THE FESTIVAL
“It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere through which we look. To affect the quality of the day – that is the highest of arts.”
Welcome To Movies At The Mill Easton
Festival Date: Saturday, August 24th
Festival Location: THE SIGAL MUSEUM (342 Northampton Street, Easton, PA 18042)
Festival Time: The festival opens at 3pm and ends at 10pm.
Festival Tickets: General Admission Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the gate : Filmmaker Seminar Tickets are $40
Click here for tickets. Click here for directions.
Movies At The Mill Easton (MME) is a film festival created to aid in the redevelopment of the city of Easton. With the support of Easton mayor, Salvatore J. Panto Jr., the direction of filmmaker Gershon Hinkson, and the commitment of its countless volunteers and sponsors, this annual festival has become a beacon for culture and a provoker of positive change in the city.
Originally produced as a “one off” to allow developers to see the potential of the Simon (si-moan) Silk Mill site, MME quickly expanded it’s mission to serve as an instrument to showcase under-appreciated and new locations all over Easton that can benefit from the attention that the festival attracts.
From it’s beginnings as a local event to one that boasts an international slate of short films, MME plays host to approximately 2,000 attendees each year. The festival has further expanded to introduce a seminar series. Last year's seminar, The Art Of Storytelling, was conducted by Director and Artist Julian Schnabel. Mr. Schnabel is known for films such as Basquiat, Before Night Falls, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Miral and most recently At Eternity’s Gate (starring Willem Dafoe). Previous seminars included Effecting The Story with VFX Supervisor/Producer, Karen Heston. Mrs. Heston is known for films such as Spiderman, Green Lantern and most recently, Ocean's Eight. 2016's Seminar, Telling The Story, was conducted by multiple Academy Award Nominee and Writer/Director Gary Ross - known for films such as Pleasantville, The Hunger Games and Seabiscuit. 2015's Seminar, The Perfect Score (Music In Cinema), was conducted by Composer/Music Editor, Michael Higham. Mr. Higham is well known in the industry for his work on films such as Rob Marshall's Into The Woods, Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd and the James Bond action-thriller, Quantum Of Solace. 2014’s seminar, Picking The Right Project, was conducted by The Bourne Identity director, Doug Liman, whose long list of credits also include blockbusters such as Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Live. Die. Repeat. Our inaugural seminar, Getting The Film Made, was conducted by Academy Award nominee and Supersize Me director Morgan Spurlock. This year's seminar, will be announced very soon.
The Simon Silk Mill, from where the “Mill” in Movies At The Mill derives it’s name, has nearly completed construction. Led by the development group VM Development, the site is on track to completion and being realized as “SILK”, the vision designed by the architectural firm Spillman and Farmer Architects. The goal for SILK is to allow the organic co-existence of creative arts, financial enterprise, a nature trail along the Bushkill Creek, a boutique hotel, retail shopping, open-air markets, art venues, quaint saloons and eateries serving delicious food, not to mention condominiums, offices and studios, all within the confines of historic buildings dating back to the late 1800′s, which housed the thriving silk mill business of Robert and Herbert Simon.