Connecticut Studios, South Windsor, CT At last week's Connecticut Film Festival (www.ctfilmfest.com), the movers and shakers of the Connecticut film scene assembled at a seminar panel to discuss how film and television production is a vital component in the state's initiatives to create jobs, attract professionals and help the state climb out of the biggest deficit in its history. Economic advisors for several cities in the state as well as the head of the Connecticut Office of Film, Televi...
It is a powerful mathematical equation: Politics + Hollywood = Poliwood. In his latest film, Oscar winning director and Connecticut resident Barry Levinson (RAIN MAN) surveys the close dance between the celebrity culture of the film capital and the political halls of power in Washington. The film is the Closing Night attraction for this year's Connecticut Film Festival on Saturday evening at 730pm at the historic Palace Theater, preceded by the announcement of the Festival's awards in ...
Films which feature veteran actors are having a particularly diffilcult time breaking through in the highly youth-oriented film market. Let's face it, teenagers and young adults are the ones who go to the movies in greatest numbers and....they buy popcorn, nachos and candy which contributes mightily to the film theaters' bottom line.
This is a shame because films peopled by seniors have a special heart and wisdom and also serve as a showcase for actors who have had a lifetime to per...
The next Steven Spielberg or Kathryn Bigelow could be nestled in the Connecticut Film Festival's annual showcase for student films made by area filmmakers. The Connecticut Student Film Festival draws new works from local high schools and colleges, showcasing the innovation, talent and daring of a ne generation of budding film artists.
The Connecticut Student Film Festival kicks off Friday with an outdoor reception (weather permitting) across from the historic Palace Theater on...
Starting on Thursday and continuing through the weekend, the Connecticut Film Festival is presenting a dizzying schedule of workshops and master classes in the areas of film education and digital/new media production. Aimed at both professionals in the field and rank amateurs, the intensives cover everything from new production techniques to innovative fundraising to the changing climate of film distribution. A special focus will be on screenwriting, with master classes taught by sever...
THE WRECKING CREW, the music documentary that opened the Connecticut Film Festival at the historic Palace Theater in Danbury last evening, was a musical wow. Telling the story of the studio session musicians who backed up some of the recording industry's biggest stars, the film was an eye-opening look at an era when popular musical acts did not necessarily play musical instruments, and these professional back up musicians were not acknowledged.
The documentary, a 12 year labor of ...
Tom Carruthers, CTFF Executive Director
Organizing a film festival can be a major challenge, but to pull it all together in less than 3 months is akin to giving birth.....exruciatingly painful but, in the end, worth it. The pain and the pleasure might best describe the drive and commitment of Tom Carruthers, the Executive Director and Founder of the Connecticut Film Festival, as he oversees this year's expansive program of film premieres, special events, information semina...
THE WRECKING CREW, an award-winning music documentary on the unknown back up musicians for some of the recording industry's most celebrated talents, is tonight's Opening Night attraction of the Connecticut Film Festival (May 4-9, website: www.ctfilmfest.com).
From the mid 1960s through the early 1970s, a group of two-dozen studio musicians shaped the sound of the American pop music industry and influenced generations of musicians to come. The Wrecking Crew played backup for ...
One of Connecticut's most illustrious residents, English-born actress Lynn Redgrave died in her Kent, Connecticut home last evening, surrounded by family members. She had been battling breast cancer for the past seven years, bravely documenting her journey in a photo essay published with her daughter and performing in a one-woman show last year about her health battles.
Redgrave , the youngest sibling of the Redgrave acting dynasty, was a double Oscar nominee over a caree...
Denny Tedesco decided to make his film debut THE WRECKING CREW about a subject close to his heart. His father had been a studio musician who played backup for some of the reigning giants of the recording industry. But as the son of a musician who stayed in the shadows for his career, Tedesco was also aware of the difficult choices and somewhat unfulfilled lives these people endured. So, his choice for his directorial debut seems inspired...a tribute to the unsung musicians who play ...
One of the main venues for the Connecticut Film Festival, which opens tomorrow evening, is the Palace Theater on Main Street in Danbury, a once prosperous town 50 miles north of New York City. From the theater's simple facade and faded charm, it is hard to imagine that this was one of the important theaters in the Northeast, where headliners and musical legends once entertained Danbury's upper crust.
The historic theater, originally built in 1928 when Danbury was a wealthy town, h...
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman
With the Connecticut Film Festival (www.ctfilmfest.com) launching on Tuesday, it is interesting to note the many film, television and artist celebrities who have once called or currently call Connecticut their home (those departed are also included, just to round out the list). With this kind of talent in droves, is it any wonder that Connecticut is celebrity country?
Carol Alt, Greenwich
Lauren Ambrose, New Haven
Kevi...
Yes, the Connecticut Film Festival, which begins this Tuesday and runs through Sunday, May 9, is about presentation of films and new media projects for locals and visitors alike, but its goals are far loftier and more ambitious. The Festival hopes to serve as a catalyst for building a sustainable and creative working environment for film, video and visual artists who call Connecticut home.
That explains the Festival's ambitious plan to gather the men and women on t...
The 2010 Connecticut Film Festival, which launches on Tuesday in the historic city of Danbury, Connecticut about 50 miles north of New York City, could very well be given the moniker "North By Northeast". This is not a geographic description nor a play on words of a classic Hitchcock thriller. It is, in fact, a nod to the multi-media event known as South By Southwest (SXSW), which takes place in edgy Austin, Texas each February. The Connecticut Fi...
State Capitol Building, Hartford
This newly established website will bring national and international readers information on all things visual in the state of Connecticut. But first a few basic facts......Connecticut is a state in the New England region of of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south.
Southwestern Connecticut is part of the New York metropolitan area, with ...
