Slideshow: Red-Carpet Portraits at 52nd Chicago International Film Festival for Local Films

Submitted by PatrickMcD on November 2, 2016 - 8:14am

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MIDDLE MAN - Jim O’Heir shows off his best Red Carpet pose.

CHICAGO – The 52nd Chicago International Film Festival wrapped last week, but the Red Carpet presentations continued right up to that end date. The Chicago connections films, either made in the area or by Chicago filmmakers or actors, had two major Red Carpets, and HollywoodChicago.com was there to capture them. Actors and filmmakers from the new films “Middle Man” and “Imperfections” were there.

Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos © Joe Arce for HollywoodChicago.com. Also answering some Red Carpet questions was the filmmaker and star of “Middle Man.”

Actor Jim O’Heir and Director Ned Crowley of “Middle Man”

HollywoodChicago.com: Ned, how long have you been formulating the story of ‘Middle Man,’ before you had a chance to produce it?

Ned Crowley: The formulation and script has been going on for ten years. I wrote it for Jim, and every character in the film were people I knew from my sketch comedy work in Chicago. It’s been percolating for awhile, and it changed a lot, and two years ago I pulled it out of the mothballs. Jim was coming off his final season of ‘Parks and Recreation,’ and I thought finally it was something we could do.

HollywoodChicago.com: Jim, you began in film and TV when you were well into your thirties. What was the key to making the decision to move to Los Angeles, and how did you get noticed there?

Jim O’Heir: The thing about Chicago, and nobody loves this town more than I do, but the acting opportunities here at that point in my life were not available. It’s was either a hobby or there were only a few actors even attempting to make a living. So one of my theater colleagues had written a play called ‘Stumpy’s Gang.’ We took it to Los Angeles, it ran for a year on Melrose Avenue, and launched my career. I’ve lived and worked there ever since.

CIFF1: MIDDLE MAN - Director Ned Crowley and Actor Jim O’Heir.
CIFF2: MIDDLE MAN - Jim O’Heir shows off his best Red Carpet pose.
CIFF3: IMPERFECTIONS - Actor Zach McGowan.
CIFF4: IMPERFECTIONS - Actress Virginia Kull.
CIFF5: IMPERFECTIONS - Virginia Kull and Zach McGowan.
CIFF6: IMPERFECTIONS - Chelcie Ross, director David Singer and Jerry MacKinnon.
CIFF7: Actor Andre Royo of ‘Hunter Gatherer,’ which played at the festival.
CIFF8: Morocco Omari of ‘Empire’ walked the Red Carpet.

For more Red Carpet portraits from the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, CLICK HERE.

Cinema/Chicago, the sponsor of the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, has events throughout the year. For more information, and a wrap-up of the film fest, click here.