Podcast

LOS ANGELES – The unforgettable actor Robert Forster had one of the most celebrated of “second acts” in show biz history, but he would humbly characterize himself as a “working actor,” performing in film and TV for over 50 years. Forster passed away on October 11th, 2019, in Los Angeles. He was 78 years old.

CHICAGO – Since Chicago is one of the great Irish immigrant cities in the U.S., it stands to reason that a film festival would be dedicated to Irish American films, and Mike Houlihan – a local writer/radio host/playwright/actor/filmmaker – founded this festival in in the Windy City in 2015.

CHICAGO – Molly Hewitt is an artist from England who has created a whole world of “Glamhag,” the catch-all term for an inclusive celebration of gender fluidity and performance. Hewitt has a Chicago Premiere as a director (and title character) in the film “Holy Trinity” on September 27th, 2019, at the Music Box Theatre.

CHICAGO – It comes down to this. After the weeks of preparation, filming and post production judging, the local edition of the international 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) competition culminates with their “Best of Chicago” and Awards Ceremony. The 2019 films – created in 48 hours, then whittled down to the finalists – will be screened before the awards ceremonies beginning at 7:00pm, Wednesday, September 25th, at the historic Music Box theater. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com was a judge for this year’s competition, and will present an award at the ceremony. For film line-ups and ticket information, click here.

CHICAGO – Moving from writing plays for the stage to writing for film may seem like a natural transition. But at the roots in each of these separate storytelling forms there are different ways of formulating the connection between dialogue and visuals. Alice Austen made this transition when she wrote – with director Kirill Mikhanovsky – the story and screenplay for “Give Me Liberty.”

CHICAGO – A film that made its world premiere in Chicago – at the 2018 Cinepocalypse Film Festival – is making its way into the national consciousness. “Empathy, Inc.,” directed by Yedidya “Jed” Gorsetman, has a theatrical run in the first half of September, (including Chicago) before the release with Video-On-Demand on 9/24.

CHICAGO – When the world broke open during the historic #MeToo entertainment industry scandal, the incidents were simply the tip of the gigantic iceberg. “This Changes Everything” goes deeper behind the subject of women in film, to expose a system in show business that has consistently lacked in opportunities for female filmmakers and production workers. The historic Wilmette (Illinois) Theatre will screen the documentary as part of a Women Filmmaker Celebration on September 13th, 2019 (7pm), with a panel discussion moderated by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com. For more details and tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – With the major league baseball playoffs on the horizon, there is no better way to celebrate than a screening of the ballgame-themed TV pilot “Vendors,” created by Christopher Biewer, directed by Joel Murray and featuring Biewer, Kim DeJesus, Tim Kazurinsky, Emo Philips and former Chicago Cub Ryan Dempster.

CHICAGO – John Travolta continues to surprise by challenging himself in offbeat roles. His latest is “The Fanatic,” which had its nationwide release on August 30th. To promote the film and greet admirers, Travolta stopped by the Wizard World Comic Con in Chicago, and Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com shot an Exclusive Photo.

CHICAGO – Filmmaking in Chicago just got another feather in its cap, as writer/director Yuri Rutman is about to premiere his short film “Trained” on the prestigious Shorts TV channel. Shorts TV is the official distributor of the Oscar nominated shorts every year, and picked up Rutman’s film as a high-level example of this truncated cinematic art form.