the Marriott City Center in historic downtown Macon. With over 100 film submission screenings and 4 new categories of awards, organizers are gearing up for the biggest event to date. The film festival will continue daily through Sunday, February 20th.
The Macon Film Festival was created to celebrate the art and craft of the moving image, and to introduce independent films that rarely appear in Macon, Georgia. Macon Film Festival is dedicated to entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences and filmmakers alike by offering innovative and imaginative films both mainstream and independent in nature. We also strive to introduce visiting filmmakers and guests to the Central Georgia community, and to promote film production in the area. The festival is open to filmmakers working in all media, genres, and themes.
2011 Macon Film Festival – Special Screenings
• Thursday, February 17th @ 7:30pm "Freedom Riders"
• Friday, February 18th @ 8:15pm "Black, White and Blues"
• Saturday, February 19th @ 10am "Fat Boy Chronicles"
• Saturday, February 19th @ 8:30pm "The Kid"
• Sunday, February 20th @ 7:00pm "Get Low"
Q&A Session to follow each special screening with special guests.
Macon Film Festival will take place February 17th - 20th at the Cox Capitol Theatre, The Douglass Theatre & the Marriott City Center. 478-257-6391.
For more information or to view the full screening schedule, log on to www.maconfilmfestival.com or Facebook event page @6thAnnualMaconFilmFestival.
Tickets are now available online at www.maconfilmfestival.com/festival/ticket-information
Admission for the Thursday day blocks is free thanks to a grant from the City of Macon administered by Macon Arts Alliance. Free admission to all day blocks for students with a valid college ID.
Media Contact: Terrell Sandefur
Macon Film Festival Marketing/Publicity
terrell@terrellsandefur.com
478.319.0243
01.14.2011 - Macon Film Festival makes Top 10 Cultural Events
http://www.knightarts.org/community/top-10
By Dennis Scholl, Knight Foundation VP Arts/Miami Program Director
I love a good top ten list, and this year has been a year of transformative experiences for the Knight Arts program. So I thought I'd take a minute and list some of the amazing cultural events that took place this year in the eight cities where Knight Arts concentrates funding.
Akron. One of the best photography shows of the year took place in Akron. Mitchell Kahan and the Akron Art Museum exhibited the photographs of Andrew Moore in a show called Detroit Disassembled. The works portray a post-apocalyptic world of abandoned Detroit. It was disquieting and disturbing, and I found myself shivering in front of more than one of the photos of abandoned, burned-out buildings, many with nature slowly beginning to reclaim them them back to the land—moss and mushrooms overtaking the classrooms and factories that were Detroit. The catalogue, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal selection, has an equal impact: Detroit Disassembled by Andrew Moore (Damani/Akron Art Museum, $50)
Charlotte. When the Random Acts of Culture program was just a gleam in our eye, the first folks to raise their hands and say "count us in" were our friends at the Arts & Sciences Council in Charlotte. Ably helmed by the creative and thoughtful Scott Provancher, the Charlotte council has led us with the most diverse programming of Random Acts—opera, modern dance, tango. You name it—they have done it. Not all Random Acts have to be big, noisy events. Check out this elegant quiet performance by the North Carolina Dance Theatre in the main concourse of the Charlotte Airport.
Detroit. My most profound artistic moment of the year came from Detroit, but took place in Miami at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts: Maestro Leonard Slatkin conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninoff's 2nd on Valentine's Day. I had never understood how powerful an orchestra could be before being consumed by the wall of sound the orchestra brought to us that day. My colleague, Stuart Kennedy, and I agreed that this was an epiphany moment for both of us. We hope the DSO resolves its differences soon and gets back on stage.
Macon. Seldom in grant making do you get to draw a straight line between a grant you made and a positive result, but our grant that allowed the young, scrappy Macon Film Festival to attend the International Film Festival Summit resulted in its winning an award for Best Program. Nice job guys! I can't wait to get back to Macon for the festival.
Miami. I've been preaching the mantra that the future for arts presenters is to let audiences curate their own experience. Never was that approach more evident than in the six, 30-minute presentations by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in Miami during Art Basel week. The place where the audience typically sits had been turned in a 30-foot high sculpture of white boxes, exercise balls and other flotsam and jetsam by Miami's Daniel Arsham. Spectators proceeded to the stage where they were free to move around three areas where the dancers, dressed in costumes designed by Robert Rauschenberg, performed. The dancers moved between three stages, with two to six dancers per stage. Tired of the first area? Move to the second. Stand as close to the edge of the dance floor as you like, hear the dancers' exertion, see the sheen of their sweat. This is no "I dance, you sit still and watch for two hours from 30 rows away" performance … instead the dancers' opportunity to move was also made available to the audience. Alberto Ibargüen, Knight Foundation's president and CEO, has been telling me for years how special the troupe is (I think he went to all six shows over three nights!). Seeing the awestruck look on the faces of the audience members was confirmation of the transformational nature of the experience.
Philadelphia. My Philly highlight has to be the 1,752 applicants to the first year of the Knight Arts Challenge in Philadelphia, a new Knight record. Even Mayor Nutter gave us a shout out. Spurred on by a major social media outreach effort, the creatives of the city really stepped up. We've read all the ideas and there are some great ones—stay tuned in mid-January for the finalists announcement at knightarts.org.
San Jose. The Zero1 Biennial is a festival that merges technology and art. The festival also has an increasing focus on art that encourages social action, a movement I see more and more of in today's art world. I saw zip lines, indoor drive-ins, a street festival and a community completely engaged with the arts. The scope, quality and scale of this event continue to grow. Keep an eye on Joel Slayton, as he takes this game changing arts event to new heights.
Saint Paul. My big discovery this year in Saint Paul was the Community Supported Art program by Springboard for the Arts. Led by the brilliant Laura Zabel, CSA is modeled after the community supported agriculture movement, but instead of a box of beets, kale and corn, you get a box of art objects made by local artists in a limited edition. The first set of 50 shares had over 250 subscribers and has captivated the Saint Paul community. Check out a recent piece on the movement here. And yes, Knight fans, we are definitely taking this one on the road to the other resident communities. Stay tuned for our CSA launch this fall.
That's eight but I promised you ten...
Of course, one had to be living on Mars to not feel the impact of the Random Act of Culture by our partner, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, at Macy's in the Wanamaker Building. 650 choral singers singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah, accompanied by the largest pipe organ in the world, 20,000+ pipes! When have you ever seen a classical music moment out poll "OK Go" on You Tube? The reactions from people worldwide can be summed up in one word—joyful. Somehow this simple gesture struck a chord in so many people. It triggered hundreds of spontaneous cultural moments across the country, thousands of e-mails. It reaffirms what we've been saying about the classics—the symphony, the opera, the ballet. People still love these genres, we just need to find a way to reintroduce them into their busy lives. Random Acts of Culture is our modest effort to integrate these art forms into the fiber of a community. I have never been at the center of a truly viral experience before, and I have to say it has been a wild ride—exhilarating, terrifying at times, but in the end, joyful. Stay tuned as the national press isn't done with this one yet.
Finally, as I look back on the first year of the Knight Foundation's national arts program, I am awed by the commitment by so many of you to the arts. You get up every day and fight the good fight with passion and tenacity, always looking for the transformative experience that the arts can bring to a community. I want to especially thank Knight's vice president/communities Trabian Shorters and the Knight program directors for going on the journey with me this year. In the new year, we will continue to work together and search for what it is in the arts that makes each of our Knight communities special.
To our readers out there, over 500,000 of you have visited knightarts.org so far this year. Please drop us a line and let us know what your transformative artistic experiences were this year.
01.14.2011 - Macon Film Festival wins Best Program Award!
The Macon Film Festival just won the award for Best Program at the International Film Festival Summit in Las Vegas, NV. Program was designed by Burt & Burt with the cover by Stephanie Shadden!
01.14.2011 - WIN tickets!
Follow the Macon Film Festival on Twitter for a chance to win FREE TICKETS in our "Tweet For Seats" promotion ... coming soon!
10.20.2010 - Knight Foundation Expands Arts Funding in Bibb County
MACON, GA. – Six cultural groups will help enrich and engage Macon with projects receiving new funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Film buffs, theater lovers and fans of African American art all will benefit from the funding totaling $77,000. The grants are among the first in Knight Foundation’s new national arts program, which focuses on Macon and seven other communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers.
“In Macon, Knight Foundation works to help create a sense of place and belonging through initiatives that promote an informed and engaged Bibb County,” Blake said. “Nothing engages a community like the arts.”
Knight Foundation is looking for more opportunities to fund innovative arts programs, said Beverly Blake, Knight Foundation’s Macon program director.
The first seven awards and projects include:
Macon Film Festival ($20,000): To help the sixth annual festival grow, attract higher quality films and expand community outreach and workshops.
Macon Symphony Orchestra ($15,000): To bring artists out of performance halls and into the streets with a series of “Random Acts of Culture” in everyday places. The Knight Foundation series is producing 1,000 Random Acts of Culture nationwide over the next three years.
Capitol Theatre ($10,000): To provide the opportunity for new and emerging local artists to perform in the Capitol Theater through reduced facility rental fees.
Macon Arts Alliance ($10,000): To increase the profile of pottery from Central Georgia by enhancing marketing for the Fired Works Regional Ceramics Exhibit and Sale, the largest exhibit of functional and sculptural pottery in Georgia.
Tubman African American Museum ($10,000): To expand the reach of the museum’s collection by digitally photographing 100 important works and making them available online. Currently, only 15 percent of the museum’s collection is on display at one time.
Tubman African American Museum ($6,000): To bring spoken word art to a wider audience through events and community workshops run by the group Poetic Peace.
Hayiya Dance Theatre ($6,000): To expand appreciation for African dance by helping the theater enhance programming and community outreach.
Cultural groups seeking funding from Knight Foundation should contact Blake at 478-301-5011, or blake@knightfoundation.org.
For more about Knight Foundation’s arts program, visit www.KnightArts.org
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
Contact: Marc Fest, Vice President of Communications, Knight Foundation,
305-908-2677; fest@knightfoundation.org
Beverly Blake, Macon Program Director, Knight Foundation, 478-301-5011; blake@knightfoundation.org
02.22.2010 - Macon Film Festival Announces 2010 Winners
5th Annual Macon Film Festival - 2010 Award Winners
The Melvyn Douglas BEST IN SHOW Award
Automorphosis
ANIMATION
1st Place - Sebastian’s Voodoo
2nd Place - Skylight
3rd Place - Gym Lesson
DOCUMENTARY
1st Place - Automorphosis
2nd Place - Alley Pat: The Music is Recorded
3rd Place - 45365
EXPERIMENTAL
1st Place - Even Flowers Wake Up in the Morning
2nd Place - Horizons
3rd Place - East Planet
NARRATIVE FEATURE
1st Place - Road to Sangam
2nd Place - Myna Se Va
3rd Place - Blue Bus
NARRATIVE SHORT
1st Place - Small Collection
2nd Place - Down in Number 5
3rd Place - Badewanne Zum Gluck
STUDENT
1st Place - Insha Allah
2nd Place - My Homework Ate My Dog
3rd Place - Non-Love Song
02.21.2010 - Macon native Jack McBrayer lends a comic touch to film festival
Jack McBrayer says he doesn’t get recognized in public places very often, which seems surprising for a cast member of an Emmy-winning network comedy show.
He has an explanation for his ability to remain incognito; he leaves his jacket at work. His most recognizable feature may be the navy blazer adorned with an ID badge and name tag that he wears when he portrays Kenneth Parcell, naive and bizarre page of NBC’s “30 Rock.”
Still, a lot of people recognize McBrayer in Macon, with or without his jacket. That’s because he lived here through his freshman year at Central High School. He still visits friends and relatives here frequently. His trip here this weekend was a little more hectic than most, however, because he had been booked as a celebrity guest at the Macon Film Festival.
When McBrayer sat for a series of media interviews Saturday afternoon in the SoChi Gallery downtown, he made it evident that his most distinctive attribute has nothing to do with clothing.
It’s his smile — a broad, guileless smile that makes him seem like the most cheerful person in the world. Those familiar with the world know that cheerfulness is often an inappropriate response to the situation at hand. McBrayer’s mastery of the cheerful smile is what makes him unusually funny. He says it’s the source of his success.
“I’ve been pretty lucky in terms of the projects that I’ve been given and the material I’ve been given to work with, as well as the people that I’m working with,” McBrayer said. “With all that being said, even when I was temping and waiting tables and just had regular old day jobs, I would find ways to enjoy myself and have fun with the people I was around. That has never been too, too difficult for me.”
McBrayer, 36, took a break from his “30 Rock” work in New York to return to his birthplace so he could do a Q&A session following a Saturday night screening of the 2008 comedy “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” at the Cox Capitol Theatre. The fact that it was a raunchy Judd Apatow project made him a little nervous.
“I guess more than anything, I want people to know that it is rated R. There is some nudity in it and so I’m a little out of character, but you can see how I would have fun with that project and that role. ... Let’s just say I’m a young man on his honeymoon, and we’re figuring things out.”
McBrayer left Macon in 1988, when his family moved to Conyers. He attended the University of Evansville in Indiana and then moved to Chicago. Up to that time performance had been a hobby, but he got serious about comedy when he joined the Second City improv comedy theater. He took his next step up the ladder of fame when he met Conan O’Brien.
“When I moved to New York in 2002, a lot of people who I knew from my days in Chicago at Second City improvisational comedy theater had gone on to work as writers for Conan,” McBrayer said. “So when I moved to New York, all those guys who were already there were like, ‘Hey, McBrayer’s in town. Let’s throw him a bone.’ So they would get me gigs on Conan just doing like little comedy sketches, and from there they would just continue to use me. And thank goodness, because that paid my bills in New York, which is very expensive.”
McBrayer had a particular interest in the recent dust-up over O’Brien’s departure as host of NBC’s “Tonight Show.”
“I of course was a horrified spectator to the whole thing,” McBrayer said. “I do have so much loyalty to Conan just because of the break that he gave me very early in my career. Nothing against any of the other parties involved, but ... I owe Conan O’Brien such a great deal.”
McBrayer’s breakthrough movie role was Glenn the pit crew member in “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” He also parlayed his nerdy appeal to gain the enviable role of Mariah Carey’s love interest in her “Touch My Body” video. He says that lately he’s been building on his “kid demographic,” appearing on “The Electric Company” and taking a role in the upcoming sequel to “Cats & Dogs.” He has also provided his voice to animated TV show “Phineas and Ferb” as well as the upcoming animated feature “Despicable Me.”
A voice like McBrayer’s, with its Southern accent and tendency to call interviewers “sir,” is an uncommon commodity in New York and Los Angeles, the cities where the actor divides his time.
“I tell you, Southern accents still take people by surprise, even in 2010,” McBrayer said. “You think they’d be used to it by now. Yeah, I haven’t lost it yet, and some people, it does throw ’em for a loop. But every now and then it gets you out of some stuff, too.”
Front Page of Sundays Macon Telegraph
http://www.macon.com/2010/02/21/1031644/the-importance-of-being-cheerful.html
02.12.2010 - Actress Illeana Douglas comes to Macon
Q&A with 'Indie Queen' on grandfather Melvyn Douglas
By Bob Townsend
For the AJC
Granddaughter of cinema great Melvyn Douglas (who won Oscars for “Hud” and “Being There”), self-described “indie queen” Illeana Douglas made her mark as an actress in films such as “To Die For,” “Grace of My Heart” and “Ghost World.”
Illeana Douglas.
A longtime writer, director and producer, Douglas went online with the Web series “Illeanarama” and most recently “Easy to Assemble,” a Hollywood send-up filmed in a Burbank Ikea store that also spawned her satirical Swedish pop band, Sparhusen.
On Feb. 18, Douglas will arrive at the Macon Film Festival, where the Best in Show award will be renamed the Melvyn Douglas Award and dedicated to her grandfather, who was born in Macon in 1901.
Q: Do you know much about your grandfather’s early life in Macon?
A: Not really. Only that he was born there and his father was a musician. His father was actually a concert pianist and was on the vaudeville circuit, and I think they may have traveled around and maybe relocated to Chicago.
Q: Did you see him much growing up?
A: Very much so in terms of staying with my grandparents. I also had the opportunity to visit a couple of his movie sets and see the respect he had among his peers. I wish he could have lived longer to see me go into show business. But he was very influential as far as my going into acting and becoming an entertainer.
Q: As a kid, you were on the set of “Being There,” and recently you did the DVD commentary for the 30th-anniversary edition. What was that like?
A: As I said on the DVD, it’s a very strange memory. I was very young. I had posters of “Pink Panther” movies. And I was obsessed with Peter Sellers. So, for me, it was all about that. But it was just amazing to see how a movie was made. That particular film set just created an indelible impression in my mind. It was very, very serious. It was dead quiet. It was like walking into a play or something. The director, Hal Ashby, would go talk to the actors and everything would happen. I thought, “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Q: How would you compare your career to your grandfather’s?
A: In many ways, I think our careers are similar. I started doing theater and sketch comedy, things my grandfather did. I had an established film career, and then I did more independent movies, getting into writing and producing, which is something my grandfather did. Later, he started getting into more of what they call “character acting.” When you’re an actress in Hollywood, after you turn 40, they call you a character actor. Which leads me back to a quote from my grandfather. He said, “All acting, if it’s any good, is character acting.”
Q: So now you are the “indie queen”?
A: I don’t think anyone can put me in any sort of box, but I prefer indie actress because I make independent choices. I’ve tried to be very entrepreneurial, and I’ve tried to make movies that I think my fans would like. My grandfather’s career was like that. I don’t think he was really discovered or appreciated until movies like “Hud” or “Being There.” He kind of had two careers, and I feel like my career is that way.
Q: Where does “Easy to Assemble” come from?
A: It comes from a real place. I’ve been doing this since I was 16. And I was thinking I don’t want to do this anymore. But you can’t escape it. Wherever you go, you are “carrot girl from Seinfeld” or “aren’t you that girl who got her cheek bitten off by DeNiro?” It’s not like the old days where you could be Garbo and say now I’m going to retire. Once you’re famous, you’re always famous. That’s our new kind of society.
Q: Ready for the lightning round?
A: Sure.
Q: Peter Sellers?
A: He’s my guardian angel. Before I write anything or do anything, I have a few people I call upon, and he’s one of them.
Q: “New York Stories”?
A: That was me trying to act without smiling because I couldn’t believe I was in a movie. Every scene I was in I had a huge grin on my face.
Q: Martin Scorsese?
A: Again, another iconic presence in my life and my career and love of movie making. He has really influenced me. Just the atmosphere of laughter and focus on his sets was amazing.
Q: “To Die For”?
A: What Marty was able to do was tap a natural talent that I didn’t know I had. I was just a kid and I didn’t know what I was doing, and he was able to see a quality in me that I didn’t see. But Gus Van Sant was able to create an identifiable thing. People now call that character “an Illeana Douglas-type character.”
02.06.2010 - 2010 Festival Poster
01.28.2010 - Award-Winning “That Evening Sun” to Wrap Macon Film Fest, Starring Macon-native Carrie Preston with Hal Holbrook & Dixie Carter
Macon, GA – The Macon Film Festival will close the 2010 festival with the Macon premiere of “That Evening Sun,” the award-winning film starring Macon-native Carrie Preston with Hal Holbrook, Dixie Carter, and Ray McKinnon, at 7:30 p.m., following the Festival awards ceremony at 7 p.m. on Sunday, February 21, 2010. Special guests for this screening will be announced next week.
Based on a short story by William Gay, “That Evening Sun” chronicles the late-in-life conflict of Abner Meecham, an elderly farmer who leaves his retirement home to return to his family farm in Tennessee only to realize his city slicker son has rented it to a couple and their daughter. He refuses to leave, instead taking up residence in a run-down building on the property and conflict with the renters ensues as Abner tries to reconcile himself to say goodbye to his beloved home. This is southern gothic at its very best.
Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor, Hal Holbrook, leads this outstanding cast of character actors with his real life wife, actress Dixie Carter, portraying his late wife in the film. Macon native actress, Carrie Preston, a 2009 Special Guest at the Macon Film Festival and star of HBO’s “True Blood,” along with Academy Award winning actor Ray McKinnon, plays the couple who rent the farm and butt heads with Meecham. Young rising star, actress Mia Wasikowski, known for her work on the HBO series “In Treatment,” plays their daughter, and Walton Goggins, known to tv audiences from “The Shield,” plays Meecham’s son.
“That Evening Sun” has already racked up 10 awards during its Film Festival circuit including a Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble cast at the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival; Jury Awards at SXSW, Atlanta Film Festival and Newport International Film Festival; Best Narrative Feature at the Memphis Indie Film Festival, Audience Awards at Nashville Film Festival and the Sarasota Film Festival, Best Director Award for Scott Teems at the Birmingham Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival; and nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Mia Wasikowska and Ray McKinnon at the Independent Spirit Awards. It was also honored by the Southeast Film Critics Association with a Wyatt Award.
The Macon Film Festival is supported by grant of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. The festival is headquartered at the historic Cox Capitol Theatre in downtown Macon. For tickets, call the Capitol box office at 478-257-6391 or visit CoxCapitolTheatre.com. Complete information about the film festival, including the screening schedule, may be found at MaconFilmFestival.com.
Media relations for Macon Film Festival are handled by Terrell Sandefur (478-319-0243;Terrell@maconfilmfestival.com) and Cindy Hill (478-731-5917; cindy@maconfilmfestival.com).
01.25.2010 - Big Jack Attack: “30 Rock” Star (and Macon native) Jack McBrayer Comes Home to Headline Macon Film Festival
Macon, GA – Actor and Macon native Jack McBrayer, who currently stars in NBC’s award-winning comedy “30 Rock,” will return to his hometown for the Macon Film Festival (“MaGa”) special screening of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” followed by Q&A with Jack on Saturday, February 20, 2010, at the Cox Capitol Theatre at 8:15 p.m.
While he’s probably best known as Kenneth the Page from “30 Rock,” Jack McBrayer has turned in unforgettable performances in films including “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” Jack also had memorable guest starring roles in the television comedies “Arrested Development” and “Phineas and Ferb.” Music video fans will remember him as the “compu nerd” in the Mariah Carey “Touch My Body” music video.
For his work on “30 Rock” Jack was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2009 for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. He and the cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2009, and they were nominated for the same honor in 2008 and 2010.
Jack was born in Macon in 1973. His parents, Jim and Betty McBrayer, were teachers and Jack and siblings Pete and Katie attended Bibb County Public schools. The family moved to Conyers, Georgia, when Jack was in high school and it was there that he became interested and active in Theatre. He went on to graduate from the University of Evansville in Indiana; as did fellow Macon-native actress, Carrie Preston, who was a special guest at the 2009 Macon Film Festival.
After college Jack cut his comedy chops with Chicago’s famed Second City comedy improv company, which has Dan Aykroyd, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Mike Myers, and Amy Sedaris among dozens of other comedy icons. He acted in several independent films before landing roles in “Talladega Nights” and “30 Rocks” which established him firmly as a rising comedy star. The Macon Film Festival is honored to welcome Jack back to the midstate for the Macon Film Festival.
The Macon Film Festival is supported by grant of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. The festival is headquartered at the historic Cox Capitol Theatre in downtown Macon. For tickets, call the Capitol box office at 478-257-6391 or visit CoxCapitolTheatre.com. Complete information about the film festival, including the screening schedule, may be found at MaconFilmFestival.com.
Media relations for Macon Film Festival are handled by Terrell Sandefur (478-319-0243;Terrell@maconfilmfestival.com) and Cindy Hill (478-731-5917; cindy@maconfilmfestival.com).
01.24.2010 - Actress Illeana Douglas to Kick Off 5th Macon Film Festival and Dedication of Award to her Macon-native Grandfather, Melvyn Douglas
Macon, GA – Actress Illeana Douglas will kick off the 5th Macon Film Festival (“MaGa”) on Thursday, February 18, 2010, with the special screening of “Easy to Assemble” at the Cox Capitol Theatre at 7:45 p.m. Earlier that day the Best In Show award will be renamed for Douglas’ grandfather, Academy Award-winning actor and Macon native Melvyn Douglas.
Her name is familiar to film buffs, but others will recognize Illeana Douglas from the numerous memorable roles in films like Message in a Bottle, Cape Fear, Goodfellas, To Die For, Grace of My Heart, Stir of Echoes, The Perfect Woman, and Happy, Texas; and recurring roles on television series including Ugly Betty, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Action, and Six Feet Under, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. In addition to acting she has written, directed and produced for film.
Ms. Douglas brings her innovative web-based film series, Easy to Assemble, to MaGa. She starred in, wrote, and produced the comedy about an actress who “quits Hollywood” and goes to work at Ikea. The series co-starred Justine Bateman and a list of special guests that reads like a who’s who in Hollywood independent film, including Jane Lynch, Jeff Goldblum and Robert Patrick. Easy to Assemble Producer Dominik Rausch will join Illeana at the screening and Q&A and they will lead a free filmmaking workshop at MaGa.
Like her grandfather, Illeana was born a Hesselberg, and like her grandfather, she adopted his Scottish mother’s maiden name, Douglas, as her stage name. Melvyn Douglas was born in Macon on April 5, 1901. His career began on Broadway in 1928 and alternated between stage and screen for the rest of his life. He won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Hud and Being There (for which he also won a Golden Globe) and he was nominated for Best Actor for his work in I Never Sang for My Father. He had memorable roles in The Changeling, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, Death Takes a Holiday, Ninotchka (opposite Greta Garbo) and Ghost Story. He won an Emmy Award for a CBS Playhouse performance and was nominated for his turn in Inherit the Wind, and he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for The Best Man. His wife of 50 years, Helen Gahagan Douglas, was a 3-term Congresswoman in California and served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Kennedy.
The Macon Film Festival’s Best In Show award will be renamed the Melvyn Douglas Award and dedicated at a ceremony with Illeana Douglas at 1:30 p.m. on February 18. This award is given to festival jurors’ pick of the best competition film each year. The dedication will be followed by a special “Melvyn Douglas Matinee” screening of The Candidate at 2 p.m. This is a rare screening of the 1972 archival film in which Douglas plays the father of Robert Redford, made possible by a special arrangement with Warner Brothers.
The Macon Film Festival is headquartered at the historic Cox Capitol Theatre in downtown Macon. For tickets, call the Capitol box office at 478-257-6391 or visit CoxCapitolTheatre.com. Complete information about the film festival, including the screening schedule, may be found at MaconFilmFestival.com.
Media relations for Macon Film Festival are handled by Terrell Sandefur (478-319-0243; Terrell@maconfilmfestival.com) and Cindy Hill (478-731-5917; cindy@maconfilmfestival.com).
01.24.2010 - Macon Film Festival Gets “Stuck!” With Steve Balderson and the Georgia Premiere of the Macon-Made Movie
"I'm very thrilled to have the Balderson discovered Balderson brought his crew to town last spring to film “Stuck!” along with a cast that includes Ms. Black, Jane Wiedlin (of The GoGo’s), Pleasant Gehman, Susan Traylor, Starina Johnson, Stacy Cunningham, and John Waters’ staple star, Mink Stole. The bulk of the cast, though, is comprised of dozens of The multi-million dollar arts and cultural scene in The Macon Film Festival is supported by grant of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. The festival is headquartered at the historic Cox Capitol Theatre in downtown Media relations for
Macon, GA – Filmmaker Steve Balderson debuts his latest independent film, “Stuck!” which was filmed in Macon in the Spring of 2009 and stars many Macon mainstays, at the 5th Macon Film Festival (“MaGa”) on Friday, February 19, 2010 at 9 p.m. Balderson will be a special guest of the festival and he will conduct a filmmaking workshop that is free and open to the public.
The Macon Film Festival draws filmmakers from around the country to
12.17.2009 - MaGa 2010 Tickets on sale now!
Get your tickets now for the 5th Annual Macon Film Festival. Tickets are on sale now at https://tickets.coxcapitoltheatre.com/. If you've been in years past, you know you don't want to miss a single minute. Check back often for news and updates about special guests and events. We look forward to seeing you!
11.24.2009 - Arrested Development’s Hale Hits Macon for Film Festival Fundraiser
Macon, GA - The Macon Film Festival and NewTown Macon bring you one fabulous evening of funny on December 18th as "Arrested Development" star Tony Hale hits town with "The Best of Buster Bluth," his three favorite episodes of the cult tv show and soon-to-be feature film.
This is the first time that Hale has selected or screened his favorite episodes. The event begins at 8 p.m. at the Cox Capitol Theatre and will be followed by Q&A with the audience. Tickets are available at CoxCapitolTheatre.com; $10 general admission and $5 for students with ID. You can enjoy $1 pizza slices and draft beer from 7 to 8 p.m. This event is a fund-raiser for the 5th Annual Macon Film Festival, slated for February 18 – 21, 2010. This year’s roster of special guests will be announced in mid-December.
Tony Hale is also known for his recent turn as James Epstein in "The Informant!" starring Matt Damon, and other character parts in films including, "The Tale of Desperaux" and "Stranger than Fiction" with Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson; and tv series including "Numbers," "Chuck" and "ER." He’s also a cult favorite for memorable roles in ads like VW’s "Mr. Roboto" and Taco Bell’s "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" spots that co-star a precociousChihuahua.
"Arrested Development" was created by Mitchell Hurwitz and is a production of Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment. It debuted on the Fox network in 2003 and during its run it earned 6 Emmys, 1 Golden Globe and several other industry awards. The series ended in 2006 and speculation about a feature film began. Feature film production is now scheduled to begin in 2010 with an anticipated 2011 release date.
Tony’s ties to Central Georgia extend beyond the Macon Film Festival. His parents, Rita and Mike Hale, reside in Macon. Mr. Hale is the Executive Director of the Warner Robins campus of Macon State College.
For more information contact Terrell Sandefur, 478.319.0243, Terrell@theSoChiCompanies.com; or Cindy Hill, 478.731.5917, cindy@maconarts.org.
09.17.2009 - True Blood's Carrie Preston is phenomenal in 'Lovely By Surprise' | The Vault
The Vault's reporter Janet attended the screening of Carrie Preston's Lovely By Surprise On Saturday, September 12, the Macon Film and Video Festival. Source: www.trueblood-online.com
09.14.2009 - Concert caps spurt of activity by College Hill group - Local & State - Macon
It was a busy weekend for the College Hill Corridor Commission. On Friday, the urban revival group held its first Downtown Look-Around, a scavenger hunt designed to teach new college students about Macon’s history. Source: www.macon.com
06.10.2009 - MAGA Film Festival Scores Touchdown
The fourth annual MAGA Film & Video Festival opened on February 18, 2009, at the Grand Opera House in Macon, Georgia. The festival kicked off with the special appearance of Gov. Sonny Perdue and the legendary former University of Georgia athletics director, Vince Dooley. It was a film festival touchdown!...Read more
02.15.2009 - Macon film festival expands in fourth year
When the Macon Film & Video Festival began in 2006, organizers kept the event relatively modest. Now three years later, the festival - nicknamed MAGA - has grown into a full-blown festival, expanding to three venues and adding a host of big headliners.
The festival runs from Wednesday to Feb. 22 at the Cox Capitol Theatre, the Douglass Theatre and the Grand Opera House...Read more
