The press event was held in the Capitol Theatre, with local food and wine offered to the attendees after the presentation. And the presentation gave everyone a lot to talk about during the social piece afterward. On the way in, we were greeted by costumed performers, acting as Prohibition Era rum-runners and other period-piece characters from Windsor’s past. They reminded everyone that Windsor and region has a lot of stories to tell, and the tourism industry will need to work together to get the message out.
In a series of phenomenal videos produced by Suede Productions (local), tourism operators, convention hosts, and businesses were shown that the new Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island have a firm grasp on what this region has to offer.
This was the announcement.
The implementation of this vision is likely set for another time. Today was a presentation about showing the knowledge and awareness within our tourism sector about what this region can boast.
Watching the videos, mesmerized, the crowd was treated to eye candy touting entertainment, leisure, sports, gaming, shopping, and living in the Windsor Essex area. During the presentation there were separate vignettes with actors strolling through the Kelly Theatre (in the Capitol Theatre) with microphones on. They were pretending to be a series of different tourism demographics, speaking out loud about what they were looking to do in Windsor. The actors would then get on the stage, find the computer kiosk that was waiting beside the video screen, and activate a new video about what they were looking for. It was seamless. It was impressive. Chris Ryan and the Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee team
Chris Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Windsor Essex, was excited when he took the stage, telling everyone in the room about the endless possibilities to increase our tourism footprint in the province, and the rest of Canada. He was electric while in the common areas of the theatre also, looking like someone about to unleash a new initiative. And the spark was provided nicely by he and his staff before and after the video announcements, giving a clear indication that someone is paying attention. Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island is ready to bring people to Windsor (downtown and otherwise) and impress them like no one else can.
Today is a good day.
Below is a video of the theatre before the presentation, and some of the video clips that were shown.
The sound and video are only shadows of what the videos offer, but until I get access to the videos, this is what we can offer.
Enjoy.
I thought I’d provide a slew of updates and video snippets of things that have happened recently, or are ongoing for the rest of the month. Let’s start with Broken City Lab’s Storefront Residencies for Social Innovation. On Saturday morning, the family and I went to the Downtown Farmers’ Market followed by a trip up Pelissier Street to see what exactly was going on during the Storefront Residencies. Most of the projects were still being figured out and installed. Jolie Inthavong’s “The Breakroom” was in full effect though, offering a virtual break room for anyone wanting to sit in some comfy couches and drink some free coffee. There was a mini-bar fridge with water and soft drinks, and there were coffee mugs available for anyone to make themselves a coffee or tea. Jolie was also making grilled cheese sandwiches for those hungry enough, and she was washing the mugs when people were finished their drinks. The ambiance-setting feature was the nearly 100-square-foot patch of sod (faux lawn) which had a picnic blanket and occasional loafer laying on it. Just the smell of dirt and grass in a normally cold cement room made The Breakroom even more of an anomaly. And she even had a frequent-customer card (for show, I’m assuming)! Here are a few more pictures of The Breakroom space. Jolie maintaining The Breakroom (above) and Mike Poirier posing on the indoor grass (below) In other activity, the St. Clair College Mediaplex has even more applications attached to the facade of the building, including a wrap-around scrolling marquee and what looks like a living wall. The photo I have of the living wall is more of the scaffolding that was holding the workers as they applied the living wall…but there looks to be a second patch on the top/front of the building facing Victoria Avenue. The work has been ongoing with the little details, and this is the newest significant change I’ve seen with the building. Here are a couple of shots of the new marquee and the living wall. In local film news, Windsor’s Mike Stasko has released the film Iodine! And it’s got some pretty recognizable faces! Ray Wise (Twin Peaks) stars along with, Jason Collett in his acting debut (Broken Social Scene), Mike Stasko himself (was also in Things To Do), and Vicki Rivard (2:22). This film is being screened by the Windsor International Film Festival at The Capitol Theatre THIS WEDNESDAY, June 16th! Here’s the link to the Facebook Event Page. This excerpt from the Facebook Event Page tells more about the event, some press quotes, and how to get tickets: “Iodine screened at Montreal’s World Film Festival and at Houston-WorldFest where it won a Silver Remi in the First Feature category.” PRESS QUOTES “A deeply metaphysical and reflective film as expressed through gripping dialogue…..” – Arts & Opinion – Sylvain Richard (three stars) “the acting is fine and the score is spare and sweet” – Montreal Gazette – John Griffin (three stars) Apart from being a great opportunity to learn about the larger film community in Canada, you can see the film and speak with Stasko about the ins and outs of being involved in a film of this calibre. More details below about tickets and socializing. WINDSOR CAPITOL THEATRE 121 University Ave. W Windsor, ON N9A 5P4 (519) 253-8065 www.capitol.on.ca WEDNESDAY JUNE 16th – 7PM Gold Tickets $10.00 VIP Tickets holders (after party) $15.00 www.windsorfilmfestival.com to purchase tickets Pre-screening cocktails @ 6pm Q&A with Writer/Director – Mike Stasko
Also, I ran in and did a quick update video of Behind The Wood. This is the bar supply store is now fully operational, and ready to take your orders for bar gear, glassware, ice, lemons & limes, and is also prepared to train you in flair bartending. Check out the 2-minute video to see what they’ve done with the place.
Do you love watching the Oscars or taking in a good movie? You’re in luck if you answered “yes” to either. This week the Capitol Theatre and the Art Gallery of Windsor are having special film screenings. Not to be outdone, the Palace Cinemas will continue its popular art film series and Chanoso’s is holding an Oscar Night viewing party this Sunday.
Broken City Lab, to the uninitiated, is a multidisciplinary group of concerned citizens in Windsor. They get together weekly (at least) to discuss the goods and the bads of our fine city. Then they think of ways to emphasize these parts of Windsor through artistic expression, interaction, collaboration, and more.
Recently, Broken City Lab launched an initiative called Save The City. It’s a five-month series of interactions between Broken City Lab, Windsor citizens, and the city itself. The meet-ups and activities are designed to get more than just the conversation going about the kind of city we actually live in, and the kind of city we hope to live in.
Last month was the first such event which was focused on storytelling. It was titled “Listen To The City“. According to Broken City Lab, it was “a community workshop to brainstorm, uncover, and share personal histories of Windsor, inviting a range of community members to participate in the process. The workshop will begin with a discussion about the importance in personal histories alongside official histories of a city, and then lead to the opportunity for community participants to share their own stories about Windsor.”
February’s intervention with Windsor was described by Broken City Lab as:
As part of the Broken City Lab: Save the City project, and to better understand the city and its rich and failed history, Broken City Lab researchers will host an open community event on Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 1pm to map and invent two distinct community tours—Sites of Apology and Sites of Hope.
Throughout the first part of the event, Broken City Lab will lead community participants in brainstorming the numerous sites deemed to be worthy of apology—these could include failed strip malls, roads without sidewalks, or former auto factories—along with the numerous sites that give community participants hope for the city—these could include an especially great bike trail, sites of architectural significance, or places that can be imagined as being easily improved.
Immediately following the creation of these lists, Broken City Lab will set out to demarcate and officially designate each Site of Apology and Site of Hope. At each site, a short ceremony will be held and community members are welcomed to come along to help recognize each and every site.
A map demarcating each of the designated Sites of Apology and Sites of Hope will be made available online to encourage the ongoing investigation of these sites by community members.
Of course, there were sites that straddled both the positive and negative. An important stance on results like these is to acknowledge the positives, and investigate the negatives. If there are Sites of Apology in downtown Windsor, how can we fix them? How can residents and businesses alike contribute to making these spots more revered and honoured?
For more about this meeting, and future interventions with the city, visit this post on Windsorite.ca for photos of the Sites of Apology / Sites of Hope play-by-play.
What other places do you feel could have been mentioned as Sites of Apology or Sites of Hope in the downtown and why? Leave your comments below.
Thanks to Justin Langlois for use of photos from BrokenCityLab.org!
Live theatre, 80’s tribute bands and a ventriloquist! There’s a lot happening in downtown Windsor this week:
Jeff Dunham atCaesars Windsor – Saturday, February 27th 9:00 PM One of the hottest ventriloquist and stand-up comedians is coming to Caesars Windsor. As one of the most popular comedians in the U.S., Jeff has appeared on numerous television shows including three specials on Comedy Central, which also airs his half hour sketch comedy show. Tickets start at $49. For reservations call: 1.888.345.5885.
Chris Edwards, executive director of the DWBIA is bringing a film to Windsor on February 26th.
It’s called My Tale of Two Cities.
Chris is also bringing the maker of this film, Carl Kurlander. He had a hand in the making of St. Elmo’s Fire and Saved By The Bell.
The film is a true, heartfelt comeback story about Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has been compared to Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me”, but described more like “Mr. Rogers and Me” by others. This film is funny, while reflective about returning to your hometown, and investigating what works and what doesn’t for a city. Some scenes of the film are in the video below.
Chris Edwards saw this film in Milwaukee recently, and felt like there was a kinship between Windsor and Pittsburgh. They suffered the fall of the steel industry, and climbed back into the fray through other means. Edwards felt that this film was something Windsorites needed to see to begin thinking about the future of Windsor.
The panel discussion following the film, “What Windsor Can Learn from Pittsburgh’s Comeback”, will be an opportunity to engage local idea-makers and doers, including Carl Kurlander, to investigate the problems and potential solutions facing Windsor. Below is a video of Chris Edwards describing the film, and who will be on the panel for the discussion portion of the evening.
This FREE EVENT is presented by the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association as part of our Re:Vision Downtown series. http://www.downtownwindsor.ca
Looking for something to do? Look no further than downtown Windsor!
For our weekly event listing click here or visit www.downtownwindsor.ca to find even more information on upcoming downtown events. Stay tuned every week for more downtown Windsor events. What event will you be attending this week? Let us know.
As a follow up the great news from Media City and the Ontario Trillium Foundation (LINK TO PREVIOUS), I was informed that the international film art festival has been honoured once again.
In an e-mail from Media City co-program director, Oona Mosna, she informed me of an additional $20,000 in funding!
From the e-mail:
“In other good news, we (Media City and House of Toast) also learned today that we’ll receive $20,000 in operating funding from the Ontario Arts Council’s Media Arts Festivals program, which is applicable to our 2010 fiscal period.”
-Oona Mosna
Downtown Windsor has yet another funding organization that believes in one of its keystone cultural events of the year.
As an added bonus to this news, I wanted to include the speech given at the recent press conference held at The Capitol Theatre.
Jeremy Rigsby, co-program director for Media City, gave a passionate speech about his involvement with the festival. Most impressive is his description of Windsor in the eyes of the rest of the independent art film world.
Jeremy Rigsby speaks at the press conference on February 5th
You may see their footprint in different ways each year. They’ve made 15 ever-growing footprints in the last 15 winters.
Media City, the film and video art festival that takes place in Windsor, just received an exciting bit of support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to the tune of $95,500 over the next three years.
The festival, which for several years took place in February, has recently moved its date to a much balmier May schedule. In years past, outsiders to the festival had to squint through downtown squalls to see the international flavour Media City was bringing to Windsor every year. Name an accent or language being spoken on film today, and it was likely in attendance in the form of a proud foreign director.
This shot in the arm of creative strength has been a bright point for the cultural scene in downtown Windsor. During recent conversations with considerably sharp Detroit culture-junkies, Media City was a regular juggernaut in the discussions. Media City keeps bringing Detroit residents to Windsor. The Capitol Theatre, paired with a world-class film art festival is an unavoidable delicacy for many in the region. Even Detroit’s new independent film space (The Burton Theatre) co-owner Nathan Faustyn sang the praises of Media City when I visited in January.
At the press conference held on Friday, February 5th at The Capitol Theatre, there was a deluge of support from many in the cultural and business sector of Windsor. Simply put, it was a celebration. The following three videos are of speeches given to announce and honour the financial support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Above: First is Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Sandra Pupatello, then Brian Gray of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and finally Chris Edwards of the DWBIA.
Above: Media City program directors, Oona Mosna and Jeremy Rigsby, are seen receiving the plaque recognizing the Trillium Grant.
Above: Chris Edwards speaks passionately about the downtown, and Media City.
Downtown, interviewing, and investigating 6-months free rent at 500 Ouellette Ave. Entrepreneurs will love this.03:07:45 PM August 23, 2010from TweetDeck
