Festival > Media > Press Release 08.10.05
PT Film Festival Announces New Venues
Additional space to expand festival offerings to include discussion panels, art and video.
Port Townsend , WA , August 10, 2005: Three downtown Port Townsend businesses have stepped forward to open their doors to movie lovers this September as the Port Townsend Film Festival's newest venues.
The Upstage Theatre and Restaurant, 923 Washington St.; Digital Port Townsend, 215 Taylor St.; and the Silverwater Café, 237 Taylor St. have signed on to supporting roles for the sixth annual event Sept. 23-25.
Popular demand from festival-goers prompted creation of the new "Talk Movies" venue at The Upstage, said Peter Simpson, Executive Director of the Port Townsend Film Festival.
"It's come out of the desire for panel discussions," he said. "Last year we put together a discussion at Pope Marine Park , a festival film venue.
"It didn't seem to work having them together with films, we thought we needed a separate location to do nothing but talk movies."
Enter Mark Cole, owner of The Upstage.
"Since we've opened we've been called The Upstage Restaurant and Theatre," he said. "We've always thought that it was a great place for film events."
His restaurant hosted some Film Festival events last year, but Cole is excited to be on board as a featured program setting.
"I really wanted to be more coordinated with the Film Festival, being that the exit of the Rose Theatre is the entrance to The Upstage," he said.
The Rose Theatre and adjoining Rosebud Cinema, 235 Taylor St., have been featured show locations for the Port Townsend Film Festival since its foundation in 1999.
"Talk Movies," as the panel sessions are being called, will run throughout the festival. Panels will feature select cast and creators of the more than 50 independent and foreign films to be shown at the festival. The film crews hail from as far away as Los Angeles , New York and even Germany and Spain .
The panel discussions will be a chance for movie lovers to converse openly with other movie lovers - with bits of humor and knowledge thrown in to be enjoyed by even the most casual film enthusiast.
The Upstage will also take center stage when the Port Townsend Film Festival goes nationwide on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 24.
Sedge Thomson will broadcast his National Public Radio syndicated program West Coast Live! from Port Townsend. Thomson is well-known for taking his show on the road and broadcasting from unique locations nationwide to bring the tales of small towns to the ears of big city folk. More information on West Coast Live! is available online at www.wcl.org.
A second new venue being added to this year's festival lineup is Digital Port Townsend.
The electronics depot is being transformed into an intimate walk-in location for ticket holders and passer-bys alike to watch videos on the latest in home entertainment equipment.
Digital Port Townsend owner Steve Schauer admits the idea stemmed from a desire to play with cool high-tech gizmos, but his screening room with digital surround sound and a large projection system makes for a perfect venue for showing short films.
Simpson envisions Digital Port Townsend as a place for people to go if a larger venue is sold out. It will seat about 20 people.
"I've always wanted to have a screening room," Simpson said.
Program lineups will include "Film 2880" movies made during past film festivals. The name "Film 2880" derives from the number of minutes elapsed in the 48 hours crews have to create their 10-minute movie short.
"I'm excited to be included with the Film Festival in a way that will allow more people an opportunity to sample some great independent films," Schauer said.
Other movies scheduled to appear at the video theater will be announced at a later time, Simpson said. Admission will be by donation.
The third new Port Townsend locale for Film Festival activities, Silverwater Café, will allow diners to enjoy the restaurant's renowned entrées amid Hollywood flair.
Richard Miller, a local photographer and art enthusiast, will curate an exhibit featuring portraits of classic Hollywood stars and starlets. The collection is on loan from collector Bruce Paddock of Sequim.
A key part of the exhibit will display portraits of the late 1930s film icon Greta Garbo, whose image will be prominently displayed at this year's festival in celebration of what would be her 100th birthday Sept. 18.
Three sections of the Silverwater will be turned into an art exhibit, with the Garbo display located at the entrance to the restaurant.
Images of a variety of other stars from Hollywood 's golden era will adorn the walls of Silverwater's newly redecorated mezzanine level and the lobby area at the entrance to the building.
George Hurrell, a prominent photographer of the stars in the 1930s and 40s, will be one of the featured artists. Hurrell was head of the MGM portrait gallery in the early 1930s, worked with Warner Bros. and formed his own studio on Sunset Boulevard.
Miller, the curator, said he was instantly drawn to Paddock's collection of memorabilia.
"They're gorgeous black and white photographs," he said. "I got so excited by the collection and there was so much good stuff, we had to expand the display into the elevator lobby."
About 40 images will be on display.
Miller houses his photography studio on the third floor above Silverwater.
"I shoot vintage objects in black and white," he said. "And in my photographs, I set scenes like a director would in film or theater, so I have a film connection to my work in an abstract way."
Simpson hopes dining at the Hollywood-infused Silverwater will be a memorable attraction for film festival attendees.
"It's another place we're encouraging people to use to `talk movies,'" he said.
Art and movie lovers who want an early glimpse of the exhibit can attend the Sept. 3 Port Townsend Gallery Walk starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Pope Marine Park Building, 100 Madison St ., next to the police station.
With the three local businesses tuning their atmosphere for one weekend into a celebration of the big screen, Simpson said he is one step closer to realizing a dream - total Hollywood emersion of Port Townsend during the Film Festival.
"I'd have movies projected onto the sides of all of the buildings if I could afford to do it," he said.
Help is still needed to run the new locations. Simpson is putting out a casting call for volunteer hosts to assist with the activities. Anyone interested in helping with the Film Festival is encouraged to e-mail volunteer@ptfilmfest.com, call the festival office at 360-379-1333 or apply online at www.ptfilmfest.com.
Event passes are available from the festival's Web site or by calling the festival office. All Port Townsend Film Festival passes include access to film screenings, Q&A sessions and panel discussions on a first-come, first-seated basis. Each pass includes the Friday Night Taylor Street dinner provided by the Silverwater Café.
Day passes go on sale Sept. 1.
The Port Townsend Film Festival is an annual event envisioned as "a film lover's block party celebrating great films and filmmakers." The event was spearheaded by a group of volunteers in 1999 and modeled after the popular film festival in Telluride, Co. Now in its sixth year, the Port Townsend Film Festival is constantly revising and re-visioning its programming in response to the availability of films throughout the world and cinematic responses to the topical issues of the day.