The State of Connecticut and the City of Danbury are behind the 2009 Connecticut Film Festival.

The Connecticut Film Festival has announced it will kick off the 2009 Festival with screenings of more than 30 films at the Bethel Cinema in Bethel, Connecticut between December 5-7, 2008.

Hat City Entertainment reports that funding has been promised from the State of Connecticut and the City of Danbury. As Western Connecticut State University expands its film program the hope that this industry will keep the local economy moving. Film makers bring the necessity for all sorts of ancillary crafts. Any and all of these will keep the area diverse and vital.

The success of last summer's festival demonstrates the positive effect of arts programs in the community. It is not just the movie goers who benefit by seeing these great titles. Local merchants get the benefit of extra patrons at hotels and restaurants.

Keep up with the latest by joining the Facebook group "Connecticut Film, Music & Digital Media Festival & Conference". Keep current with Danbury activity by following Danbury Mayor Bouton at Twitter. You already watch this space so stayed connected.

Pay for Play - Radio Payola again

The Music industry’s  RIAA has asked Congress to apply a charge to broadcasters who play artists music on the air. If artists get paid to appear on the radio then radio should charge the artist to appear on the air. Time on radio is valuable and if someone wants to be heard they should buy the time like any advertiser.  Perhaps the broadcasters could charge  $.0018 per performance.  (A "performance" is defined as the streaming of one song to one listener; thus a station that has an average audience of 500 listeners racks up 500 "performances" for each song it plays.)

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I had not realized that Network radio drama lasted as long as it had in to the 1980's. As it turns out one of the actors in the CBS Mystery Theater died this week. Larry Haines had a long career on and off Broadway but what caught my eye was the radio theater. There are some examples at archive.org.


I guess I shouldn't be so surprised as Rich Frohlich is still producing radio drama today. So this art form isn't gone it is just hiding. Here's to letting it loose to entertain the world.

To build downtown Danbury into an arts, culture, and entertainment destination is what we at CityCenter see as one of our most important missions.

Mark your calendar for the Connecticut Film Festival. On February 6, the Danbury Common Council met to discuss the city’s sponsorship to name Danbury as the host city for the CT Film Festival (CTFF). Their approval to sponsor the event for $75,000 is a ringing endorsement of our efforts at CityCenter and will definitely be a boon to downtown—there is no doubt that cultural and arts offerings contribute to the quality of life and define our community as a great place to live and work.

CityCenter is working with the CTFF organization and the Housatonic Valley Cultural Alliance (HVCA) to stage the three main events. The first event will take place opening night, May 20, at the Palace Theatre. Yes! The Palace Theatre will be available for film screenings. The opening reception will also be held at the Palace Theatre with the help of the creative minds of Carter Boyajian and Peter Castellucci, who brought downtown the amazing sound, light, and photo montage installation at the Palace for First Night Danbury. We are also in talks with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who have a club next to the Palace, to take over their space during the film festival. Our creative team is hoping to establish an after-hours, invitation-only club with a 70's disco theme for the duration of the film festival. Wouldn’t you like access to the Green Room, the place to see and be seen during CTFF?

We’re planning to stage the industry bash downtown, too. At present, we are eyeballing the “Grassy Alley” across the street from the CityCenter offices for the Friday night event. There will be a big tent, lights, and music spilling into the street and lots of buzz in the air. The filming of the Rebecca Miller movie The Many Lives of Pippa Lee (the cast includes Winona Ryder, Robin Wright Penn, Monica Belushi, Keanu Reeves, Alan Arkin, and Parker Posey) will be in full swing downtown by then, and we’re hoping that there will be real industry types at our industry bash. Check out CTFilmFest.com for the latest info.

From Hat City Entertainmnet