I’m taking a slight break from work craziness and back-to-school preparations to share with you the latest developments in local cinema. For those of you who don’t know, we have a very rich local filmmaking community here in central Illinois (I know you’re surprised!). These talented people give of their time every year to take five-page scripts written by kids and turn them into legit films. In three short years, this labor of love has become a full-fledged, red carpet gala event, housed in the incredibly lovely Historic Virginia Theater.
Although my kids took a break from penning scripts for this past year’s competition (my middle son’s script, Double O Kevin, was made into a fantastic film last year), my husband and I are strong supporters of this project. Anything that encourages creativity is obviously going to pique my interest, and anything that encourages creativity at any and all ages is even more relevant. As in years past, our family attended the gala and had a wonderful time.
Side note: the Pens to Lens folks are looking to franchise this idea. You can go to their website, penstolens.com, for more information. Surely you’d love to see something like this happen in your community, right?
The films created for this year’s gala just made their debut online today. Why not head over to the CU Film Society’s YouTube channel and check them out? I promise you, you’re going to love them. (Although I may be re-examining my relationship with maple syrup….)