Tim Kazurinsky

AUSTIN – My first full day at the 2024 SXSW fest was slow to get going, only because my flight came in late Saturday night and I decided to go downtown and partake of a late get together event (it’s about the networking). So after registering on Sunday morning I went through the creativity expo, checked the VR exhibit, and went to my first screening, the Independent TV Pilot Program.

CHICAGO – The names “TJ & Dave” are legion in the Chicago entertainment scene. The improvisation duo – T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi – are improv performers who heighten the status of the city as a comedic destination. Now they’re featured in a indie TV pilot that will premiere at SXSW 2024 entitled “Bettendorf Talks.”

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Doug Stanhope of ‘The Road Dog.’

CHICAGO – Stand-up comedy icon Doug Stanhope will be featured in a new film releasing through Video-On-Demand beginning October 6th, 2023. “The Road Dog” features Stanhope as an alcoholic comedian who re-connects with a long lost son who wants to go into the family business.

CHICAGO – “The Road Dog” refers to the stand-up comic who lives that life from town to town. The new film by the same name is co-written by Tony Boswell and Greg Glienna (also director), and will screen at the Park Ridge (IL) Pickwick Theatre (click here).

CHICAGO – Ten years ago, an Independent film was released in Chicago, co-written and co-directed by Richard Knight Jr., an entertainment fixture in the Windy City. “Scrooge & Marley” offered a bit more than the previous versions of the familiar “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, it was the first to filter the story through same sex coupling and LGBTQ+ themes. A new staged version of the film, complete with the featured songs, will be presented at Chicago’s Center on Halsted on December 12th, 2022, at 7pm. It’s a FREE event, register for tickets by clicking SCROOGE & MARLEY.

CHICAGO – The topic of cancer is rarely heroic, and as we know mostly concludes tragically. But the new teen comedy “Hope Springs Eternal” turns the Big C on its ear, and features up-and-coming young actor Mia Rose Frampton to take it on. The film is light and breezy, with nods to John Hughes, absurdist teen indoctrinations and the celebration of music in life.

CHICAGO – He has portrayed the reliable firefighter Joe Cruz for six seasons on NBC-TV’s “Chicago Fire”… Joe Minoso both plays that role and actually lives in Chicago now. Before his stint on “Fire,” he had completed a short film for local filmmaker Ben-Hur Uribe, “Alonso, The Dream and the Call,” which has just been released for Amazon Prime download.

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Honoree George Wendt gets ‘roasted.’ Norm!

CHICAGO – On September 9th, 2017, it seemed like the whole of The Second City theater on Wells Street in Chicago let out a collective cry of “NORM!” The favorite barfly of TV’s “Cheers,” George Wendt, came back to his old comedy stomping ground at The Second City to participate in “I Can’t Believe They Wendt There: The Roast of George Wendt.”

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 30 pairs of advance-screening passes up for grabs to the reimagining of the classic romantic comedy “About Last Night” with Kevin Hart and Regina Hall!

CHICAGO – Bring up the immortal classic “A Christmas Carol,” by author Charles Dickens, then bring up how many film and TV versions have been done using its basic story. After a half hour of listing every conceivable production, a gay version won’t be found. “Scrooge & Marley” is the new film that takes care of that category. The premiere was last week in Chicago at the Music Box Theatre.