C-U Film Leader: 6.27.2013

The C-U Film Leader appears Thursdays on C-U Blogfidential to point our readers towards interesting cinema activity relevant to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and the surrounding area. Please support the artists and their work, attend screenings and events, and otherwise become active in our wondrous little world!

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THE C-U FILM LEADER
6.27.2013

Featuring: GARDEN OF CHLOE,
short film contests & more!

As we announced on Monday, we will be taking a C-U Blogfidential breather for two months so there’s no better way to cover a lot of ground quickly than with the C-U Film Leader!


6 :: PENS TO LENS SCREENPLAY COMPETITION FILMS
NOW VIEWABLE ON-LINE

Many happy Champaign-Urbana residents turned out for the Champaign-Urbana Film Society’s Pens to Lens Awards Gala at the Art Theater Co-op in downtown Champaign on May 29. It offered the debut of nine movie shorts made by local filmmakers from scripts written and submitted by pre-college students for the first CUFS Pens to Lens Screenwriting Competition. Those who could not attend the show may access streaming video of all the shorts through this Web page. Enjoy!


5 :: AUDITIONS FOR UPCOMING C-U INDIE
“GARDEN OF CHLOE” NEXT WEEKEND

Urbana filmmaker Johnny Robinson will host a casting session on Saturday, July 6, 3-6 p.m., for his first feature-length project called THE GARDEN OF CHLOE, with a public table read scheduled the following day, Sunday, July 7, at 7 p.m. The timetable for producing this story, about a free-spirited artist who moves into a not-so-free-spirited neighborhood, involves shooting scenes for fundraising in September and the full feature in early summer 2014. Location for the audition and read-through is Robinson’s home at 1204 N. Broadway Ave., Urbana, which will also double as the film’s main setting. Please contact Robinson with questions at johnny [at] johnnyrobinson [dot] com or (217) 714-2748.


4 :: ORGANIZERS OF AREA FILM CONTESTS
CURRENTLY SEEKING ENTRIES

In addition to the Illinois festivals with open calls for submission we told you about last month, we have several events to suggest of a more competitive bent. The annual Shortcuts challenge sponsored by the Illinois Film Office is still accepting material until August 30; all genres are acceptable as long as works are produced in and highlight the state of Illinois. The winning short will play the Chicago International Film Festival this October. Elsewhere, the Land of Lincoln Credit Union of Decatur invites movie-makers to send in shorts to their 21 Film Project by July 15; multiple prizes and awards will be given and top films will play publicly at the downtown Decatur Celebration in early August. Also, the folks behind this weekend’s Blues, Brews and BBQ Festival in downtown Champaign are offering prize packages for attendees who make the best videos recounting their experience at this year’s show; deadline to forward YouTube links of said videos is September 1. Finally, the Embarras Valley Film Festival at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston is soliciting short documentaries made by filmmakers in the immediate region for its November dates; deadline to submit is October 1 and further information can be gleaned from its Web site or festival director Robin Murray via rlmurray [at] eiu [dot] edu. Get on ‘em, gang!


3 :: AVON MANAGEMENT GROUP OF DECATUR
EXPANDS TO STERLING MARKET

It’s been long in planning, but Avon Theatre owner Skip Huston has finally branched outside Decatur and is restoring a two-screen movie house in small-town Sterling, Illinois, located in between Peoria and Rockford. According to the Avon Facebook Page, Huston began interviewing for staff yesterday, June 26, with an opening date as yet unannounced. We wish his Avon Theater Management Group well in this endeavor, despite recent grumbling by Sterling city officials who caught wind of this apparent revelation by a Decatur city official on local NBC affiliate WAND-TV. Let’s trust all business matters here and there have been settled in the proper manner with nothing but smooth sailing ahead. Fin.


2 :: DANVILLE NATIVE, UCLA PROFESSOR
GARY GARDNER PASSES AWAY

Gary Gardner, a well-loved instructor in the School of Theater, Film, and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles, died June 15 at age 69. Many local talents including Danville filmmakers Mike and Leslie Boedicker recently worked with him on the dramatic feature HOUSE OF THADDEUS. Shot primarily in the theater veteran’s seasonal home in Danville, the film also features Gardner in a supporting role. We offer our condolences to everyone involved in the project and hope audiences will show their respects when THADDEUS premieres later this year. You can read about Gardner in this Hollywood Reporter article and offer your thoughts on this Facebook memorial Page.


:::: BLIP! ::::


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That’s it for this and the next few weeks, gang. The Leader has spoken!

If you have relevant news, opportunities, dates, or promotions that you would like included in CULead, please forward the who, what, where, when, and how much to cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com.

Compiled by Jason Pankoke

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“The C-U Film Leader” no.84
© 2013 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.

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