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Our movie and media Calendar appears every Friday\/Saturday on <\/em>C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong> and caters to the downstate region anchored by Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA.<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!<\/strong><\/p>\n 7\/16: Bobbie O\u2019Steen (moderator, \u201cInside the Cutting Room with Bobbie O\u2019Steen\u201d series, Manhattan Edit Workshop, New York, NY) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n Two weeks ago, the Field Report<\/strong> fawned<\/a><\/span> over temporary residents of downstate Illinois<\/strong> who are now famous. Today\u2019s filing offers a sort of corrective that instead highlights artists with roots in our area whose distinct talents blossomed once they lived elsewhere. We\u2019ll start with our friend Tristan Duke<\/strong>, once a young barista, budding photographer, and intricate illustrator here in the C-U who has settled in Los Angeles<\/strong> and become an in-demand gallery artist with science-based optical illusions<\/a><\/span>. His newest creation, \u201cAperture Lucida<\/strong>,\u201d was developed over a two-year period<\/a><\/span> while an artist-in-residence at the Exploratorium<\/strong> of San Francisco<\/strong> and received its belated public unveiling at the same<\/a><\/span> on Thursday, July 1<\/strong>, in the Osher Gallery<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Then, we\u2019ll continue with our friend Megan Johns<\/strong>, also a young barista, student, and singer-songwriter in her previous life du C-U, who alighted on Eugene, Oregon<\/strong>, where she continues to perform<\/a><\/span>, acts, and teaches painting. She and husband Shannon Swords<\/strong> have also partnered with a local collective on a viral \u201cScene in Eugene<\/strong>\u201d short film series<\/a><\/span>; the seventh episode FEATHERS<\/strong>, a female-fronted drama with fantastic overtones<\/a><\/span> that was written, directed, and partly scored by Johns, premiered New Year\u2019s Day<\/strong> on YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and has won awards and citations at festivals in Phoenix<\/strong> and San Francisco.<\/p>\n Finally, we\u2019ll conclude with a friend of several friends that we first talked about many moons ago<\/a><\/span>, Cody Ren\u00e9e Cameron<\/strong>, who flirted with Playboy<\/span><\/strong>-branded fame while still a University of Illinois<\/strong> undergraduate and waitress in the C-U and has gone full tilt as a model, actress, and stunt woman<\/a><\/span> in the 10 years she has called L.A. home. Her screen appearances come in numerous shapes and sizes<\/a><\/span>, from bit parts in BALLERS, THE NEON DEMON<\/strong>, and EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD STORY<\/strong> to featured roles in indies like VEROTIKA<\/strong> and GIRLS GUNS AND BLOOD<\/strong>; she and B-film star Robin Sydney<\/strong> even trended in genre circles all last year due to their trio of BARBIE & KENDRA<\/strong> quarantine comedies<\/a><\/span> for Full Moon Features<\/strong>. What will<\/em> all three of our engaging West Coast transplants come up with next?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n CONFIDENTIAL ALMANAC | Dates in Film Culture History<\/strong><\/p>\n 45 Years Ago<\/strong> \u2026 Thursday, July 15, 1976:<\/em> Beverly Hills, CA<\/strong>-based distributor Crown International Pictures<\/strong> opens the film DEATH RIDERS<\/strong> on 100 screens in the Kansas City-Omaha<\/strong> region of the Midwest, according to the exhibition trade magazine Boxoffice<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>. One of the only non-fiction titles in the company\u2019s catalog and the rare documentary to play the drive-in circuit, DEATH RIDERS<\/strong> is directed by James Wilson<\/strong> of Hallmark Entertainment<\/strong> and provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Death Riders Motorcycle Thrill Show<\/strong>, a traveling stunt team founded in the early Seventies by Floyd Reed, Sr.<\/strong>, and featuring his teenage son Danny<\/strong> as \u201cMr. T.N.T.\u201d Two weeks prior to this roll out, the film\u2019s world premiere took place at the North Drive-In<\/strong> of Terre Haute, IN<\/strong>, on Friday, July 2<\/strong>, a live Death Riders exhibition providing additional impact at the start of the show. Booking agent T.N.T. Productions<\/strong> is based in the Reed family\u2019s hometown of Danville, IL<\/strong>, while the crew\u2019s practice stadium is 25 miles away in Cayuga, IN<\/strong>; a memorable scene in DEATH RIDERS<\/strong> finds Danny\u2019s grandmother Clara<\/strong> fainting in the Cayuga grandstand after watching him crash in front of the hometown crowd. Additional thrills performed for camera by the Death Riders would appear a year later in the fictional action-comedy DEATH DRIVER<\/strong>, produced and self-distributed by prolific North Carolina<\/strong> independent filmmaker Earl Owensby<\/strong>. [R]<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area<\/strong><\/p>\n @ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL<\/strong> @ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL<\/strong>
\n7\/21: Shawnee E. Tefteller (owner, Shawnee Studios: Model & Talent Management\/Casting, Mt. Olive, IL)
\n7\/22: Wanda Kanagy (account executive, Premier Print Group, Champaign, IL)<\/p>\n
\nESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, BLACK WIDOW, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT, CRUELLA, F9: THE FAST SAGA, THE FOREVER PURGE, THE HITMAN\u2019S WIFE\u2019S BODYGUARD, PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY, A QUIET PLACE PART II, ZOLA (7\/16 on), OLD, SNAKE EYES (7\/22 on)<\/p>\n
\nESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN, SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, BLACK WIDOW, THE BOSS BABY: FAMILY BUSINESS, CRUELLA, F9: THE FAST SAGA, THE FOREVER PURGE, A QUIET PLACE PART II (7\/16 on), Turner Classic Movies presents THE AFRICAN QUEEN 70th anniversary (7\/18, 3 & 7 p.m.; 7\/21, 7 p.m.), PEE-WEE\u2019S BIG ADVENTURE (7\/18, 3 & 7 p.m.; 7\/21, 7 p.m.), FATE\/STAY NIGHT [HEAVEN’S FEEL] III. SPRING SONG (anim\u00e9; 7\/18, 3 p.m.; 7\/20, 7 p.m.), SING, KUNG FU PANDA (7\/20-7\/22, 10 a.m.), BO BURNHAM: INSIDE (comedy special; 7\/22, 7 p.m.), OLD, SNAKE EYES (7\/22 on)<\/p>\n