Podtalk: Midwest Independent Film Fest Opener is ‘An Acceptable Loss’ on Feb. 5, 2019

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CHICAGO – Some extraordinary local and outside talent coordinated to produce the film “An Acceptable Loss” in 2018, including featured stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Tika Sumpter (“Southside with You”). Producer Colleen Griffen and writer/director Joe Chappelle, who hail from Chicagoland, helped to create this passionate thriller, with echoes of paranoid government oversight films like “All the President’s Men” and the recent “Vice.” The Midwest Independent Film Festival has made “An Acceptable Loss” the kickoff film for their 2019 season. Click here for tickets and details.

Libby (Tika Sumpter) is a superstar in overseas intelligence, having been the chief advisor to U.S. Vice President Burke (Jamie Lee Curtis) during a confrontation that had the ramifications of September 11th. Oddly, she has opted to forego a plum assignment when the VP is elected President, and accepts an academia role at a Midwestern University. Her role in the previous administration was divisive, and she is not necessarily welcome on campus. One particular grad student, Martin (Ben Tavassoli, in a eerily direct performance), seems intent on bringing the former government bureaucrat down. As the mystery unravels, so it follows that truth may become a victim.

Tuesday, February 5th, 2019, at the Midwest Independent Film Festival
Photo credit: MidwestFilm.com and IFC FIlms

Producer Colleen Griffen and writer/director Joe Chappelle are husband-and-wife TV/film makers, and have worked on several projects together. Chappelle has had a long and fruitful career on high profile series television, including HBO’s “The Wire,” CBS-TV’s “CSI Miami” and FOX’s “Fringe” as director, writer and in co-or-solo executive producer roles. In 2012, he was named executive producer for “Chicago Fire,” which began a successful run of television production in the Windy City. Colleen Griffen has two feature films as writer/director, and has worked before with spouse Joe on the ABC-TV’s “Boyband,” and as associate producers on the locally filmed feature “Princess Cyd.”

In PART ONE of a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Producer Colleen Griffen and Writer/Director Joe Chappelle of “An Acceptable Loss” talk about themes, coordinating their budget and working together while also being married.

In PART TWO, the precise casting of the film is reflected upon, as well as the use of the Chicagoland area for creating atmosphere.

The Midwest Independent Film Festival is a year-round movie event in Chicago that takes place the first Tuesday of every month, at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema. The festival has been recognized by Chicago Magazine in their “Best of Chicago” issue, and has become one of the top places for local filmmakers, producers and actors to network in the city.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com