films - WKTV Journal

The WKTV crew utilizes the Gilmore Museum as a 1930’s car showroom.

As part of its coverage for the 28th Street Metro Cruise, WKTV Community Media is creating three short films directed by regional filmmakers whose mission was simple: take six minutes telling a narrative film story about classic cars and classic design. All three projects, which are now nearing completion in production and moving through various stages of post production, covered the breadth of some of the most fabulous steel and iron to roll off American assembly lines.

In the course of producing the films, WKTV was charged with sourcing many of the classics for the film productions. Those cars included a 1954 Buick Century convertible in daffodil yellow from the Grand Rapids Auto Gallery along with a 1938 Ford Cabriolet.

The GR Auto Gallery loans a 1938 red Ford Cabriolet for the proper setting in front of the Civic Auditorium.

“While the Grand Rapids Auto Gallery acts as a consignment dealer for classic cars, they were generous with loaning us three vehicles from their collection,” said Tom Norton, the series producer, including a 1958 white Corvette with a red interior that appeared on WKTV’s Metro Cruise coverage in 2019.

Another resource came from the Gilmore Car Gollection near Galesburg, Michigan.

“The Gilmore is such a treasure regionally and they were just wonderful,” Norton said. “When the script for one of the films called for an Auburn dealership from the 1930s, they were able to provide the entire set filled with shiny, gorgeous Auburn classics from the thirties. Just…wow!”

Ella Campbell from East Kentwood High School participated in the production as a script supervisor.

One hurdle for the three films was arranging period wardrobe. WKTV called on two resources, the Grand Rapids Civic Theater and Wyoming High School’s theater department and both were able to assist in outfitting characters from the 1930s, 1950s and 1980s.

The crew films the eighties short film “Drive” for Metro Cruise.

The first film in the Metro Cruise series is called “Drive” and features a 1980s theme. The film takes place on a drag strip and, directed by WKTV volunteer Kyle Misak, stars from “American Idol” Margie Mays as a mechanic working on a drag strip with homage to all 1980s vehicles. The six minute music video took six days for Misak and his crew to shoot.

Margie Mays from “American Idol” stars in the eighties Metro Cruise film “Drive.”

The second film, directed by GVSU professor John Philbin called “No Trip for Biscuits,” takes place in the 1930s and follows the philosophy of legendary designer Gordon Buehrig of the great Dusenberg classics. The short film features cameo appearnances by “Carol Lombard” and “Gary Cooper” and was filmed at the Gilmore Museum and in front of the 1930s facade of the old Civic Auditorium.

“What we loved about this project,” Norton said, “was that all of the filmmakers pulled out all the stops in terms of their creativity and resourcefulness to make these three period films happen. And of course, the classic auto community from GR Auto Gallery to the Gilmore provided serious lift as well.”

Grand Rapids Auto Gallery donated the use of this 1954 Buick Century for the Metro Cruise film “Horizon.”

The last of the films’ “Horizon” which takes place during the 1950s and combines the design of the classic fifties vehicles with the civil rights struggles of the day, is just going into post production. All three films will be available on WKTV and on the station’s video on demand service this fall.

Grab a bag of popcorn and join us for a very special evening of award-winning family cinema at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, 400 Culver Street, on Friday, March 24, at 6:30 p.m. The SCA is proud to host the Telluride Film Festival’s Moutainfilm on Tour, featuring engaging films for all ages (run time 135 minutes).

The SCA’s Family Film Night features 14 films ranging from two-minute shorts to a 25-minute feature film. Mountainfilm staff member Cara Bunch will emcee the evening, introducing five of the selections. The playlist includes a variety of “adrenaline” films, thoughtful environmental films, and titles with a splash of humor, including:

Reinvention of Normal: Toothbrush maracas, an umbrella with plant pots, a tea cup cooling fan, and the reverse bungee … all are inventions of London artist/inventor/designer Dominic Wilcox. This short film follows Wilcox on his quest to come up with something creative every day. The result is a font of productivity as he transforms the mundane and ordinary into surprises, wonders and, sometimes, just plain absurdities.

Afterglow: Hailed as one of the most cinematically profound ski films ever made, Afterglow features bold, uncompromising, creative imagery. Filmed at night in British Columbia and Alaska’s backcountry with powerful lights and ski suits studded with LED lights.

Making Waves: Morocco has some terrific surf breaks, but for most local Muslim women these waves are off limits. Not so for Oumaima Erhali, a 17-year old determined to partake in the sport she loves.

Rabbit Island: In the middle of the vast watery stretch that is Lake Superior sits Rabbit Island, 91 acres of rocks, earth, trees and wild habitat. Rabbit Island has never been divided or developed, nor will it ever be. This place offers a new kind of wild experience, where the point is to do nothing to an ecosystem and see what it teaches us. This film is a brief study of an island set on the majestic Lake Superior, and the artists who gather there for inspiration.

The Fisherman’s Son: Anyone who’s seen Patagonia photographer Jeff Johnson’s film “180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless” remembers Ramón Navarro, the Chilean surfer who gives the traveler and his crew a humble introduction to his beloved, overfished waters. The Fisherman’s Son is a film that finally explores Navarro’s life in depth, following the trajectory of a boy who came from a fishing family to become one of best big-wave riders in the world and is now an impassioned environmental activist.

Established in 1979, Mountainfilm is dedicated to educating, inspiring, and motivating audiences about environments, cultures, issues, and adventures. Working at the nexus of filmmaking and action, its flagship event is the renowned Telluride Mountainfilm festival, in Telluride, Colorado. The festival has attracted leading documentary filmmakers, artists, photographers, conservationists, mountaineers, scientists, journalists and explorers form around the world to engage in the festival’s tag line of “celebrating indomitable spirit.”

Through Mountainfilm on Tour, the festival touches the lives of over 50,000 people every year and visits more than 100 locations on six continents. The visit to Saugatuck is their way of extending the reach of the annual festival and helping the filmmakers’ inspiring content be seen by audiences who otherwise might never have the opportunity.