Welcome,Media!
TCFF press page:
We are thrilled that you will be attending the 12th annual Traverse City Film Festival! With an astounding 100,000+ admissions in 2015 that resulted in 170 sold out screenings and with even higher numbers projected for this year, the Traverse City Film Festival has become one of the most talked about events on the North American festival circuit. Presenting “Just Great Movies,” the Traverse City Film Festival is committed to offering a diverse selection of the highest quality independent, foreign, and documentary films available.
Press credentials can be picked up at 328 E. Front Street on Tuesday, July 26th between 1 PM – 5 PM. If you are unavailable to pick up at that time, please visit the Press Office or make special arrangements with Anna, Kendall, or Maggie.
SOCIAL MEDIA - #TCFF
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CREDENTIALS: Press credentials offer you an inside view of the Traverse City Film Festival, including open access to the Opening Night and Filmmaker parties, interviews with industry guests, and more. If you have any questions or need more information during the festival, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our friendly volunteers are also stationed at every venue and can provide you with immediate assistance.
Enjoy the festival!
Katy Gwizdala | Communications Director |
Meg Weichman | Creative Director |
Anna Ludka | PR, Media & Writing Intern |
Kendall Kotcher | PR, Media & Writing Intern | aggie Marshall | PR, Media & Writing Intern |
Media Guidelines & Information
CONTACT
TCFF Main Office: 231-392-1134
Katy Gwizdala: 231-883-1185
Meg Weichman: 517-881-1039
Anna Ludka: 989-295-3901
Kendall Kotcher: 248-935-2454
Maggie Marshall: 231-409-5779
Fax: 231-929-4263
PO Box 4064
Traverse City, MI 49685
MEDIA CREDENTIALS
Your press credentials will provide you with access to free morning discussion panels, film introductions, Q&A sessions following film screenings, and the Opening Night and Filmmaker parties. Beyond that, if you wish to attend any films for review or other purposes, or wish to attend any of the Traverse City Film School classes being held daily, you will need tickets. Your press credentials are not all access passes to films or the film school. Please submit requests for any tickets ASAP to .
CREDENTIAL PICK UP
Credentials are available for pick up on Tuesday, July 26 at the Box Office located at 328 E. Front Street from 1 pm to 5 pm. After that time, please arrange to pick up credentials by emailing or calling a member of the PRteam.
MOVIE TICKETS
Due to capacity limitations, credentials do not grant access to films themselves. We can, however, often accommodate requests for movie tickets. Please submit all requests for movie tickets as early as possible to
FILM SCHOOL
Members of the press are permitted to attend sessions of the Traverse City Film Festival Film School, held Wednesday through Sunday at 12 noon and 3 pm, but must obtain tickets for any sessions they wish to attend. Filming may be permitted with the approval of the instructors.
PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY TEAM GUIDELINES
Still photography is permitted at TCFF venues before and after screenings, but never while films are being shown. No video cameras or recorders are allowed inside any venues except for during pre-arranged and TCFF PR approved guest interviews. Otherwise, members of the media wishing to film inside any venue including morning panels must make arrangements with and be accompanied by a member of the public relations team. The festival will produce photos and video clips of various festival events that are available daily to the media at no cost. For photos, visit the website at tcff.org. For video clips, please contact Videography Manager Morgan Burke-Beyers at
GUEST FILMMAKER INTERVIEWS
Members of the media wishing to schedule interviews with specific festival guests and visiting filmmakers should submit those requests to the public relations staff in person, by phone, or via email. Please submit an interview request form. A copy can be found on the website (tcff.org) under the Press tab. Availability is entirely up to the filmmakers themselves and will be limited by their time constraints. A good time to get quotes or video and possibly catch filmmakers for short impromptu interviews is often following the morning panels, when time allows.
TRUTH IN CREDENTIALING
In granting credentials, the Traverse City Film Festival understands that those applying have accurately represented themselves and their organizations.
Submitting false information to obtain credentials will be ground for having credentials revoked.
General Information
MISSION
“The Traverse City Film Festival is committed to showing ‘Just Great Movies’ and helping to save one of America’s few indigenous art forms- the cinema. We are committed to showing great movies that both entertain and enlighten the audience. We need movies that seek to enrich the human spirit and the art of filmmaking, not the bottom line. Our goal is for people to leave the theater with the feeling that they just watched something special.” Michael Moore, President andFounder.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Traverse City Film Festival is a charitable, educational, nonprofit organization committed to the idea that “One Great Movie Can Change You: Just Great Movies” and to helping save one of America’s few indigenous art forms — the cinema. The festival brings films and filmmakers from around the world to Northern Michigan for the annual film festival in late July to early August.
The festival also presents classic movies free of charge on a giant, inflatable outdoor screen overlooking Grand Traverse Bay in the Open Space at dusk. Free panel discussions with directors, writers, actors, and other members of the film industry are offered daily. And an affordable film school runs throughout the festival, offering twice-daily classes for film students and film lovers.
It was instrumental in renovating a shuttered historic downtown movie house, the State Theatre, which it continues to own and operate as a year-round, community- based, and volunteer-staffed art house movie theater. The festival also renovated the historic Con Foster Museum building in Clinch Park and turned it into a sister screen for the State Theatre, the Bijou by the Bay.
The festival was founded by Academy Award-winning director Michael Moore who makes his home here, runs the festival, and serves as president of the board of directors. Other board members are filmmakers Rod Birleson (producer, “Capitalism: A Love Story”), Larry Charles (director, “Borat”), Terry George (director, “Hotel Rwanda”), Jeff Daniels (actor, “The Newsroom”), Tom Morello (musician, Rage Against the Machine), Christine Lahti (actor, “Running on Empty”), Mark Cousins (director, “The Story of Film: An Odyssey”), Tia Lessin (director, “Trouble the Water”), as well as Traverse City residents photographer John Robert Williams and former Walt Disney Co. marketing executive Penny Milliken.
Programming Highlights 2016
TCFF 2016 – THE YEAR OF WOMEN
This year is Traverse City Film Festival XII's 100 Yearsof the CineMAN - a celebration of incredible women in Hollywood. It's a sadfact that it's not uncommon to see a list of the one hundred highest-grossing movies of most recent years and have only two directed by women. We shine the spotlight on these remarkablefemale filmmakers, showing off their cinematic accomplishments and raw talent, and teach Hollywood a thing or two about how it should be done. All of our Official Selections in the US Documentary and Fiction sections are directed by women. And all films shown at the Open Space are written and/or directed by women. Learn more by reading Mike’s Letter from Festival President and Founder Michael Moore at
STATE CENTENNIAL: 1916-2016
This year our festival’s crown jewel and movie palace, the State Theatre, celebrates its Centennial. 100 years of movies on Front Street, 100 years anchoring downtown, 100 years of people gathering in the dark to experience the power of film together. In those 100 years, much has changed in downtown Traverse City, but through it all, the State has remained—a beacon of chasing light that gives Traverse City its heartbeat and calls us together in our vibrant community town square. Join us in toasting our favorite theater, the MPAA-named #1 theater in the world, and the role it plays in our lives yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Our celebration includes 100th Anniversary screenings of “Civilization” and “Sherlock Holmes;” a 75th Anniversary screening of “Meet John Doe,” 50th Anniversary screenings of “Blow-Up,” “Chimes at Midnight,” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The Centennial celebration also features “Man with a Movie Camera” with live accompaniment by the world-famous Alloy Orchestra.
A CERTIFIED LOCAL FOOD EVENT
In addition to the return of The Sidebar: Food on Film programming, pairing up mouthwatering documentaries with sample bites and intimate discussions between Michigan chefs, we are now a certified local food event. This year, we’ve worked hard withTaste the Local DifferenceandCherry Capital Foods to reach the criteria that 20% of the food must be sourced locally. 20% of the food at the parties and the green rooms are now coming straight from local farmers. Watch a video at learn more.
BIKE VALET WITH NORTE!
Norte!is excited to provideBike Valet Parkingto TCFF in 2016. This festival-long valet will allow filmgoers who arrive by bike to park for free. Our centrally located, TART Trail-adjacent Bike Valet at the Bijou is convenient, easy, fast, and secure. Perfect not only for Bijou filmgoers but also a “Bike & Stroll” experience for those going to the State, City Opera House, or Open Space - it’s no more than a 5-minute walk from the bike valet to those TCFF venues. Learn more about the Norte! bike valet at
Dates/Times:Wednesday, July 27 – Sunday, July 31. Opens daily at 8 am. Closes at 11 pm.
NEW LOCATIONS FOR THE WOZ AND THE BUZZ
Explore the future of storytelling at the Woz, now located downtown at the new Hotel Indigo in the Warehouse District, where we showcase interactive transmedia experiences that explore the expansion of cinema and gaming culture. Presented by Michigan State University and the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office. Continue to enjoy free movies, all day, every day at The Buzz, which has moved to Central Grade School, just steps away from Lars Hockstad Auditorium.
Panels 2016
Join our visiting filmmakers as they tell moviemaking stories, mixing it up with each other and the audience. Panels begin at 9:30 am Wednesday—Sunday at the City Opera House. Topics are SUBJECT TO CHANGE and are free and open to the public.
Wednesday 9:30 am—City Opera House COME TO THE DOC SIDE
We kick off the first full day of the festival with our popular documentary panel featuring a slew of nonfiction filmmakers who have nothing to lose by spilling the beans on all the madness. Host: TCFF head honcho/doco-Zapata Michael Moore.
Thursday 9:30 am—City Opera House
MEN MAKE MOVIES – THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
We’ve all heard the stories about how hard it is for men to get their movies made in Hollywood. Our panel will feature the few token men who made it here this year with their excellent films—and we expect a lively exchange about the struggles they’ve endured. A once-in-a-lifetime TCFF panel.
Friday 9:30 am—City Opera House WHO LET THE WOMEN IN?
Please arrive early to get your seat for this historic summit of the female filmmakers behind some of the year’s most amazing and brilliant films.
These incredible directors will discuss how they do what they do, and what has to change so that we can see more of them do it.
Saturday 9:30 am—City Opera House THE COMEDY PANEL
Because there’s nothing a little laughter can’t fix, join directors Sophie Goodheart (“My Blind Brother”), Logan Kibbens (“Operator”), Timothy Busfield (“One Smart Fellow”), and Ryland Aldrich (“Folk Hero & Funny Guy”), along with comedians Doug Benson and Geoff Tate, as they offer up wisecracks, witticisms, humor,
and repartee, and explore the funny business of making comedy.
Sunday 9:30 am—City Opera House
FILM UNDER TRUMP
Nobody even wants to say those words out loud for fear they may come true—and it’s exactly because of that fear that it may come true! Art, the cinema, is our front line army against fear, hate, bigotry, ignorance, and bullies. What role will our film fest and the movies in general play in this unbelievable historic moment? Join Michael Moore and a panel of commentators and activists for an intimate, controversial, no-holds-barred debate.
Parties
Opening Night Party
Tuesday, July 26, 8:30 pm – 12:30 am
Front Street (200 Block) between Park and Cass Streets | Rain or Shine Tickets: $50 (FREE for credentialed media)
Kickoff the festival with a sparkling celebration of Just Great Movies on Tuesday night. We’ll shut down Front Street and fill it with excitement, music, dancing, stars, the most delectable food Traverse City has to offer, and the very best beer, wine, and mixed drinks your all access ticket can buy—all under the stars glittering in the sky. Enjoy a red carpet evening bathed in the luminous glow of the State Theatre’s beautiful marquee as we welcome movie lovers to experience the magic of Traverse City.
Movies on Tap @ 7 Monks & Low Bar Wednesday, July 27, starting at 7 pm 128 S. Union Street
Love Beer? Among 7 Monk’s 46 taps and ever-changing bottled beer selection, you’re sure to find something that fits your own specific tastes. The bar offers craft beers from Michigan and around the world as well as wine on tap in a unique, fun atmosphere. Or head downstairs for a throwback to pre-prohibition crafted concoctions at Low Bar.
Movies on Tap @ Sidetraxx
Wednesday, July 27, starting at 7 pm
Sidetraxx Official “Viva” After Party will have everyone’s party favorites including Karaoke and $3 long islands! Glow under the black lights and pretend you’re the star of a music video on the dance floor and you’re sure to have the time of your life! Play some pool or darts, and sit on the patio under the stars.
Movies on Tap @ Little Fleet
Thursday, July 28, starting at 7 pm
With eight rotating food trucks, craft beer, cool cocktails, and an outdoor patio, the Little Fleet is summer in Northern Michigan at its finest. The open air bar, special events, the original “Nip and Sip” are just a few of the things that make the city’s only food truck lot so unique.
Movies on Tap @ The Parlor
Friday, July 29, Starting at 7 pm
A sense of nostalgia for a bygone era, a warm and inviting atmosphere, excellent service, and delicious and inventive handcrafted cocktails — nobody can say no to an evening at The Parlor. Located in a former cherry warehouse in the heart of midtown, this beautifully refurbished bar is a great place to chat with friends, have a few drinks, and try some tasty tapas.
Filmmaker Party
Saturday, July 30, 8:30 pm – 12:30 am
Century 21 Northland Parking Lot, corner of State and Park Streets (Rain or Shine) Tickets: $50 (FREE for credentialed media)
Revel with visiting filmmakers in the magically transformed parking lot on the corner of State and Park streets. At 9:30 pm, be one of the few to see the Founders present this year’s festival awards to a group of amazingly talentedfilmmakers.
Featuring a tantalizing bounty of food, drinks, and entertainment, this star-studded all-inclusive party is the ticket to get!
TCFF Closing Night Bash Sunday, July 31, 7 pm – 9:45 pm Open Space Park
FREE for Everyone
Do you want to build a snowman? Well, at our free community party preceding Sunday night’s Open Space screening of the blockbuster to end all blockbusters, “Frozen,” you can do just that — and in suuuuummmmmer no less! With live music, interactive games, an icy photo booth, Arendelle’s own bounce castle, reindeer treats, and more, it will be a night so magical, you’ll feel like you’re surrounded by warm hugs. Whether you’re an Anna, Elsa, or maybe an Olaf, don your favorite movie outfit and join us. It’ll definitely be a night worth melting for.
Film School
Returning to Scholars Hall, thanks to our generous sponsor Northwestern Michigan College, our Film School offers twice-daily sessions featuring visiting filmmakers and professionals sharing their insights and experiences with an audience of students and film lovers of all ages. Tickets are just $5 per class. Class topics and instructors are subject to change.