Zeppa Foundation Establishes Northern Theatrical Costume

Over the past several decades, Duluthian Doug Moen gathered vintage clothing – a lot of vintage clothing. The collection currently includes well in excess of 50,000 items. The A. H. Zeppa Family Foundation recently purchased Moen’s inventory and has created Northern Theatrical Costume to serve local theater groups and regional filmmakers. Items from the Moen collection have been featured in several features including Far North, Iron Will, and North County.

A very detailed article about the new service is available on the Business North web site, http://www.businessnorth.com/viewarticle.asp?articleid=1940.

Tinseltown Minnesotan Posts on Upcoming Minnesota Film Production

Dave Anderson’s LA Log – A Minnesotan in Tinsel Town has a couple of interesting recent posts. Anderson, who writes for Mlps. St. Paul Magazine, covered the Minnesota Film and TV Board’s activities at the Film Location Expo on April 11 and the Minnesota Ice Pack event on April 13. That second post includes a few details about projects that potentially could be shot in Minnesota, including John Carroll Lynch’s Remember Minnesota and an unnamed Coen Brother’s production.

Lynch Remembers Minnesota

Remember Minnesota? Apparently John Carroll Lynch does. Lynch, the versatile and talented character actor best know for his performances as Marge Gunderson’s devoted husband, Norm, in Fargo and, more recently, the creepy number one suspect in this year’s thriller Zodiac, is scheduled to appear in an independent feature called Remember Minnesota this spring. The script, which was penned by Lynch and co-author Tess Clark, is a sports underdog story focused on the 1987 University of Minnesota rowing team’s unlikely run for the rowing regatta championship.

The film has a blog with current information about the production at www.rememberminnesota.com. More information is posted on the Minnesota Film & TV Board web site.

Lynch will direct a reading of the script on May 14 at the Ritz Theater 345 13th Ave. N.E. in Minneapolis.  The reading is being persented by the Minnesota-based Screenwriters’ Workshop as part of their ScriptNight series.

MN Historical Society Sponsors Film Competition

The Minnesota Historical Society sponsors an annual film competition focused on “Minnesota’s Greatest Generation,” Minnesotans who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II. View the 2006 winners at http://www.mnhs.org/people/mngg/film/winners2006.htm.

A call for entries for the 2007 competition is also available at http://www.mnhs.org/people/mngg/film/submit.htm.

KSTP News Package Features “Older Than America” Footage and Interviews

I recently discovered this link to a KSTP TV news package about the recent “Older than America” shoot in Cloquet, Minnesota. It focuses on two young Native American actors, Raven Bellefleur and Noah Kol Balfor, features interviews with director Georgina Lightning and producer Christine K. Walker, and includes a lot of on set footage.

48 Hour Film Project Dates Set

This year’s Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project is scheduled for June 8 through 10. Other nearby sites for the annual competition include Chicago (April 27-29) and Fargo (May 18-20). Last year’s Minneapolis event attracted 58 team entries. Learn more at http://48hourfilm.com/minneapolis/.

Source: List serve email from Ira Livingston, Minneapolis site organizer.

“Into Temptation” Screenplay Reading Scheduled

Patrick Coyle, writer/director of the 2003 Sundance selection Detective Fiction, is staging a reading of his screenplay Into Temptation at the South High School Skybox Theater in Minneapolis at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 23. The event is a fund-raiser for the South High Theater Program.

Coyle lobbied during the 2006 legislative session for funding of the Minnesota Snowbate film incentive, arguing that Snowbate funding could make it possible to film Into Temptation in Minnesota. Coyle’s on the advisory board of Shoot in Minnesota, an industry lobbying group. Into Temptation is reported to be preparing to shoot later this year.

More details posted on the Minnesota Film and TV Board web site.

“Dead of Winter” Schedules Spring Shoot in Minnesota

Another Independent feature has announce plans to shoot in Minnesota. LA-based Dead of Winter Productions plans to shoot “Dead of Winter” in April and May according to a crew call on the Minnesota Film and TV Board’s web site. The six week long shoot will begin on April 9 with Jeff Fisher set to direct.

O.K., I get it. Minnesota has a reputation for being cold and “wintery.” And there is the Snowbate program, Minnesota’s production incentive program. Still it seems oddly pessimistic to shoot a film called “Dead of Winter” in April and May, even in Minnesota.

Feature Scheduled to Shoot in Fargo/Moorhead

The Minnesota Film and TV Board’s web site is reporting that a non-union feature will shoot in Fargo/Moorhead area for 18 days beginning March 7. The film, called “Buick Riviera,” is being directed by Croatian director Goran Risinovic. Propeler Films is the production company.

By the way, the Film Board’s web site was recently revamped and it’s greatly improved. Check it out.

Here’s a link to a story about a location shoot that was posted in the Fargo Forum on 3/7/07.

Note: The Forum requires payment to read stories after a week or so.

Here’s another local press account from radio station KFGO and the Associated Press. It’s brief but adds some details. Posted 3/8/07.

Wow! Minnesota Shot “Sweet Land” Wins Independent Spirit Award

Minnesota-produced Sweet land was honored with an Independent Spirit Award in the “Best First Feature” category. Sweet Land is the first winner of the category to be honored despite the fact that it doesn’t have a distributor.

Congratulations to Director Ali Selim and the many talented Minnesotans in the cast and crew.

The Independent Spirit Awards recognize films that were produced outside the studio system for less than $20 million. The awards were presented on Saturday, February 24th, in Santa Monica , California, and broadcast on the Independent Film Channel.

More from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.