Filmmaker

CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on December 8th, 2022, reviewing “Sr.,” a documentary about Robert Downey “Sr,” produced by Robert Downey Jr. Currently streaming on Netflix.

CHICAGO – As is often the case, an Act Two in life comes early for the elite athlete. In the case of ex-Pro Footballer Kyle Prater, his Act Two came in the form of Chasing Greatness Productions, a filmmaking and music company. His latest short film is “Samples of Life,” a meditation on creating during the pandemic.

CHICAGO – The 26th edition of Chicago’s Black Harvest Film Festival (BHFF) continues with online and virtual access. One of the short films, in the program “Voices of Our Time,” is writer/director Okema “Seven” Gunn’s “Black Mama Sable.”

CHICAGO – Artist Lonnie Edwards is traveling the film festival circuit again, exhibiting his latest short “Periphery,” and this time it will appear at the 27th Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF 27) Chicago Shorts Program 2, at the Chi-Town Movies Drive-In on Friday, November 13th, 2020.

CHICAGO – On Friday, November 6th, 2020, the 26th edition of Chicago’s Black Harvest Film Festival (BHFF) opened for online and virtual access. The BHFF is one of the country’s most prestigious black-oriented film celebrations in the country, and will run throughout the month of November until Monday the 30th.

CHICAGO – As an artist, it doesn’t get any more high profile than filmmaker and man-as-happening maestro Lonnie Edwards. Edwards will be showcasing his latest short film, “Periphery,” as part of The Chicago Onscreen Local Film Showcase, a health-friendly outdoor screening event on Saturday, September 12th, 2020.

CHICAGO – Back in 2017, I had the honor to talk to one of my favorite Chicago filmmakers, absorbing his highly tuned perspective. Lonnie Edwards broke out in 2014 with the award-winning short film “Parietal Guidance,” and from there has commented on black and societal issues with his films “A Ferguson Story,” “Exodus: Sounds of the Great Migration” and his latest “Periphery.”

CHICAGO – In what has become an annual happening, Chicago arts power couple Rebecca Fons and Jack C. Newell bring back “Destroy Your Art,” an event in which a filmmaker creates a film, shows it once to the audience, and then destroys it forever. Destroy Your Art takes place on August 10th, 2019, at Inside Town Space in the West Town neighborhood, Chicago. For more information, including tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – The happening is lovelier, the second time around. Chicago film power couple Rebecca Fons and Jack C. Newell bring back “Destroy Your Art,” an event in which a filmmaker creates a film, shows it once to the audience, and then destroys it forever. Destroy Your Art takes place on August 10th, 2018, at Silent Funny Gallery in Chicago. For more information, including tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – When it comes to really being rich, what do we already know? Money doesn’t buy happiness. Family and friendship connections are more important than accumulation. Yet those simple lessons keep being broken up by the excess of more, the values of which are in the documentary “Generation Wealth.”