DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — This weekend in Door County, filmmakers from across the nation will gather for the annual festival.
- Door County Film Festival Co-Founder Chris Opper explains how the festival started 16 years ago
- Ken Brosky is making his filmmaking debut with his documentary premiering at the festival
- Kurt Krauss a member of the Door County Film Fest describes how the fest has helped the film industry grow in the area
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
What started off as a movie night in 2009 has grown into something much bigger.
"I think that night when I said 'Hey I've always wanted to run a film festival' this was my idea right here, what we're seeing this weekend" Co-founder of the festival Chris Opper said.
After bouncing between several locations the Door County Film Fest found a permanent home in 2023 at the Northern Sky Theater in Fish Creek.
This weekend filmmakers from across the country will gather as 31 different films will be showcased.
All 40 films from the festival will be available to stream on the Door County Film Festival website starting Sunday.
The schedule for the film festival starts with student films on Thursday, a featured film on Friday and on Saturday short films with another featured film to close out the fest.
"If it grows we're just gonna grow in the days that we show films." Opper said.
Wisconsin native Ken Brosky is debuting his first film during the festival, a documentary about the closures of two year college campuses across the state of Wisconsin. He attended and later taught at a two year campus.
"Being able to spread the message that these closures matter on a community level is gonna be really important and so I take that responsibility really seriously" Brosky said.
Movie makers like Brosky, are coming together for a common goal with hopes of making the film industry grow on the peninsula.
"I think there's gonna be continued project being done here as we move into 2025-2026 just with the film making scene" Kurt Krauss a member of the Door County Film Festival said.
Organizers say they are hoping to start a film commission in the near future for film makers in Door County and for those hoping to make a production on the peninsula.
