C-U Blogfidential

Greetings, friends of C-U Blogfidential! We apologize for not posting consistently as a heady case of summertime ennui decided to zap us at the conclusion of that fun stretch we like to call “April.” And even though it has little to do with the movies of Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond, our next post will help you understand what else is dampening our motivation at the moment. Since we’ve let a lot slide over the past several weeks, we’re plotting on how to make up ground without grinding out detailed, knowing blurbage on every single little thing. We love you all, but…

Resurrecting our old “Coming Soon” feature seemed to be a timely remedy. We’re embarrassed to note that it’s been nearly two years since we ran it last, although its strength – detailing the notable film events in our area having nothing to do with Hollywood blockbusters – runs counter to how we’ve rolled lately, where the news about the makers and their films comes first. We believe a hybrid weekly column may be the answer. Therefore, we’d like to try out “C-U Biz-en-scène” and see how well it rocks you.

The concept here is that “anything goes” as long as it makes sense within the context of our reporting. Some weeks it may be short and sweet, other weeks it may be long and wondrous. We’ll mix in play dates, production reports, first news, media links, quick jabs, and all sorts of other goodness and goofiness as it comes down the pike here at the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters. Please feel free to send us tips for what to include in CUBiz!

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“C-U Biz-en-scène” appears every Wednesday/Thursday on C-U Blogfidential to give our readers a succinct snapshot of the cinema activity in and near Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA. Please support the artists and their work, attend screenings and events, and otherwise become active in our esoteric little world!

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PRODUCTION

A benefit featuring actor Terry O’Quinn of LOST and THE STEPFATHER fame will take place this Saturday, July 31, 8 p.m., at the Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL, to raise production funds for the independent feature drama USING, which officially began shooting a couple of weeks ago in the Bloomington-Normal area. The Hollywood actor is the sibling of USING writer/director and Illinois Wesleyan University professor Thomas Quinn, who formed the non-profit group Phenom Features earlier this year with cinematographer Peter Gray and actress Kymberly Harris of Fresh Bread Productions and TheatresCool. According to press information, the event will “feature cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, entertainment, a silent auction, and selected clips of the film” while some proceeds will be donated to Salvation Army Safe Harbor Shelters. Tickets can still be purchased at this site or by calling (312) 988-9900.

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Champaign Movie Makers meets at least once a month to afford area filmmakers and talent an opportunity to discuss and join forces on the making of independent cinema in the area. If you are interested in being more “in the loop” if not directly involved with CMM-related productions, please visit and join their Yahoo! Group.

The next meeting will take place tonight,  Tuesday, June 27, 7 p.m., at Class Act Interactive, 114 S. Neil St., Champaign, IL. This month’s presentation will cover “the commercial production of a small instructional DVD – how it went, dealing with the client, and the end result” per founder Johnny Robinson; additional topics TBD.

Contact Robinson at johnny [at] johnnyrobinson [dot] com for further information about Champaign Movie Makers.

~ Jason Pankoke

Since the summer is rarely a time of relaxation here at the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters, please savor the twofer we managed to post today for that turnaround rate will be an exception to the norm.

However, if you view tight time frames and deadlines as not a hindrance but a welcome challenge, then you may be interested in this year’s third annual “Shortcuts” competition sponsored by the Illinois Film Office. Obliquely designed to showcase in-state talent, the contest will award a cash sum and arrange a premiere during the Chicago International Film Festival in October as a grand prize. Entrants should be Illinois residents aged 18 years or older and entries must run no more than 15 minutes, but the sky’s apparently the limit on content as long as it doesn’t push too far into outré or graphic territory and features completely original and/or cleared elements. Non-refundable submission fee is $25.00 and deadline is Tuesday, August 31. Further details plus entry form can be found on the IFO Web site.

Other pages at the same site profile the winners from prior years, Larry Ziegelman in 2008 for CHECK PLEASE and the team of Laura Szymber and Brad DeMarea in 2009 for AN EVENING WITH EMERY LONG, all Chicago media professionals. If your first reaction to that revelation is, “Well, of course the winners came from Chicago,” then maybe you need to get on the stick and show the IFO how we do things outside the Windy City, boss. We’re rootin’ for you!

~ Jason Pankoke

Looks like it will be a season of single-paragraph wonders here at C-U Blogfidential, so we promise to maximize the worth of our words!

We’ll start off with a reminder that tonight, Thursday, June 17, the next Skip Huston film class offered via Richland Community College will begin at the Head Honcho’s establishment, the Avon Theater, starting at 6:30 p.m.! This is his ninth annual summertime “overlooked” series and akin to all “Richland-at-the-Avon” classes where the titles are not announced before show time. “I have many reasons for this, some of which I tell you in class,” teases Huston in the most recent Avon e-newsletter. “It is a very unique and unorthodox way to present a film class!” You can be the judge starting this evening and, if you haven’t yet registered, a Richland representative can sign you up tonight at the Avon, 426 N. Water St., Decatur. Cost for this eight-week class will be $80.

Huston’s Avon Theater 3 will also be showing PRINCESS KAIULANI, TOY STORY 3, and THE A-TEAM this weekend, while LETTERS TO JULIET with Amanda Seyfried ends its run tonight.

~ Jason Pankoke

Champaign Movie Makers meets at least once a month to afford area filmmakers and talent an opportunity to discuss and join forces on the making of independent cinema in the area. If you are interested in being more “in the loop” if not directly involved with CMM-related productions, please visit and join their Yahoo! Group.

The next meeting will take place tonight,  Tuesday, June 15, 7 p.m., in a new location, Class Act Interactive, 114 S. Neil St., Champaign, IL. This month’s presentation led by CMM member Mike Boedicker will cover “music rights for the independent videographer. Find out all about clearance, composition rights, download music [sic], ASCAP, BMI, and the works” per founder Johnny Robinson; additional topics TBD.

Contact Robinson at johnny [at] johnnyrobinson [dot] com for further information about Champaign Movie Makers.

And then, the Central Illinois Film Commission led by president Cameron Counts will get together Thursday, June 17, 7 p.m., at the Route 66 Hotel & Convention Center, 625 E. Saint Joseph St., Springfield, IL. CIFC seeks to connect industry professionals and educate up-and-comers via classes, social events, and Internet tools, along with plugging its members into working sets.

Contact Counts at nmdcone [at] yahoo [dot] com for further information about the Central Illinois Film Commission; you can also visit their Web site or join their Yahoo! Group for CIFC news.

~ Jason Pankoke

Your humble editor has been privileged to attend screenings of upcoming local films (LEADING LADIES, DISPOSABLE, REVOLTING) and public premieres of others (A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW) in recent months, but the very thought of bearing witness to the project in gestation the longest excites me greatly. After a pair of late-night previews during this past weekend’s Summer Camp Music Festival at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, IL, documentary maker R.C. Raycraft will present  INCIDENT AT KICKAPOO CREEK tonight, Monday, May 31, 7 p.m., at the Normal Theater, 209 North St., Normal, marking the 40th anniversary of its namesake.

Following the original Woodstock Music & Art Fair in New York by almost a year, the “Incident at Kickapoo Creek” was a Midwestern attempt to provide a mix of peace, love, rock, and nature on farmland near Heyworth, IL. Promoted by the late L. David Lewis and booked by then-UIUC student Irving Azoff, the Incident attracted B.B. King, Canned Heat, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Amboy Dukes with Ted Nugent, REO Speedwagon, dozens of additional performers, and thousands of young adults during Memorial Day weekend 1970 to the little town situated just south of Bloomington-Normal. The Raycraft film mixes interviews, police surveillance footage, sound recordings, and stories of intrigue involving illegal profits, biker security, law enforcement, and unhappy Heyworth townsfolk.

Raycraft, whose police stakeout footage routinely appears on THE TONIGHT SHOW as well as several “real time” crime shows a la COPS, began taping talking head footage in 1995 when he became newly intrigued by “the most successful rock festival you’ve never heard of” thanks to an original festival poster and other ephemera in his possession. Although he has previewed edits of the film every three to four years, this INCIDENT will not only rock at full strength but be accompanied by a 132-page book featuring many rare photos and a text history detailing the genesis and planning of the Incident.

If you happen to miss tonight’s show due to the holiday – especially those who like to wear your local-music street cred on your sleeves – then definitely give INCIDENT AT KICKAPOO CREEK a look-see at upcoming play dates, which include Saturday, June 5, and Sunday, June 6, at the Peoria Theater in Peoria, IL, followed by an outdoor show in Heyworth’s Centennial Park on Saturday, July 3, and the first formal stop on Raycraft’s “Electric Wine” tour at the Mackinaw Valley Vineyard in Mackinaw, IL, on Friday, July 9.

~ Jason Pankoke

[Updated 6/15/10, 6:45 p.m. CST]

Champaign Movie Makers meets at least once a month to afford area filmmakers and talent an opportunity to discuss and join forces on the making of independent cinema in the area. If you are interested in being more “in the loop” if not directly involved with CMM-related productions, please visit and join their Yahoo! Group.

The next meeting will take place tonight,  Tuesday, May 18, 7 p.m., in a brand-new location, Class Act Interactive, 114 S. Neil St., Champaign, IL. This month’s presentation led by CMM founder Johnny Robinson will cover the pre-production stage which involves “script, story boards, shot lists, call sheets, continuity reference, and so on” per Robinson; additional topics TBD.

Contact johnny [at] johnnyrobinson [dot] com for further information about Champaign Movie Makers.

And then, the Central Illinois Film Commission led by president Cameron Counts will get together Thursday, May 20, 7 p.m., at the Route 66 Hotel & Convention Center, 625 E. Saint Joseph St., Springfield, IL. CIFC seeks to connect industry professionals and educate up-and-comers via classes, social events, and Internet tools, along with plugging its members into working sets.

Contact Counts at nmdcone [at] yahoo [dot] com for further information about the Central Illinois Film Commission; you can also visit their Web site or join their Yahoo! Group for CIFC news.

~ Jason Pankoke

Why do the intrepid cub reporters stare so quizzically at the evidence produced by our lovely young explorer?

We trust that there is no mystery as to why you, dear readers, will seek out the answers ensconced within the next unbelievable issue of C-U Confidential! Be among the first to get your copy tonight, Tuesday, April 20, for FREE during the final show of the New Art Film Festival at the Art Theater in downtown Champaign. You can then expect to find complementary stashes on the merch table in the East Lobby of the Virginia Theatre during the twelfth annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, April 21, as well as at drop spots all across Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond!

Once you have finished pondering the quandary faced by Julie McCormick, Thomas Nicol, and Laura McQueen on the cover, you will encounter never-before-seen stills from the set of the student lab production STILETTOS and a review of Steven Soderbergh’s THE INFORMANT! as well as an excerpt from our Chicago indie film column “A Knife in a Gun Fight” by Michelle Kaffko and an exclusive print-only article about Pounded Pavement Productions’ feature FINDING VIRGINIA, directed by Thomas C. Card and filmed in Decatur. We also take a roll call of downstate Illinois film activity, reprint five key postings from C-U Blogfidential, and go back in time to look at the early décor of the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters!

Finally, we formally announce in CUZine 4 the upcoming fall publication of C-U Confidential ’99, but you will have to read the former to get the scoop on the latter! See you ‘round the C-U this week and make sure to come back shortly as we resume regular posting on CUBlog!

~ Jason Pankoke

Yes, we’re already one day into the New Art Film Festival at the Art Theater, 126 W. Church St., Champaign, but that means we’ve only just begun and five days’ worth of Midwest independent cinema remain! Please consult the schedule after the jump and plan on attending at some point to show Champaign-Urbana that our community can support a local showcase of locally made movies!

You can start your patronage tonight, when we will be showing Ed Glaser’s videogame movie parody PRESS START at 5 p.m., Robin Christian’s drama ACT YOUR AGE at 7:30 p.m., and MICRO-FILM friend Eric Stanze’s moody rural horror tale DEADWOOD PARK at 10 p.m. Admission will be $6.50 to all remaining shows of the NAFF; be sure to keep tabs at the Art’s Web site and get on their Mailing List to receive timely screening information!

~ Jason Pankoke

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Beginning this Thursday, April 15, the Art Theater and C-U Confidential present the first-ever New Art Film Festival (NAFF) – what we had previously referred to as the next CUZine Local Film Show – featuring six days’ worth of local filmmaking and a few bonus Midwest-made examples for good measure. Timed to coincide with the annual Boneyard Arts Festival presented by 40 North 88 West, the arts council of Champaign County, NAFF will encompass more than 12 shows and 20 features, shorts, and music videos that will demonstrate to our friends and neighbors that, indeed, creative media is alive and well and proliferating in the place where we call home!

Highlights include: the public C-U premieres of several films, including the documentary HOOPESTON, directed by Thomas Bender (see item: 3/8/10), the low-budget drama A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW, directed by Derek Klein (see item: 10/4/09), and a “sneak preview” of the upcoming Dreamscape Cinema thriller DISPOSABLE; a 10th anniversary show of films by current and past members of Illini Film & Video; a block of Chicago-made indies including the music video THE LIFELINE: TRILOGY, directed by Chris Folkens (see item: 5/25/08), and the documentary SEVEN SIGNS, directed by J.D. Wilkes (see item: 12/28/09); three late-night shows commemorating the 10th anniversary of MICRO-FILM including DEADWOOD PARK, directed by Eric Stanze (MF 1), RETURN IN RED, directed by Tyler Tharpe (MF 6, 7), and the über-quintessential MF movie, EXISTO, directed by Coke Sams (MF 4); and, more!

Akin to the quick-paced potpourri of our Boneyard show last year at Caffé Paradiso in Urbana, a “non-taxing film loop” will kick off NAFF beginning at 5 p.m. on Thursday, featuring trailers of this year’s long-form selections as well as music videos and shorts, the latter including THE TRANSIENT, directed by Chris Lukeman, and DR. ZOND CONTROLS THE WEATHER, directed by Johnny Robinson. This set will repeat three times through the evening, leading up to EXISTO and the short FALLING TO THE TOP, directed by Wes Edwards, at 10 p.m. All presentations on this day are free!

Thanks to Sanford Hess and the Art, filmgoers will receive a break the rest of the way as tickets for all NAFF shows from Friday, April 16, to Tuesday, April 20, will cost the $6.50 matinee price. Everything will come full circle on the 20th when NAFF reprises favorite shorts and then invites local filmmakers up front to discuss their current work and ponder the future potential for making creative media in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond!

Programming queries can be sent to yours truly at cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com. General queries can be sent to Hess at the [dot] art [dot] theater [at] gmail [dot] com. Press queries can be sent to Travis Alber at travis [dot] alber [at] gmail [dot] com.

All shows will take place at the Art, 126 W. Church St., downtown Champaign. Please join us! After NAFF wraps, get out there and make kick-ass local cinema to project on the Art’s silver screen next year!

~ Jason Pankoke

p.s. Look here tomorrow night for the complete schedule! Until then, click this link to download a PDF version courtesy of the Art!

Today, The College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced the movies to be showcased at the twelfth annual edition of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival:

Wednesday, April 21
7:00 p.m. PINK FLOYD THE WALL (1982, 95 min, in 70mm)
10:00 p.m. YOU, THE LIVING (2007, 95 min)

Thursday, April 22
12:00 p.m. MUNYURANGABO (2007, 97 min)
3:00 p.m. THE NEW AGE (1994, 112 min)
8:00 p.m. APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX (2001, 202 min)

Friday, April 23
1:00 p.m. DEPARTURES (2008, 130 min)
4:00 p.m. MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (1929, 68 min,
w/Alloy Orchestra)
8:00 p.m. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (2008, 124 min)

Saturday, April 24
11:00 a.m. I CAPTURE THE CASTLE (2003, 111 min)
2:00 p.m. VINCENT: A LIFE IN COLOR (2008, 96 min)
4:30 p.m. TRUCKER (2009, 90 min)
9:00 p.m. BARFLY (1987, 100 min)

Sunday, April 25
12:00 p.m. SONG SUNG BLUE (2008, 87 min)

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival will take place at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign, Illinois. The official site of “Ebertfest” features a detailed schedule, including signings and panel discussions. Tickets for individual shows will go on sale Monday, April 5, 2010.

Starting today, our monthly meeting reminder expands to embrace our friends to the west in the Capital City.

Firstly, Champaign Movie Makers meets at least once a month to afford area filmmakers and talent an opportunity to discuss and join forces on the making of independent cinema in the area. If you are interested in being more “in the loop” if not directly involved with CMM-related productions, please visit and join their Yahoo! Group.

The next meeting will take place tomorrow,  Tuesday, March 16, 7 p.m., in the 4th floor conference room of the M2 Building, 301 N. Neil St., Champaign, IL. This month’s presentation will be by CMM founder Johnny Robinson about lighting techniques including a brief hands-on workshop; additional topics TBD.

Contact Johnny Robinson at johnny [at] johnnyrobinson [dot] com or Bill Kephart at billkephart [at] juno [dot] com for further information about Champaign Movie Makers.

And then, the Central Illinois Film Commission led by president Cameron Counts will get together Thursday, March 18, 7 p.m., at the Route 66 Hotel & Convention Center, 625 E. Saint Joseph St., Springfield, IL, in a room TBD according to Counts. CIFC seeks to connect industry professionals and educate up-and-comers via classes, social events, and Internet tools, along with plugging its members into working sets when opportunities arise.

You can read a bit more about where CIFC may be headed in this article posted today profiling the Illinois film industry, written by Jennifer A. Sheffield for The Independent Magazine.

Contact Counts at nmdcone [at] yahoo [dot] com for further information about the Central Illinois Film Commission; you can also visit their Web site or join their Yahoo! Group for CIFC news.

~ Jason Pankoke

“The Witch School Film Project”
An interview with Thomas Bender and Jacob Bakkila of HOOPESTON

by Jason Pankoke

As an undergraduate at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, I would often hear my peers refer to our school as “the bubble.” This convenient metaphor, implicit throughout our small campus by the iconic arched window that serves as an IWU indicia, had been used time and again to call out the student body (in effect, ourselves) for living an insular academic life while the larger issues of our world resided elsewhere. Sadly, I’ve noted variations on that once-shallow idiom ever since. Even when one is busy taking care of life’s needs and striving to contribute to one’s communities, one is often oblivious to dynamics operating across the county line, barely a mile down the road, or aggravatingly just out of reach.

In my 15 years as a Champaign resident, I’ve given little thought to Hoopeston, Illinois, barely an hour drive from here but seemingly worlds away. Called the “Sweet Corn Capital of the World” in its 20th century prime, this depressed farm-and-factory town may have been indistinguishable in the eyes of New York filmmakers Thomas Bender and Jacob Bakkila if not for the introduction of an eccentric element foreign to Hoopeston’s old-fashioned aura. The resulting documentary, HOOPESTON, is less about its namesake and more the tenacity of its folk while a storyline that seems primed to detail a literal, modern-day witch hunt instead lopes off the expected path to provide a gently haunting exposé on current prairie Americana.

Once again, it takes the keen perception of someone green to Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond to provide us with a colorful look back at ourselves.

Read on, Sweet MacDuff…

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We fibbed a bit at the end of our last post about THE INFORMANT! (Just remember which movie we’re talking about, folks.) With the video editions now available for home viewing, C-U Blogfidential dug up more statistics that might reinforce or implode our opinions about the overall performance of this Steven Soderbergh semi-experiment. Industry data supplier Rentrak, whose box office numbers we cited before, also issues weekly reports that track DVD, Blu-ray, and video-on-demand (VOD) releases. So, how in their estimation did the Mark Whitacre story hold up amidst the current crop?

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