CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
Podcast Talk: Rebecca Fons on Reopening the Iowa Theater in Winterset on May 25, 2017
CHICAGO – When Rebecca Fons, the former Education Manager of the Chicago International Film Festival, was getting married to Jack C. Newell – a prominent Chicago film director – her mother Marianne told her something that would change the course of their lives. Fons’ hometown movie theater, the “Iowa,” was about to offered for sale. In the equivalent of the recent Matt Damon family film favorite, Rebecca and Marianne Fons was about to star in their version of “We Bought a Movie Theater.”
Rebecca Fons has been a mover and shaker within the Chicago cinema scene. She was the Education Manager for the Chicago International Film Festival for nine years, and participates in a number of screening committees for film festivals across the country. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Columbia College here, and serves in various capacities with the Steppenwolf Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center and the Junior League of Chicago. She is a former roller derby referee for the Windy City Rollers league, and recently joined a improvisation ensemble named “Spitfire,” after training at The Second City.
Marianne and Rebecca Fons at the Announcement for the Reopening of the Iowa Theater
Photo credit: The-Iowa.com
In the following podcast interview with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Fons describes the process of acquiring and rehabilitating a bit of her childhood past in bringing the Iowa Theater back to life, and the legacy of her hometown of Winterset, which also was the birthplace of Hollywood legend John Wayne.
By PATRICK McDONALD |