Jack C. Newell

CHICAGO – When a locally filmed romantic Christmas movie was released last week on HULU, the audience comfort and joy for this genre was proven once again by its TOP TEN trending status on the streaming service. The merry elf director behind “Reporting for Christmas” is Chicago-based Jack C. Newell.

CHICAGO – It’s five times the fun for the fifth time. Filmmaker Jack C. Newell and Rebecca Fons of the Gene Siskel Film Center will conduct their 5th “Destroy Your Art” event. The idea is a filmmaker creates a film, shows it once to the audience, and then destroys it forever. This will take place this year at the historic Music Box Theatre on Tuesday, September 26th, 2023. For more information, including tickets, click DYA.

CHICAGO – Putting together a documentary, especially as it involves a step-by-step process, can take a bit of time. Filmmaker Jack C. Newell has spent 10 years putting together “How (Not) to Build a School in Haiti.” The Premiere of the film is Friday, September 16th at Chicago’s Gene Siskel Film Center. Click HAITI for info and tickets.

CHICAGO – It’s been three years, there is definitely a need to get together and destroy something. So in the spirit of this urge, power couple filmmaker Jack C. Newell and Rebecca Fons of the Gene Siskel Film Center, will conduct their 4th “Destroy Your Art” event, back from its last incarnation in 2019. The idea is a filmmaker creates a film, shows it once to the audience, and then destroys it forever. This will take place this year at the historic Music Box Theatre on August 25th, 2022. For more information, including tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – To stand out in the crowded “Christmas Romance” TV movie genre, it starts with a strong script (by Rebecca Weaver) and the right lead actor. “Christmas with Felicity,” now available on the AMC+ app, features Sarah Brooks (“Chicago Med”) as the title character, a burnt-out city dweller looking to find solace back in her small Wisconsin home town.

CHICAGO – The challenge of creating a “Christmas Romance” TV movie, in a field that is saturated with contenders, would perplex even Orson Welles. But Chicago-based director Jack C. Newell was up to the task, as he took a script from Rebecca Weaver and put his spin on the holiday rom-com “Christmas with Felicity,” now available on the AMC+ app.

CHICAGO – A cinema treasure, the Gene Siskel Film Center, reopens in-theater screenings on Friday, August 6th, 2021, the first since the pandemic closure in March of 2020. During the closure, they also named a new Director of Programming, Rebecca Fons.

CHICAGO – The evolution of the “local filmmaker” always seems to be defined through where that person is. Jack C. Newell appears to not be measured by time and place, but as a filmmaker of artistic vision with a basis in love. His latest film, “Monuments,” opens June 4th, 2021, through the Gene Siskel Film Center virtual cinema.

CHICAGO – Reviving a film from local cinema treasure Michael Glover Smith is always welcome at any time, but especially now. The Gene Siskel Film Center is enhancing their “From Your Sofa” download-from-home film series with Smith’s seminal release, “Mercury in Retrograde” through April 23rd.

CHICAGO – In what has become an annual happening, Chicago arts power couple Rebecca Fons and Jack C. Newell bring back “Destroy Your Art,” an event in which a filmmaker creates a film, shows it once to the audience, and then destroys it forever. Destroy Your Art takes place on August 10th, 2019, at Inside Town Space in the West Town neighborhood, Chicago. For more information, including tickets, click here.