Group seeks to spark filmmaking in state
Never mind Thursday’s snow. Never mind that the trees outside were pines, not palms.
It seemed more like Hollywood than Coeur d’Alene when the Kootenai and North Idaho Film, Video and Entertainment Society held its March meeting.
In the downstairs of Brix Restaurant, about 50 people who work in various aspects of the film and entertainment industries – as well as a few film fans – discussed entertainment topics and filmmaking politics, and unofficially kicked off this weekend’s Coeur d’Alene Film Festival.
A number of the meeting’s attendees are involved in that film festival – the city’s first – including some who will be speakers in festival forums and others who worked on crews of the independent films “Teenage Dirtbag” and “UR Pre-Approved.”
The group, which goes by the acronym KNIFVES (pronounced “knives”) started last year with a few friends meeting over lunch. It has since ballooned into monthly meetings open to anyone interested in film or live entertainment. More than 70 people receive KNIFVES’ newsletters.
“It has evolved from what it used to be. It started as a get-together with others in the business to share war stories,” said W.J. Lazerus, a writer, director and producer who is the group’s founder.
Once the word got out about the informal meetings, Lazerus started to hear from people interested in joining. Within a few months, Lazerus said, the group discovered a community of “incredible professionals hidden in the area.”
Among the members: Don Thorin, a cinematographer whose credits include “Scent of a Woman” and “Ace Ventura, When Nature Calls”; and Ted Parvin, who worked behind the scenes in the original “Psycho” and “Around the World in 80 Days.” Dawn Wells, a Southern Idaho resident who played Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island,” had been scheduled as Thursday’s guest speaker, but had travel problems.
Thursday was the group’s eighth monthly get-together, and Lazerus said KNIFVES is already much larger and better organized than similar gatherings he attended as a scriptwriter while living in Los Angeles.
Among Thursday’s most talked-about topics was Senate Bill 1156, which would provide tax incentives for filmmakers to work in Idaho.
The bill, which will come to a vote soon, would encourage Hollywood to spend more money in the state, said Peg Owens of the Idaho Film Bureau.
“I think it’s really, really important that we let the state know we are here,” said another supporter, Pat Ficek, a Sandpoint Films board member.
And KNIFVES could be a resource for filmmakers drawn to the state, Lazerus said. With the bill pending, he said, “It’s the perfect time for this (group) to happen.”