Mike was named to NewCity's inaugural Film50 list, honoring the leaders of Chicago's independent film community. Here's a clip from the magazine:
An understated but vibrant mood prevails at the Midwest Independent Film Festival at Landmark Century, which has the tagline, “The Best Films of the Midwest. The First Tuesday of Every Month.” Informal cocktail mixers precede a producer’s panel on the night’s program, followed by an independent feature from Illinois or surrounding states, with an after-party for further conversation. “It’s a full evening,” says Mike McNamara, a Chicago actor who co-founded the group in 2005. “That first Tuesday, if you’re just coming out for a great time, it’ll rival your Friday.” McNamara hates the word “networking.” “We celebrate strength in the community, you go to Sundance, you’re networking, but then everything’s a networking event if you look at it that way.” At first, the programmers didn’t know if they could even find the content to last six months, but as 2014 marks their tenth anniversary, McNamara says “it’s kind of mind-blowing” that they’ve established “a film festival for filmmakers. It’s for film lovers but we specifically focus on bringing the filmmakers together.” The most recent outreach has been to show films from “folks in the advertising community, this whole other creative community we’ve worked hard to welcome in.” The monthly setup is unusual in the film festival world. “The reason we make it a year-round event as opposed to ten or twelve straight days so that there is a place for the entire independent film community to come together all year round.”
Click here for the full article and the other 49 of NewCity's Film50!