In late October, local studio Shatterglass Films took their ongoing project, The Death of Innocence, to Chicago’s International Film Festival for the inaugural “Industry Days”. This invitational event brought film-industry professionals to the Midwest for the first time in a move that should be mutually beneficial: local filmmakers get exposure for development and distribution, and the coastal regions can see up-close the wealth of talent afforded by “the flyovers”.
Six independent film production companies were selected for a special event called “The Pitch”. These sessions provided assistance from the IFP and cooperation with other filmmakers to help the indies develop and perfect a pitch to be delivered on October 25th in hopes of securing a $20,000 prize made up of in-kind services.
The prize was awarded that day, unfortunately to another production company. While Shatterglass is invested in getting Emmett Till’s story, and his mother’s wisdom, out to a larger audience, producer Brett Hays was proud to be invited and happy for the experience. He says, “The feedback received from these sessions as well as the final presentation was extremely informative and will be helpful to all of the filmmakers when they end up giving their pitches to investors, actors, distributors, etc. ‘The Pitch’ wasn’t really about having a winner, but they structured it that way in order to raise the stakes a little bit as well as garner support.”
It’s definitely a victory worth celebrating that independent film is being recognized more widely by higher industry professionals, and that our own town has such recognizable talent. Congratulations, Shatterglass Studios! And best of luck moving forward.
