Four Free Panels Deliver Insiders' Look at Movie Magic

Traverse City, Mich. -- Four free panels and talks with directors, writers and producers will deliver an insiders' view of Hollywood at the inaugural Traverse City Film Festival, organizers announced today.

Five directors, four writers, several producers and other film industry professionals will talk about life inside Tinseltown, making movies on a shoestring, the rise of documentaries, and the fine line between art and politics.

The panels are the second free component of the July 27-31 festival, which features 31 independent and four free classic films to be shown outdoors on the bay in the city's open space.

"We wanted to give the public a peek behind the curtain of how Hollywood works and how movies get made," says festival founder and Oscar winner Michael Moore. "To have this much talent coming here to Traverse City is a real coup and I know once they get here they're going to love this town and love this festival."

All panels are open on first-come-first-served basis, and are scheduled at 11 a.m. in the City Opera House, 112-1/2 E. Front St., Traverse City. They include:

"Is It Art? Is It Politics? Traverse City Wants to Know,"
Thursday, July 28:
A live, on-stage talk with Michael Moore about the line between art and politics and what makes for good cinema.
"Is Fiction Dead? The Rise of Documentary Films,"
Friday, July 29:
Documentary directors Alex Gibney ("Enron") and Marilyn Agrelo ("Mad Hot Ballroom") will square off with fiction writers Ethan Canin ("Emperor of the Air") and Bob Sloan (author of the Lenny Bliss crime novels). They'll discuss why fictional movies seem to be dying at the box office while documentaries are getting more and more popular. New York Times best-selling author Doug Stanton will moderate.
"Hollywood Confidential: Stories We Will Only Tell in Traverse City,"
Saturday, July 30:
Hollywood writers, directors and agents tell tales out of school about what it's really like to work in Tinseltown. Panelists include Rob Tappert, producer of "Spiderman"; Larry Brand, screenwriter of "Halloween"; Chuck Pfarrer, screenwriter for "The Jackal" and "Darkman"; HBO producer Rebecca Reynolds; Animator Robert Hughes, director of "Angry Beavers" and others.
"How to Make a Great Movie for $30,000,"
Sunday, July 31:
A discussion with director Andrew Wagner ("The Talent Given Us") and Jonathan Caouette ("Tarnation") about making hit movies with hardly any money. Producer and composer Jeff Gibbs will moderate.

The panels, along with the rest of the festival, are being co-sponsored by the Interlochen Center for the Arts and its new film school. Professors from Northwestern Michigan College will also participate in the program.

The Traverse City Film Festival, headed by a committee of 20 local citizens and film lovers, will provide an award-winning slate of movies to four venues in Traverse City on July 27-31, an event highlighted by the renovation of a historic downtown movie theater by festival organizers.