LANSING, MI — The Capital City Film Festival occurred on April 14-17. The festival included all genres of film, live music, filmmaker seminars and other activities in several venues across the downtown area.“Legislative leadership in Lansing brought us best-in-the-nation film-tax credits which are turning the state’s economy around,” said Dominic Cochran, partner of Lansing-based Ahptic Film & Digital. “It only makes sense that we create a film festival here. Mid-Michigan has a wealth of talent both in front of and behind the camera.”
The film tax incentives have made Michigan home to many movie scenes on the big screen. According to the Michigan Film Office, Michigan has hosted more than 80 films since 2008, and the list is growing. Coupled with the credits, Michigan’s extraordinarily diverse locations and film talent have been credited for helping sustain and attract new projects.
Prima Civitas Foundation invited Michiganders to create a video showing what they love about Michigan and why they choose to live in such a great state. Over 30 video’s were entered into the “I Love Michigan Video Competition”. A voting panel chose the top ten videos and public voting commenced. The results were overwhelming, over 4,000 votes were cast in 20 days!
The Prima Civitas Foundation (PCF), which is a community economic development nonprofit that is working to build a new, sustainable economy for Michigan, teamed up with the Lansing Capital Film Festival to screen the top 3 videos. They also announced the winners on the final festival night. Lansing locals, Darryl and Erinn Evans along with their son, Dion and daughter, Morgan, proudly recieved a first place prize of $2,500.
“We fully enjoyed creating the video, it was a fun project to do together and show our love for Michigan. We like being involved in something that puts Michigan in a positive light,” said Mr. Evans. The Evans family’s creative video, “Point to the Hand” can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nXkYlby2E8.
Students, amateurs and professional filmmakers had a chance to show off their work at the Capital City Film Festival in front of audiences working to support them. Submission genres included Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Non-Student Short and Student categories. One student filmmaker won a grand prize of $3,000 and statewide exposure thanks to a partnership with Digital 10 Network. Prizes and scholarships totaling over $7,000 were awarded to other students in the competition.
Log on to www.capitalcityfilmfest.com for more information.
This article was printed in the April 24, 2011 – May 7, 2011 edition.
