ABOUT

The Boonies is again attracting independent filmmakers, industry professionals and indie artists. Already involved in The Boonies 2013 include…

Levi Abrino
Patrick Cherry
Dennis Drew
Kevin Jerome Everson
Josh Fox
Vance Fox
Joe Glarner
Ken Gorka
Ken Hardley
Mike Plante
Christine Elise McCarthy
Ralph McKay
Lydia Moyer
Jack O’Hara
Keith Reimink
Mark Robinault
Lenwood Sloan
Nuno Sena
Volt Vision
Carson Waterman

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo - Media - Design by Jeremy Jeziorski. www.SquarePegOnline.com.

Venues:

The Struthers Library Theatre

Our featured venue, The Historic Struthers Library Theatre.

• This venue is spectacular, truly a work of art.
• It was a marvel in its time and remains so today.\
• Built in 1883, the Struthers Library Theatre is the 18th oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in the United States, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

When the decision to have the festival in Warren was made there was only one choice for the featured venue, The Struthers Library Theatre. We are so very fortunate to have this wondrous theatre and their interest in our festival. Just being in the theatre is an awesome experience and enhancing it with independent film is the past, the present and the future well mixed. Come and find out for yourself, we're just up the road.

Allegheny Outfitters

The 1st place to go for adventure in The Boonies!  They can float you down a river, help you see the forest for the trees and make your outdoor adventure exhilarating and unforgettable!  Now, they also will be a screening venue for The Boonies International.  Allegheny Outfitters of Warren, PA at www.alleghenyoutfitters.com.
Other Special Screening Venues TBA.

Blair Retail Store and Museum

This venue is located downtown on Hickory Street and is in the Blair Museum.  A small screening venue in a very interesting museum makes this a screening venue worth a visit… shop the Blair retail store, experience the museum and watch an indie film too.

Cambridge Warren

A nice walk from downtown, follow the river west from downtown and within a couple blocks and few short minutes you’ll find yourself at Cambridge Warren and a unique indie screening venue.  Cambridge Warren is an adult assisted living center with a small movie room and a big screen.  The facility opens its doors to movie goers during The Boonies International.

Warren County Library

Another amazing building in downtown Warren and home base for a county wide library system.

• Full service library with areas to read, use the computer and see a film

• Within the downtown area

• Home for special screenings during the festival

• Worth a walk through just to see building and the art

Thinking about alternate screening sites the Public Library came up and all agree that public libraries support indie film and we needed to have our public library involved. We were fairly certain they would agree, having permitted some filming for the Jake Mahaffy film "Wellness". They did agree and we all eager to screen some of our special selection at the Warren Library.

Legal Information:

The festival has incorporated as The Boonies Inc. and we are in the process of applying for our 501(c)3 non-profit status. 

Boonies Advisory Council:

• Patrick Cherry - Acting Coach – Actor – Consultant - Cherry worked for nearly 18 years with actor, Broadway icon and Master Teacher Charles Nelson Reilly who sent Cherry to Uta Hagen HB Studios in NYC.  He became Reilly’s Associate Teacher of Acting Technique and Scene Studies until Mr. Reilly’s death in 2007.  A member of The Screen Actors Guild since 1988 Cherry has worked in films with 8 Academy Award winning actors, most notably Sir Anthony Hopkins in “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1991.  Also working with Richard Dreyfus, Talia Shire, Arliss Howard, Jennetta Arnette and in the Francis Ford Coppala film “Jeepers Creepers” as featured character Binky.  Cherry’s acting goals have not diminished, his desire to teach soars and he finds himself continuing on his journey in film, finding a path in The Boonies.  He is doing what he does best - acting and teaching.
• Dennis Drew - Musician – Founder – General Manager- Drew is the Founder and Keyboardist for “10,000 Maniacs”.  He is also the General Manager of WRFA a non-profit radio station in Jamestown, NY.  
• Steve French Technology - Electrical Engineer –  Musician - Creator – French is the President and Founder of Volt Vision an electrical engineer and Volt Vision is our host for the Tech Show.  A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology and is an advocate in working with academic students, working with many colleges and universities.  He also works with artist and delves into merging emerging lighting technology into non-traditional areas, such as artwork, clothing and environmental lighting. He is also a bass player and a creative musical talent.
• Christopher Lareau - Retired physician, editor of www.alleghenyalmanac.com, former newspaper reporter in Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania.
• Jake Mahaffy - Filmmaker – Educator - Mahaffy’s experimental shorts and low-budget, feature-length films "War" and "Wellness" have screened in festivals and competitions around the world including Sundance (2004/05/08/09) and Rotterdam (2004/06/08).  Mahaffy's films have won many awards worldwide including the Ken Burns Award 2004, Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2008, and the Cannes L’Atelier 2009.  He studied filmmaking at RISD and the Russian State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, co-founded ‘Handcranked Film Projects’ in Boston and is developing a new film program at Wheaton College, MA as an Associate Professor. He lives in Providence with his family. For Free in Deed, an upcoming feature film about a man who tries to perform a miracle and fails, Mahaffy was twice nominated for the Sundance/NHK award, named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s ‘new faces of independent film’ and has received a Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital grant, a LEF grant, and the Sundance Institute’s inaugural Auerbach Screenwriting Fellowship after developing the project at the 2006 Sundance Filmmaker’s Labs.  
• Ralph McKay - Programmer – Advisor - Correspondent – McKay is Senior Film Program Advisor at the International Film Fest Rotterdam (1997 to current), Netherlands; Programmer and advisor at Marfa Film Festival Marfa, Texas;  Board member at Cinematexas; Advisor at The Boonies International Film Festival
• Jack O'Hara – Musician – Music Producer – Recording Engineer – Lighting Director – O’Hara is one of the founding members of 70’s country rock band Eggs Over Easy. 
• Mike Plante - Programmer – Advisor – Consultant –  Filmmaker - Journalist -  Plante is Film Programmer, Consultant to numerous film festivals including Sundance (2001-present), CineVegas (2002-2009) and The Boonies International Film Festival; Founder of Cinemad and is a journalist contributing to many film industry blogs and magazines including “Filmmaker Magazine”.
• Nuno Sena - Executive Director – Sena is the executive director of IndieLisboa Film Festival in Lisbon, Portugal and Festival. 
• Dr. Ruth Barnes Shaw - Ruth Barnes Shaw holds a Master’s degree in art history and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the State University of New York, University at Buffalo, and has taught courses in art history, cultural history, women’s studies, and textile design at the University at Buffalo and Jamestown Community College.  She received her B.F.A. in textile design from Parsons School of Design in New York City, and upon graduation, she worked as a textile designer for Concord Fabrics on Broadway for several years.  She later opened her own business in Chautauqua County, New York where she designed and made women's fashions.  Originally from Western New York, Dr. Barnes Shaw moved to Pennsylvania in 1995 when she took a position as an on-air radio personality at WRLP-FM, Rock103 in Russell.  She lectures locally and regionally on American women's art, textiles, and clothing, and often gives weaving demonstrations at local historic events.  Dr. Barnes Shaw currently serves on the board of the Allegheny Center for the Arts, is a past board member and current volunteer and guest speaker for the Warren County Historical Society, past president of the Chautauqua County Weavers' Guild, and is an active member of Warren Players Theater as well as her son's Cub Scout Pack and PTA.  She lives in Russell with her husband, Jim, and son, Jack Douglass, and several beloved pets.  
• Lenwood Sloan - Film Commissioner – Speaker – Consultant - Sloan – former Commissioner for The PA Film Office and U.S. Embassy fellow in the UNESCO program, (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization); Business Film Industry Advisory for The Boonies International Film Festival. 
• Carson Waterman – Artist - Waterman is a Native American and of the Seneca Nation, a Vietnam Veteran  he attended Cooper School of Art in Cleveland, Ohio and served at The Cleveland Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and the New York State Museum in Albany, NY.  His work has been displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, Museum of the American Indian, Tennessee State Museum, the Ganondagan Historical Site, the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum as well as at universities, colleges and private galleries.  Waterman has illustrated two books, “Pow-wow” and “Cloudwalker”.  

Boonies Board:

Lorena Beniquez

Chris Cheronis

Jeff Clark – President/Executive Director

James Embrey - Treasurer

Journey Gunderson

Jack O’Hara

William “Joey” Roy – Secretary