Cultural correspondent Bess J. M. Hochstein reports from Lenox: When it comes to luring film productions to the area, the Berkshire Film and Media Commission (BFMC) takes its cue from real estate agents in citing the three most important factors: location, location, location. That was the message delivered to the crowd of more than 100 directors, actors, producers, crew members, film festival organizers, cineastes (including filmmaker John Whalan and BFMC executive director Diane Pearlman, left) and other interested parties who gathered in the lobby of the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company as the curtains rose on the BFMC. The launch party reinforced the image of the Berkshires as a potential center for filmmaking, rich in scenic landscapes, diverse architecture ranging from Gilded-Age mansions to falling-down barns, and experienced film professionals suitable for any role behind or in front of a camera. Add to these resources a soon-to-be developed soundstage conveniently located in the very building where the launch party was held—about 35,000 square feet of raw space in Shakespeare & Company’s Production and Performing Arts Center—and it’s clear that the Berkshires has the potential to be Hollywood on the Housatonic.
Actress and Great Barrington shopkeeper Karen Allen with actors Michel Gill and Jayne Atkinson.
Tony & Lucy Simotes of Shakespeare & Company; artists Colleen Surprise Jones and Meryl Joseph.
Photographer Kevin Sprague and Berkshire Visitors Bureau chief Laurie Klefos; Shakespeare & Company actors David Michael Joseph & Elizabeth Aspenlieder.
Publicist David Carriere, Berkshire International Film Festival founder Kelley Vickery and Gundula Brattke; Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, Maggie Leonard and Vicki Bonnington.
Party plannner Amy Rudnick with her daughter, Maizy Hillman.
Bill Beautyman of Limelight Productions in Lee with legendary special effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull; Amy Lynn and Tim Lovett of Berkshire Property Agents.
Colin Rand with Kira Murdoch and Marc Maurino; film developer Audrey Davis and artist Jeanet Ingalls.
Body painter Bria Aponte and the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society's Peter Bergman; Mary & Seth Nash of BlueQ.
Written by
Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
