You don’t say

Oct. 22, 201210:07 a.m.

“I just want to go home and watch the ‘Real Housewives.’”

– Tallgrass Film Association executive director Lela Meadow-Conner’s comment Sunday during the final night of the four-day Tallgrass Film Festival

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MovieMaker magazine names Wichita No. 10 on best places for independents to film

Jan. 30, 20125:14 p.m.

WICHITA — Wichita and the Tallgrass Film Festival are getting some great press courtesy of MovieMaker magazine.

The magazine’s latest annual ranking of best places for independent filmmakers to shoot puts Wichita at No. 10.

“It’s kind of verifying something that we already knew,” says Jessy Clonts, Tallgrass’ marketing director. “What this proves is that other people feel that way, too, and hopefully it gets the attention of people who want to make films in this area.”

MovieMaker makes its picks based on “those places that go the extra mile in welcoming lower-budget productions just as much as they do the ‘big guns.’ ”

The magazine quotes Tallgrass Film Association executive director Lela Meadow-Conner on why Wichita works.

“Shooting is easy here. There’s very little red tape, permits aren’t required for filming on public property and there are plenty of local people who are experienced in all aspects of production and readily available for shoots.”

Kansas Film Commission director Peter Jasso agreed that “Wichita is a home away from home for filmmakers looking to turn their dreams into realities.”

It’s why, the magazine says, “Slowly but surely, Wichita is becoming an indie moviemaker’s Eden.”

 

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Wichita film experts take umbrage at actor Johnny Depp’s characterization of filmgoers here

Nov. 8, 201111:12 a.m.

WICHITA — Actor Johnny Depp apparently thinks Wichita movie audiences aren’t too smart.

In a Sunday interview with Britain’s Guardian, Depp discussed his new movie, “The Rum Diary,” which is based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson.

“I believe that this film, regardless of what it makes in, you know, Wichita, Kansas, this week — which is probably about $13 — it doesn’t make any difference. I believe that this film will have a shelf life.”

Depp believes the film will do better in Europe than it’s been doing in the United States.

“Most definitely. It’s something that will be more appreciated over here, I think. Cos it’s — well, I think it’s an intelligent film.”

The Guardian reporter wrote that Depp then took “a meaningful pause” before saying, “And a lot of times, outside the big cities in the States, they don’t want that.”

A few Wichitans beg to differ.

Johnny Depp

“That’s just sour grapes,” says Warren Theatres owner Bill Warren. “Last time I heard, it didn’t do well in New York, either.”

Warren says he’s seen the movie and didn’t care for it.

“Ninety nine percent of people in America go to movies for entertainment, and it wasn’t a very entertaining movie, period.”

Lela Meadow-Conner, executive director of the Tallgrass Film Association, says she respects Depp but wonders what he was thinking in this case.

“First of all, don’t bite the hand that feeds you, Johnny Depp,” she says. Take people “who make you a movie star, and then you’re going to call them unintelligent?”

“People have these preconceived notions about cities like Wichita and cities in the Midwest,” she says. “Because his movie has been deemed a critical stinker . . . and audiences haven’t gravitated toward it, obviously he is trying to displace the blame onto audiences here who he deems unintelligent.”

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You don’t say

Sept. 9, 20112:08 p.m.

“This festival has given me more than any other in the United States — or really the world.”

— Documentarian Denny Tedesco referring to the Tallgrass Film Festival at the Thursday screening of his “The Wrecking Crew“

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Tallgrass Brewing Co. to promote Tallgrass Film Festival on Tallgrass Ale cans

Aug. 1, 201111:15 a.m.

UPDATED — Manhattan-based Tallgrass Brewing Co. is taking its sponsorship of the similarly named Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita to a new level by promoting the ninth annual festival on its flagship Tallgrass Ale cans.

“This is great marketing for us,” says Lela Meadow-Conner, executive director of the Tallgrass Film Association.

Since the cans are sold in Kansas and a dozen other states — ones where the film festival wouldn’t traditionally advertise — she says it promotes the festival “in a really innovative way.”

Meadow-Conner says Tallgrass Brewing founder Jeff Gill is “just super, super supportive of Tallgrass.”

The cans will include the Tallgrass logo and “stubbornly independent since 2003” motto along with the dates of this year’s festival, which is Oct. 20 to 23.

Some larger film festivals nationally have beer sponsorships, Meadow-Conner says, “But I’ve never, ever heard of anyone putting the logo on the can.

“It’s a pretty cool thing.”

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You don’t say

Jan. 6, 201112:24 a.m.

“The trouble with this city . . . is all in the reputation.”

— Moviemaking journalist Geoff Edgers, who came to Wichita to show his “Do It Again” documentary at the Tallgrass Film Festival and wound up writing a travel story on the delights of the city for the Boston Globe

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“Today” show names Wichita No. 1 most affordable city

March 22, 20105:13 p.m.

WICHITA — Wichita got a great mention on Monday’s “Today” show on NBC, but not as great as it could have been.

In a real estate segment, the show named the top 5 most affordable cities in America.

There were lots of descriptions and pictures of Spokane, Wash., Durham, N.C., and Great Falls, Mont. — cities No. 5, 4 and 3.

The show ran out of time, though, so only fleetingly stated that Pocatello, Idaho, is No. 2 and Wichita is No. 1.

The criteria wasn’t solely money. The cities all have good jobs and schools and amenities that make for a good lifestyle, the show said.

So what would have been said about Wichita had there been time?

A “Today” spokesman says there were several bullet points about the city that could have been used:

– Its reputation as the Air Capital of the World, with a look at the aircraft industry past and present.

– Numerous art and history museums and theaters — the “cultural center for Kansas.”

– The “renown” Tallgrass Film Festival.

– Downtown Wichita, which is dotted with galleries and is home to the Wichita River Festival.

Of course, Wichita’s housing also would have gotten a mention.

The example? You can get a two-bedroom, one-bath house with bay windows and a screened porch for $119,000.

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Mike Marlett named Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts executive director

Jan. 25, 20102:40 p.m.

WICHITA — Former F5 newspaper publisher Mike Marlett is the new executive director of the Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts, which is the nonprofit parent organization that runs the Tallgrass Film Festival.

“This is going to be . . . my day gig,” Marlett says.

He’s the first person to formally have the position since 2005, when festival founder Timothy Gruver died.

The position is not a typical 9-to-5 kind of job, though.

“The workload’s going to be a little uneven, but when there is stuff to do, it’s intense,” he says. “It’s the kind of thing I’m going to wind up spending too much time and getting in trouble with my wife over.”

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Tallgrass Film Festival can’t use the Old Town Warren Theatre this year

July 24, 20093:17 p.m.

WICHITA — The Tallgrass Film Festival won’t be held at the Old Town Warren Theatre this year.

“It was pretty staggering for us when we first found out, but we’re rebounding,” says Ann Keefer, president of the Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts.

“Bill (Warren) is still a big supporter of the film festival,” says theater spokesman Ben Sciortino. “He’s been one of their lead supporters and champions of it for the last six years.”

The issue, Sciortino says, is Old Town’s new all-digital theaters and the contracts Warren has to show films in them.

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