#68- Middle Coast Film Festival 2018: The Interviews

Movie Show Theater: The Podcast

Welcome back to the show! Today, we're going to the Davis Theater (4614 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago) for the Middle Coast Film Festival! We got a look behind the scenes and got to talk to John Schorg, the chairman of the festival. John discussed the importance of short films, and why they have so much to offer us. We also sat down with Melissa Fitzsimmons, the program director for the Middle Coast Film Festival, to get an idea of the amount of footwork involved in this massive undertaking, including screening HUNDREDS of film submissions. We also talked to a handful of filmmakers from all over the country (also Canada) here this weekend to showcase their films. 1. Karson Pilote- writer and director of The Heart of the Blackhawks. This documentary chronicles his grandfather's life and career playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. 2. Writer Ben Hammond, director Shawn McDaniel, and cinematographer Mark Stabeline sit down to talk about My Death Co, a darkly funny web series about confronting death, life, love, and everything in between. They are premiering their 2nd episode tonight, but their first is currently available to stream at www.mydeathco.com 3. Averland DeCourse, Brandon Coleman, and cinematographer Sayyid talked to me about their film, Identity: Absolutely Present. We discussed their many influences from Spike Lee and Ryan Coogler to camera techniques made famous by Alfred Hitchcock. 4. Jaffe Zin sat down with me to talk about his latest feature film, Children. He described Children as a sort of existential Christian horror film, so obviously, I wanted to know more. He talks about the big differences between Children and his last feature film, Happy Valley. You can check out middlecoastfest.com for the whole lineup, or just head down there NOW and check out some seriously incredible films. This was recorded live in a noisy room, so be warned. But please suffer through the inferior quality, because I had a great time with these folks, and they absolutely have something to say. And thanks for supporting Movie Show Theater!