Chicago – You know you’re on a Jack C. Newell film set when his producer, Steve Tobiasz, offers you the best empanada you’ve ever eaten, from the Gourmet Food Truck that is crucial to the upcoming scene. “Open Tables” is director Jack C. Newell’s second feature film, coming in right after 2012’s “Close Quarters.”
The shot-in-Chicago movies are provocative in Newell’s style of direction. They both feature top Chicago improvisation talent – including T.J. Jagodowski, Dave Pasquesi, Susan Messing and in “Open Tables,” Joel Murray – and they both use the style of interpretive improv rather than a fixed dialogue script. Newell began his film career in 2004 with his directorial short film debut, “When Sara Looks Up,” and made TV movies and six other shorts before completing “Close Quarters” in 2012.
On Set with Director Jack C. Newell (right) for ‘Open Tables’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Newell...
The shot-in-Chicago movies are provocative in Newell’s style of direction. They both feature top Chicago improvisation talent – including T.J. Jagodowski, Dave Pasquesi, Susan Messing and in “Open Tables,” Joel Murray – and they both use the style of interpretive improv rather than a fixed dialogue script. Newell began his film career in 2004 with his directorial short film debut, “When Sara Looks Up,” and made TV movies and six other shorts before completing “Close Quarters” in 2012.
On Set with Director Jack C. Newell (right) for ‘Open Tables’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Newell...
- 7/18/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – Director Jack C. Newell ended up meeting one of his great collaborators while taking classes at Columbia College Chicago. His future filmmaking partner turned out to not be a fellow peer, but his teacher, Ron Falzone. Together, they made the acclaimed short, “Typing,” about two Hollywood screenwriters whose brainstorming session draws inspiration from the clacking of typewriter keys in the next room.
Newell and Falzone’s first feature effort is “Close Quarters,” an endearing and insightful collection of parallel vignettes set in a Chicago coffee shop. Baristas Abby (Erica Unger) and Barry (Seth Unger) flirt with the possibility of long-term romance while observing the dysfunctional relationships of their customers. Two friends, Patrick (Tj Jagodowski) and Olivia (Kate Duffy), chat upstairs while their respective partners, Dina (Holly Laurent) and Cary (Dave Pasquesi), make love in the downstairs bathroom. An estranged couple (Susan Messing and Jim Carlson) argue over Skype while...
Newell and Falzone’s first feature effort is “Close Quarters,” an endearing and insightful collection of parallel vignettes set in a Chicago coffee shop. Baristas Abby (Erica Unger) and Barry (Seth Unger) flirt with the possibility of long-term romance while observing the dysfunctional relationships of their customers. Two friends, Patrick (Tj Jagodowski) and Olivia (Kate Duffy), chat upstairs while their respective partners, Dina (Holly Laurent) and Cary (Dave Pasquesi), make love in the downstairs bathroom. An estranged couple (Susan Messing and Jim Carlson) argue over Skype while...
- 5/9/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – It’s Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show Weekend, and the stars of TV and movies will be available to meet all their fans at the Hilton Rosemont/Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel (click the link at the end of the article). Also available, lots of vendors with TV and movie items for any collection.
The Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show is a biannual event that brings celebrities to Chicago to meet, sign autographs and interact with their admirers. Every session has HollywoodChicago.com in attendance, and Joe Arce is also there to photograph all the celebs. The last show in September brought out classic TV and movie stars, who sat down for the following interviews.
Marcia Wallace of “The Bob Newhart Show” and “The Simpsons”
Marcia Wallace has created two memorable characters in TV history. As Carol Kester on “The Bob Newhart Show,” she traded quips with Dr. Bob Hartley (Newhart) for six seasons.
The Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show is a biannual event that brings celebrities to Chicago to meet, sign autographs and interact with their admirers. Every session has HollywoodChicago.com in attendance, and Joe Arce is also there to photograph all the celebs. The last show in September brought out classic TV and movie stars, who sat down for the following interviews.
Marcia Wallace of “The Bob Newhart Show” and “The Simpsons”
Marcia Wallace has created two memorable characters in TV history. As Carol Kester on “The Bob Newhart Show,” she traded quips with Dr. Bob Hartley (Newhart) for six seasons.
- 3/26/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – The short film, once considered the lesser cousin of features, and seen mostly in obscurity, has had a major revival and influence in the age of YouTube. At the 2010 Chicago International Film Festival, the Illinois Short Filmmaker night brought out the best of locally produced film shorts on October 11th.
HollywoodChicago.com caught up with seven of the participating filmmakers that night, as they spoke about their particular film shorts.
Illinois Short Filmmakers at the Chicago International Film Festival, October 11th, 2010
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Wenhwa Ts’ao, Director of “Arithmetic Lessons”
Arithmetic Lessons is a devastating study of a Chinese family in crisis, as the mother is dying and her daughter is trapped in an abuse situation with her female caregiver.
‘Arithmetic Lessons,’ Directed by Wenhwa Ts’ao
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
HollywoodChicago.com: Typically, the Chinese culture is seen as a somewhat repressed patriarchal society,...
HollywoodChicago.com caught up with seven of the participating filmmakers that night, as they spoke about their particular film shorts.
Illinois Short Filmmakers at the Chicago International Film Festival, October 11th, 2010
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Wenhwa Ts’ao, Director of “Arithmetic Lessons”
Arithmetic Lessons is a devastating study of a Chinese family in crisis, as the mother is dying and her daughter is trapped in an abuse situation with her female caregiver.
‘Arithmetic Lessons,’ Directed by Wenhwa Ts’ao
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
HollywoodChicago.com: Typically, the Chinese culture is seen as a somewhat repressed patriarchal society,...
- 10/21/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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