Milwaukee Film Festival Guide(Hour 1)

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Schwabba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a guy who considers a silver medal, a participation award, Pete Schwabba.

Welcome to Night Light, ladies and gentlemen.

Happy Monday, everybody.

Finally, Monday is here, and I get to be on the radio again.

You know what it's like slumbering through a weekend?

Slogging through a weekend, I should say.

Waiting, counting the minutes, so I can come back here and host Nightlight.

So great to have you with me.

Hope you had a great weekend.

It is still... Conrad, what is going on with the weather?

I'm not holding you personally responsible, but this is like getting ridiculous.

It's gloom and doom, dude.

Yeah, I'm sorry about that.

Oh, at least you could do is, you know, try to bring us some sunshine, buddy.

Yeah.

What do we look at?

You know, the draft, it'd be nice if when people descend on Green Bay as they've already started to do, we had some sunshine, right?

Because Green Bay is going to be like front and center northeast Wisconsin all over the country or the world, whoever watches the draft.

It'd be nice if we had some picturesque sunlight for the viewers, I think.

I think it would be Wisconsin if it just no random snowstorm came on Thursday.

Oh, that would be so horrible.

That would suck.

You would like regret taking time off if that were the case.

Yeah, you'd probably be like, I might as well work.

Yeah, I might as well just come into the studio that day.

Yeah, although I won't be there.

I'm going to Madison now.

Yeah,

because you're off and we're kind of shuffling things around and it should be just fine.

But

Hey, it is great to have you with with me, folks, tonight on this Monday.

Like I said, I hope you had a great weekend.

We've got a great show tonight, as always.

But even tonight, I think it's on a Monday, you want to start off with some cool stuff.

And I think we have that tonight.

Joining me tonight at 635 is the program director for the Milwaukee Film Festival, Kirsten Larson.

We're going to give you kind of an overview of what you can expect.

if you head to Milwaukee or if you're already there and you head to the film festival, you've got some really cool films playing this year.

One, the one I think that caught my eye the most, I think is called Secret Mall Apartment.

And apparently several young people in Rhode Island created this little apartment in a mall, like kind of back behind the scenes.

and live there for like four years and nobody had any idea.

And there's a documentary about this.

And I can't wait to talk to Kirsten about that as well as many other films.

There's a cool kind of reunion screening, a 40-year anniversary screening, some great happy hours they call them in Milwaukee.

I'm not as up on Milwaukee's Film Festival, even though I had a film that played there years ago.

I haven't been there recently, so I'm really looking forward to hearing more about it and kind of

Having Kirsten sort of tell us what we can expect if we decide to check out these films or just anything Going out at the film festival.

They have two beautiful venues as well the Downer theater and the Oriental theater if you've not seen the Oriental theater folks it is worth a trip to Milwaukee alone.

It is That majestic.

It's just absolutely beautiful theater.

So Kirsten will be here at 635.

We'll get the straight dope from the program director's mouth

And then our pal Tim Sowers is here tonight.

The Overture Center in Madison just released their new schedule.

And they've got some really amazing things coming into town, these great Broadway shows, many different series that they'll be promoting throughout the course of the year, more homegrown stuff, shows from Broadway.

They've got a, my favorite that I read about was a Back to the Future musical live on stage.

How cool does that sound, right?

That

sounds

awesome.

Someone's I don't know if I read something that Tim talked about or what but it was like How do they make the car disappear on stage?

So we'll ask Tim these questions He has a pretty sweet gig he gets to go around and watch Broadway musicals and figure out which ones he wants to bring to Madison So we'll talk about that with Tim.

He's one of our pals here.

He's here fairly frequently I would say and it's always good to catch up with him.

That's at 720 720 right Conrad?

Yes

I booked him and I can't even remember 720 or 735 720 okay, we always run out of time with Tim anyway because he's good He's a good talker.

He's up on a lot of TV shows.

He's got great taste in TV and movies.

So we'll try to sneak some of that talk in with with Tim as well and I understand Conrad that both of us Were in the wonderful city of Milwaukee over the weekend.

I had no idea you were there I assume you're not tracking my phone and you didn't know I was there

Well, what were you doing there?

It's a sightseeing.

I went to a Milwaukee Brewer game.

All right against the well, not the Oakland anymore.

Just just the athletics no city for him yet.

What is the deal?

They're actually playing in a Sacramento right now.

I believe so.

Yeah, they're

they're going they're moving to Vegas, but the stadium's not up yet.

Okay.

The Vegas A's that doesn't sound as cool as the Oakland A's.

I just like that they have

no

city right now.

So it's just the athletics.

Yeah.

Yeah, just they're a team without a city.

It's really strange.

Yeah Well, that was fun.

Did you did you get a beer and a hot dog at the ball field?

Actually, I had two hot dogs.

How many beers?

I only had two because before we even knew it It was already the seventh inning and after seventh inning they stopped serving.

Oh Really?

Yeah.

Yeah, so it was constant at all.

It was under two hours this game and with the fastest

a game has ever gone for me at a Brewer Stadium.

But yeah, I mean, it was only three to one the final score.

It wasn't too much going on, so the innings went fast.

Did they win?

No, they

lost.

Don't you hate that?

I mean, I used to hate, now I'm a little more mellow, but when I would pay money to see a professional baseball game, and I would actually go to the stadium, it seemed like every time I went, like in a five-year span, they lost.

Yeah, it just it sucks.

It's like, why

did I do this?

You know what I mean?

I always think I think the last four or five games I've gone to they lost.

Yeah.

So I think a bad look.

Every time you go, though, when you're on that kind of streak, they're due for a win.

So you bring yourself that much closer.

So but they keep spending your money.

It was cool, though.

They they had one of their giveaways and I got a Brewer's football jersey.

Oh, nice.

Yeah, Brewer's football jersey.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

That is kind of cool.

The whole stadium was wearing them because they gave it to 25,000 people.

Oh, I love that.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

I was in Milwaukee too.

We went Saturday morning and my son is involved with comedy sports and he had this special showcase on Saturday night.

So we went, it was the first time I got to see him do comedy sports, which was fun.

What a great atmosphere that is, two folks.

If you live in the Milwaukee area, or even if you don't, if you're up for a road trip, it's

Just a great atmosphere.

They have this great little campus just south of the Third Ward, might technically be in the Third Ward.

But they have this big main stage, which is beautiful.

Then they've got all these pictures in a bar area outside with some of their legendary performers.

And then they have a secondary stage where this showcase was, and that was packed.

And it was just such a great, I mean, it was so like to go out on a Saturday night.

and just get away from your regular routine for some comedy.

It was an absolute blast.

So tip of my hat to my son and to comedy sports, because they just provide such a great, they've been around like 40 years now, and they do such an amazing job.

And it's just a, they're an absolute treasure for Milwaukee to have, and in other various parts of the state as well, but I believe they started in Milwaukee.

And Mike Couth, who has been on this show before, and I had a chance to catch up a little bit.

It was the first time I met Mike in...

In person and it was really fun to talk to him and find out even more about comedy sports.

So Highly recommend that if you get the chance We've got Hey, did I tell you I don't think I told you this Conrad.

We were going to the zoo on Easter Sunday Did you notice was it like this in Green Bay?

Everything was closed yesterday I

Didn't I mean I only went to a quick trip yesterday, so I didn't really check anything

else.

They were open.

I went to a quick trip to

But I don't remember and you know, it's a holiday, but I don't remember literally like the mall the Mayfair mall was closed Oh, well, and there were Starbucks that were closed.

I just I don't remember everything shutting down on Easter Sunday like that grocery stores.

I'm like I Don't know it was very strange, but we were on our way to the zoo on 94 West and This is why you know, we get lulled into sleep when we drive I think it's just you take it for granted at second nature or whatever

My daughter and I were in one car.

My son and my wife and the other.

We were driving and I hear these brakes squeal up in front of us.

Lucky there was enough room.

I probably had two or three seconds between me and the other car.

I slammed on the brakes, some more on.

You know, usually when you exit, you exit on the right.

This guy was all the way in the right and it was around American Family Field, right?

I get the brewery, baseball stadiums mixed up.

Pfizer Family Field.

And so this guy cuts all the way over like three lanes to make his exit on the left Almost killed like like four or five cars hit the brakes.

I cannot believe There was not a major pile up because this moron Couldn't go up one more exit and turn around.

No, no, no, I'm gonna jeopardize everybody's life on 94 West I Swear I would have you know

That's the Milwaukee drivers.

I swear every time is it more I

do they have

a reputation.

I didn't know that yeah I mean so my my friend who is driving to us to the game he he took a wrong turn and we went down Silver Spring and well, there was someone going 60 in 35.

Oh wow

And just waving weaving

weaving, you know in and out of traffic and yeah And my friend goes watch he's gonna run this red light.

He

sees no one coming keeps going

Sure enough.

He did.

I'll tell you what, though.

I don't drive in Milwaukee that often, but I have noticed in Northeast Wisconsin drivers driving much faster in the last, I would say, three or four years.

Yeah, I mean,

it's insane driving, speeding like crazy.

Hey, we got a lot to get to tonight.

We got two great guests and I'm trying to remember what made me think of this question, but let's get to our question of the night.

Let's talk about the question.

Okay, question.

What is

your favorite serial killer movie?

Yes, a whimsical Monday night question of the night here at Nightlight.

What is your favorite serial killer movie?

There's so many of them.

I don't think we've ever had a question like this before.

I'll go first.

Manhunter.

Starring William Peterson, Dennis Farina, Brian Cox from Succession, who plays Hannibal Lecter.

And the killer in the film is called The Tooth Fairy.

He's like this big hulking six foot seven guy.

So who is your favorite?

What is your favorite serial killer movie, folks?

8-5-5-7-5-2-4-8-4-2.

Text us on the app.

Text us on the stream if you're watching on YouTube, Facebook, or...

Where else Conrad?

Where else

can people?

Twix, of course.

How can I forget our little XX?

What is your favorite serial killer movie?

That is tonight's question of the night.

My name's manhunter, phenomenal film.

And Brian Cox plays an even better Hannibal Lecter, in my opinion, than Anthony Hopkins did.

We'll find out Conrad's pick when we come back after the break and read your texts.

It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Pete, you're muted.

Welcome back to Nightlight.

I am Pete Schwabbe, your unmuted host, bringing you hopefully some lovely entertainment after a long gloomy Monday.

Whatever you did today, whether it was work or whatever, it is great to have you here.

Let's talk movies and TV and live Broadway shows.

And the Milwaukee Film Festival, that is all happening here tonight.

So welcome to Nightlight.

And our question of the night is, what is your favorite serial killer movie?

You can let us know at 855-752-4842-8555 at 75CIVIC or text us on the app or the stream.

We will get Conrad's pick in just a minute.

First, I want to tell you about a really cool thing happening here at Civic Media.

We have a new lineup starting on Wednesday.

It all starts the new lineup all starts at 5 a.m.. 5 to 6 p.m.. 5 to 6 a.m.. We have the Midwest farm report with Pam Yankee on select stations from 6 a.m.. To 9 a.m.. It's mornings with Pat Crite low Did you and Pat ever patch things up Conrad?

I don't think we had a falling out.

I Just like to start

Pat's a great guy.

Conrad's a great guy.

They've never had issues.

Pat will be on from 6 to 9 a.m.

You can hear yours truly on his show from time to time, too, talking a little bit about entertainment.

That is powered by Up North News.

Pat will be on.

However, if you're in Madison or Green Bay, rest assured, Mino and the Mayor will still be on from 6 to 9 in Green Bay, and John and Gordy will still be on in the same time slot on WMDX in Madison.

With the exception of those two markets, you can hear a pat on the network every morning from six to nine, and your favorite local hosts in Green Bay and Madison, nothing will change there.

From nine to 11 a.m., Matt Nair on air with Jane Matt Nair and Greg Bach will bring the informative news, the funny, they do all kinds of great stuff on that show.

That's from nine to 11.

From 11 to two, Tom Hartman returns to civic media during the day.

Three hours of Tom.

right smack dab in the middle of the day.

You can't go wrong with Tom Hartman.

He's great.

From 2 to 4 p.m., we've got the Todd Alba show.

He's scooting up a couple hours.

I would say between Matt and Air on Air and Todd, they both have these great formats where they talk about new stories that affect you.

But Todd is great to have a laugh with, too.

Oh, yeah.

Just like Jan and Greg.

and Zomers produces a show.

It's all fun stuff, folks, and just very easy to listen to.

Then at four to six, the Maggie Dawn show, Maggie replaces Dom in Dom's old slot.

Dom has moved on to other things.

It was a very amicable parting, and I miss Dom already, but I'm glad he is moving on to new adventures.

But Maggie will be on from four to six, leading you into nightlight every night.

Our time slot has not changed.

We stay at six to eight PM every night.

and we will do our best with this new lineup to keep you informed fans of Civic Media.

So what is your favorite serial killer movie Conrad?

Do you have one?

I'd say Scream.

Is that a scary movie?

It's not really scary, but I mean there's some moments that are jump scares, but like other than that, I think there's a reason it's been made fun of so many times.

You know, I gotta be honest, I didn't even know that was a serial.

It's been so long since I've seen that.

I didn't realize it was a serial killer movie, but I guess it is.

Okay.

All right, that's good.

Like I said before the break, his manhunter, starring William Peterson, Willem Dafoe, Brian Cox, his Hannibal Lecter, so creepy.

And the way Will Graham figures out the crime is so brilliant too.

It's got...

Michael Mann was the director.

It's got that sleek modern Michael Mann look, even in the 80s, like it was way ahead of its time in terms of the aesthetics of the film.

Really good watch.

I've seen it probably 10 times.

And William Peterson is great in the film, as will Graham.

Definitely worth a look, see.

But let us know what your favorite serial killer movie is.

It's fun to talk about serial killer movies.

Did you see that Anakin, Hayden Christensen is coming back to the Star Wars franchise?

I

didn't, no, but coming out in your beats tomorrow, you have a little story

on it

and I think

that's awesome.

He's kind of a polarizing figure, I have to say.

It seems like some people love him and some people just don't buy him as Anakin.

What are you standing at?

You're a Star Wars fan.

Love, love Hayden Christensen.

I think he's

great as Anakin.

And

I mean, just the way he has to turn in episode three, you know, I think he does

a good

job.

I'm with you.

I didn't have I certainly I didn't have a problem with his performance when I first saw him and I think it was attack of the clones but I think Star Wars fans are excited to hear that by and large So it's also national cash is it chocolate covered cashew day or just cashew day chocolate covered.

Yeah chocolate covered

I'm literally I don't know why chocolate covered cashews have been out of my life for almost 10 years but

I am literally in flavor country just thinking about chocolate covered cashews right now.

They are so good.

You know what's what's better than that?

Nothing.

No ballpark cinnamon cashews heated

up.

Oh, I've had cinnamon cashews.

Those are very good.

They do the pecans to in the almonds.

And

I was it was tempting not but I'm trying to not eat a lot of sugar.

I wanted so bad, but I was like, all right.

I don't know what it is.

It's like something about the consistency of the cashew.

It's like not really crunchy like other nuts.

You just kind of, oh God, it's good stuff.

I gotta stop talking.

You know what other day it is?

Kindergarten day.

It's keep off the grass day.

And I had to look into this because yesterday was 420.

So I was like, so is this

like

a...

No,

it's not.

I didn't even catch that.

That's great.

It's not a metaphor.

It's just actually keep off the grass.

Yeah.

It pertains to lawns and not weed.

Okay.

Keep off the grass while you're smoking.

So we've got, all right, our question of the night is, what is your favorite serial killer movie?

Steve from Florida says, favorite serial killer movie is Conrad's great uncles.

Freddie Krueger iconic movie Nightmare on Elm Street.

So your dad is saying he has the same favorite as your uncle.

No, he's he's saying my

friend here.

Yeah,

he's saying my uncle or my great uncle is Freddie Krueger.

So in this case, it'd be Freddie Krueger.

Freddie Krueger.

Yes.

That's borderline child abuse.

If your dad was telling you Freddie Krueger is your your uncle.

Monica from Mount Horrib says, since you said manhunter, I'll add monster with Charlize Theron playing Aileen Warnos.

And I won tickets to the Milwaukee Film Fest on Civic Media.

Yes.

So I'm going to see some shorts at the Oriental.

Awesome, Monica.

Well done.

And a great choice.

I forgot about monster.

That's a great one.

Chris Casper checking in.

Part of the Civic Media team.

He's in the 608.

He says, silence of the lambs hands down.

Chris, check out Manhunter.

Would love to discuss these with you, buddy.

So much fun tonight.

Great to have you here with me.

Kirsten Larson from the Milwaukee Film Festival is coming up next on Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back.

Great to have you with me tonight here at Nightlight, folks.

On a Monday edition, I am Pete Schwabba.

We are hoping to make your day, bring a little sunshine to what's been a very gloomy, actually a few days here in Northeast Wisconsin, and all over Wisconsin, really, I think it's been kind of crummy.

Our question of the night, ladies and gentlemen, is what is your favorite serial killer movie?

And I don't mean like...

Post-Raisin' brand.

I know we all like to kill a bowl of cereal once a while, but who is your favorite?

What is your favorite cereal killer movie?

Daniel Wheeler Give us a social media text that said I feel fantastic by John Bergeron creator of Terra the Android He says it's a bit of a stretch for inclusion, but look up the video and it's accompanying conspiracy theory It may have been debunked, but its unsettling nature is very real.

I will do that.

Thank you.

I have not heard of that

And then Matt Harper our buddy rock rap artists from here in northeast Wisconsin says American psycho You know, I've never seen American psycho Have you seen it con?

Yeah, I've I've seen it.

All right, so I've seen it three times But I've also seen the family guy version of it and I gotta say the family guy version is hilarious So you need to watch that it's quagmire like the guy or what?

No, Peter is oh Peter, of course

That's so great.

For those of you that didn't know, folks, if you follow us on Facebook or on X or Instagram or where else are we con?

We're everywhere, right?

We're everywhere.

Yeah.

Facebook

working on Blue Sky.

Yeah.

But give us a like or a follow and you'll see the question there.

You can post your answer earlier in the day and we'll read it on the show as well.

If you don't have an opportunity to listen at night, you can still get to be a part of the show.

And if you're there and you want to give us a like or a follow on Facebook or Twix.

That's Twitter X or on YouTube, whatever.

It is much appreciated PJ says natural born killers is my favorite PJ is watching on the stream and that's a good one.

Woody Harrelson is in everything.

I Just saw him again last night.

Okay.

What was I watching?

But that's a great one.

Thank you PJ Craig can it says Anton sugar in no country for old men was mesmerizing and horrifying

Very interesting you say that Craig, because I don't think of that as a serial killer movie, but he is a serial killer and that is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Definitely my top three Cohen brother films.

So that's a phenomenal text as well.

Keep those texts coming folks.

What is your favorite serial killer movie?

Right now, we are going to turn our attention to our first guest.

She joins us on the phone.

She's the program director for the Wisconsin, I'm sorry, for the Milwaukee Film Festival, which is right around the corner.

Her name is Kirsten Larson and it is my pleasure to welcome her for the first time tonight like hey Kirsten Hi Pete.

Thanks for having

me.

Oh, it's our pleasure.

How are you doing?

You're in the home stretch probably are things coming together?

Yep, they are coming together It's sort of getting to the point where we just have to hit the ground running and black out for two weeks and then it'll all be over

There you go

Do you have a, before we jump into the nuts and bolts of the Milwaukee film festival, which is a phenomenal festival, what, do you have a favorite serial killer movie, Kirsten?

Okay.

I was just scrambling to think of this because I was like, I know this question is coming my way.

And

I

feel like I have to say Psycho because I love Alfred Hitchcock so much.

Nice.

That's a great choice and a classic.

Do you have, what are your other favorite Hitchcock films?

I really love some of his lesser known ones like shadow of a doubt is a really good one.

And it's one of his favorite that he made which is kind of interesting

because it's a

bit less dramatic than the rest of his movies where it's more like residentially focused.

And

then there's

another one called Life Boat that I really love where it all takes place on the lifeboat after a boat has sank and then it's just the drama coming up from all the people having to sit there together.

And so I guess maybe I like some of his more intimate films.

I love that.

And I haven't seen either one of those.

So you just gave me two films to watch.

So thank you for that.

There you go.

I would have to say my favorite is probably Rear Window.

The film I've seen probably 20 times and I could I'll probably see it another 20 times like I just love every frame of that film acting the writing It's just such a great and the setting.

It's just so great.

So

There you go.

We've bonded here at Kirsten.

This is this means you're getting along and we it's the start of a beautiful friendship So I hope this means you'll be on nightlight quite a bit, but let's let's jump into Before we get to your lineup in the festival, how did you end up at the Milwaukee Film Festival?

Are you a Milwaukee native?

I'm not.

I'm from the Chicagoland area originally and I was interested in working for film festivals when I was in college.

So I had volunteered and interned at a few and then I graduated and was looking for jobs and saw that the Milwaukee Film Festival is coming up.

So I got my first paying film festival job here.

And then I worked at a few other ones around the country in seasonal roles, but I was just like the Milwaukee Film Festival was the best even compared to like Sundance or Tribeca.

I just loved the Midwest sensibility here so much.

And so it brought me back and I've been here ever since.

That is outstanding.

And I agree.

Like I haven't been there for a few years, but I went to see a friend's film there a few years ago.

Like I think I mentioned in the email, I had a film that played there years ago.

I love how, first of all, I love the venues.

I mean, the Oriental Theater is like one of the most beautiful movie theaters I've ever set foot in.

And I love the films you guys choose.

And that includes this year's lineup.

Like, you know, I've read a lot about what you guys have on tap, but you want to give us a quick overview of this year's festival in a few words, and then I'll ask you about specific movies.

Yeah, definitely.

So.

It's a 15-day festival, April 24th to May 8th.

And we will be at the Oriental Theater and the Downer Theater, which are both on the east side of Milwaukee.

And yeah, we have tons and tons of films.

We always say they're for ages three to 103.

So something for everybody.

We have international fiction, American fiction, horror movies, documentaries.

short films which i love to recommend to people because you don't get to see a lot of short film programs very often in the movie theater and they're so fun and original.

And then we have children's programming which is adorable especially if kids don't get to like actually go to the movie theater very often much less one like the oriental theater.

those screenings even make me feel happy and inspired because you can just see how much fun all of the families are having there.

And yeah, like I said, there's going to be something for everyone.

It's an amazing lineup this year.

I think, yeah, we have over 200 film programs

that you

could attend.

So you can't

vote

all of them, but you can certainly try.

No, but there is something to be said about like I love when I'm in a film festival and I go and I see like three or four movies in a day and It's amazing how that can It's amazing how you need stamina to watch

movies

because you're just sitting there, but mentally it's draining but it's so exhilarating and that's the great thing about film festivals like I've always a Lot of times I haven't had to buy a pass, but I'm amazed that I see people that buy like a festival pass

and they keep track of all the movies they watch and all they do for a week or in your case two weeks is go to movies it's a beautiful thing.

Yes we have a really die-hard audience and I think our audience is another reason why I wanted to come back to Milwaukee and keep working at the festival here because people just have so much fun with it and

You know, I'm I'm a movie nerd.

So it's not surprising that I might watch like three or four movies in a day.

But the difference between doing that at home and doing that at a movie theater with other people is just could not be more stark.

And so I think that's how people are able to sort of survive by watching

that.

Like

you can talk to people.

You can walk from one theater to the other.

You can go out to eat.

although I probably could survive on popcorn for an entire

day.

Let's talk about your venues.

I mentioned, or you mentioned, the Downer and the Oriental.

Has it been a challenge?

As I understand it, those are the only two venues you guys are using this year.

Is that a first for that?

How do you manage with just two theaters?

There must be multiple screens at both places.

Yeah, yeah, we have three screens at the Oriental and two screens at the Downer.

And I think, I mean, I don't know about before my time, but I think this is one of the first years.

We've only had two, like, building locations that we've used, but back in 2023, I believe we only had five screens because we were at the Oriental, which is three.

We

were at The

Times, which is one screen and then Avalon, which is one screen.

So, you know, post-pandemic, we're figuring everything out and trying on different spaces.

But yeah, I think it's going to be so much fun for people to be able to spend time on the east side and bopping between the downer and the oriental, especially because like I was saying, when people get their passes to go to the festival and they can see whatever films they want, people will make like spreadsheets.

planning their schedule and they'll have to like plan travel time in between like one theater to

the next.

And I'm like, you guys could just walk for like 20 minutes between the horizontal and the downer and it won't be so like intense drag racing across the city.

Listen, movie nerds are my favorite kind of nerds.

So let them do whatever they want as long as they keep going to the movies, right?

My guest is Kirsten Larson.

She's the program director at the Milwaukee Film Festival, which takes place April 24th through May 8th.

Okay, let's jump into some films, Kirsten.

You have a kind of a big event.

You have a director coming in for Q&A for the desperately seeking Susan 40th anniversary screening at the Milwaukee Film Festival.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yes, definitely.

So we are showing Death really seeking Susan and Susan Sidelman will be attending.

She is going to do a book signing before the screening.

Then we'll all watch it together and then she'll do a Q&A after the film.

And yeah, we were just so excited that that worked out, especially because it's an anniversary year for the film.

But then, yeah, we've been really excited because we have our new executive director, Susan Kearns.

So she has gotten to know Susan Seidelman, and so it will be two Susan's doing their Q&A.

So it'll be just like the movie where everyone's confused.

But

yeah, I think that will

be a fantastic event and we're really excited about it.

And she's a pretty accomplished director too.

I love that she's got the book out.

And to me, Kirsten, I'm sure you'd agree the Q&As are really what make film festivals.

It's a different kind of movie viewing when you get those insights from the actual filmmakers.

Yeah, definitely.

And another thing I really love about our Q&As is how it really brings our filmmaker guests and our audiences together, because definitely our audience is excited to see when filmmakers come into town and can share more details about their filmmaking process.

But every single year without fail, the filmmakers, when they come to Milwaukee, they're like, oh my gosh, I've never been to the Midwest or I've never been to Wisconsin.

I

absolutely love it here.

And your audience is so enthusiastic and wonderful.

And I definitely want to come back in future years.

So that routinely happens to us and makes me very happy.

That's great.

Here's one of my favorite.

Uh, things that jumped out at me at your guide was secret mall apartment.

I think this is so cool.

Can you tell us about secret mall apartment this nice documentary?

Yes, absolutely.

So that one is about a group of people who decide to hide out and live in a mall.

Um, and they go for a very long time undetected.

And so you just sort of get to see behind the scenes and how they pulled that off.

and all the hijinks that that entails.

And yeah, that one has been a pretty big hit in getting popular because it was produced by Jesse Eisenberg, who obviously is having

a good

year with his movie A Real Pain coming out.

And so yeah, that one, we showed it as one of our member screenings as a festival preview and everyone absolutely loved it.

So we're excited for the general audience to get to see it too.

And it's just the kind of documentary stories I really love.

Because they can have all sorts.

They can be like biography documentaries.

They could be political documentaries.

And I just love a quirky, weird story documentary that's just like

something you would

never hear about on your own.

My guest is Kirsten Larson.

We'll have some more time with Kirsten after this very short break and I'm gonna ask her about a famous comedians documentary that's coming up next on Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back to Nightlight.

This is Pete Schwabba hoping to keep you entertained on this gloomy Monday.

Tyler from Wisconsin Rapids, he's in the 608.

He says, Charlize Theron's reluctant monster.

She only wanted to be loved.

Great text Tyler.

Thank you Luanne and Green Bay says seven.

Oh, I forgot about seven two That's kind of how the last few days have felt here in Wisconsin I thought like with that that's seven aesthetic where it was just rainy and gloomy That's what it's been like here Great one Luanne.

Thank you Jim from Appleton says conversations with a killer Ted Bundy tapes real life real mind-bending That was on my list for a while and I just kind of forgot about it

So I have not seen that jump, but great text.

Keep in coming.

What is your favorite serial killer movie?

Kind of a whimsical question tonight, folks.

My guest right now is Kirsten Larson.

She's the program director for the Milwaukee Film Festival, which starts April 24th and runs through May 8th.

They have a spectacular docket of films, great venues, great events.

It's highly worth checking out.

Go to MilwaukeeFilm.org and learn more.

Kirsten, tell me a little bit about...

My background is stand-up comedy and I remember crossing paths with Gallagher Back in the day briefly.

I didn't know him, but there's a documentary about him.

What can you tell us about that?

Yeah, so that is a very fascinating documentary and sort of in that biographical documentary category that I was talking about earlier and So yeah, you're really just good to get into the nitty-gritty of the background of someone's life and so

Yeah, that documentary is sort of delving into Gallagher's life where you probably just know of him smashing watermelons, but you don't really know how he got to where he was in comedy and then what happened to him after you were more familiar with him.

And yeah, that specifically talks about a lot of things about where he was sort of pigeonholed and characterized.

As you know just the guy with the big hammer smashing watermelons but how he was very influential and important as a comedian.

And so sort of trying to give him his do but then also demonstrating how he had a difficult time with not getting that recognition and how it kind of made him sad later in his life.

And that's the part of the documentary when I was reading in the guy that caught my attention Like I didn't know that you know what I mean like like you just said you remember smashing watermelons and saying you know if you're in the front row you might get wet But I had no idea so that's another good one.

Tell us about AJ goes to the dog park We've got the filmmakers on this show this week, which I think will be fun They're gonna talk to us a little bit about the film, but that looks like a fun little comedy

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

So that's another one that has great Midwest sensibilities because.

It is all set in the Dakotas and so that was cool little tie-in.

We love that But it

is

a very quirky story A guy who just has to go on a mission to find a place for his dog to have fun and Obviously crazy things end up happening in the interim and one of my favorite things about it is that

The teen who creates the film had a cartoon that was on Cartoon Network.

And this film is live action, but it has so many funny visual gags in it that you can really tell the origin of their, I don't know, artistry is in sort of the animated world.

And so I just thought it was so original with how it came together and just this visual storytelling style.

So it's important to with film festivals I think to have that big opening night film you guys are playing a film called Sally Are there still tickets available for opening night and tell us about that film if you would please?

Yes, there are still tickets available and yeah highly recommend you go to that one because it's in the big house at the Oriental so there's a thousand seats and so when that place gets full

there's nothing like it and uh yeah that documentary is about sally ride the astronaut and once again it's telling you the unknown story of sally ride where you've seen the big news stories and have her in the history books but you don't really know about her personal life and uh how she got to where she was

But I think that's especially exciting about that film is that the director, Christina Costantini, is from Milwaukee originally.

And so that'll be a fantastic homecoming for her.

We know her parents are really excited

for this movie.

Oh, nice.

And so, yeah, just having people come out to support her and celebrate the artists who are able to come out of their city is always amazing.

I'd love to keep you through the news if you can give us just a few more minutes.

Would that be okay, Kirsten?

Yeah, definitely.

Okay, I want to ask you too.

We've got about a minute before we have to go to a break.

What sets Milwaukee Film Festival apart from others in the state or out of the state, would you say?

What distinguishes it from other

festivals?

Yeah, what makes you guys unique?

Well, I know I've been harping on it, but I really think it is the community and the actual city of Milwaukee that makes it so unique because we couldn't have the festival without our audience and having people who want to take a chance on these films they've never heard of.

And learning something new about the world around them is just something you can't replace.

And so I would say the people of Milwaukee is what makes it unique.

That is a great answer.

And right when I was asking you that, to me, I was thinking, for me, it's the East Side, because that is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the whole world.

And the fact that you have this film festival more or less set there, I just think is so unique and cool.

My guest is Kirsten Larson.

She's agreed to stick with us for a few minutes through the news.

I have a few more questions for Kirsten, including about two big events called their happy hours that they do at the Milwaukee Film Festival.

We'll talk about that.

And then I'm gonna ask her what she's binge watching on TV before we let her go.

It's Peach Wabba and Nightlight.

Tim Sauer's coming up at 7.20, folks, to talk about the new Overture Center lineup.

We'll be right back on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Chwaba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a guy who thinks outside the box and hates cliches.

Pete Chwaba.

Welcome back to Nightlight, ladies and gentlemen.

Hour number two here on this Monday edition.

If there was ever a night that needs lighting, it is this gloomy Monday in our typically beautiful state of Wisconsin.

Our question of the night is, what is your favorite serial killer movie?

We've had some great suggestions and contributions so far, so please feel free to weigh in on that.

Whether you're on the text line at 855-752-4842.

on the Civic Media app, which is very easy to use, or on the stream at Facebook, YouTube, or ex Twitter.

My guest right now is Kirsten Larson.

She's the program director of the Milwaukee Film Festival, a phenomenal film festival.

Kirsten, my son just pointed out to me yesterday that I say the word phenomenal a lot, and now I'm very conscious of the fact that I'm saying it, but it is a perfect adjective, right, for your film festival.

Yeah, we are phenomenal, so it's appropriate.

There you go.

The film festival this year takes place April 24th through May 8th.

Do yourself a favor and go see one of the many offerings they have about 200 is what Kirsten said last hour and there are still tickets available for opening night.

You have these great events too called happy hours.

Can you tell people listening a little bit about what you guys do at your happy hour events?

Yeah, definitely.

So, I mean, this may come as no surprise, but we are Wisconsin, so there's drinking at the happy hours.

But beyond that, we just get everybody loosened up to get to know each other.

So we call them filmmaker happy hours because we really encourage our local filmmakers and the filmmaker guests.

to come out to those, but they are available for anyone to attend and just sort of talk about filmmaking or just the festival in general.

And then you'll see for each of them, they have different hosts for them.

So one I'm especially excited about is the Cartemquin films, Happy Hours.

They're a very iconic Chicago documentary production company.

That has been responsible for films like hoop dreams, which is you know known as one

of the best

documentaries of all time So I'm so happy that we can have our family down in Chicago come visit us and You know crack open a beer and talk movies

That one sounds really cool and they make they churn out more great documentaries they're like a juggernaut in the in the documentary world and

You know, as you know, I'm a native Chicagoan too.

We all love to come up to Wisconsin.

I ended up making it my home.

I liked it so much.

So I'm sure you didn't have to twist any arms to get people from Chicago to come up to Wisconsin to talk about their really cool company.

Oh, yeah, not at

all.

Okay, so the other one you have, I thought this was interesting, you're talking to people from Action Wisconsin.

This is a group that is trying to pass incentives for filmmakers here in Wisconsin to do rebates or

uh tax breaks to alleviate the cost to filmmakers and attract business to wisconsin does milwaukee film or the milwaukee film festival uh support that one way or the other are you just giving them a forum i would imagine you guys would weigh in on the side of the filmmakers but it can be a bit of a political issue so i don't know if you're trying to sidestep that or where you guys stand on that

oh yeah

We obviously want filmmakers to have those incentives and opportunities to make films more easily in our great city and state.

But yeah, we are not personally involved in making or fighting for those incentives.

But yeah, having this kind of event where they can talk about the work they're doing filmmakers can learn about that is definitely the kind of.

conversation and promotional contribution that we're able to give.

That sounds like a great event.

And if I lived closer, I would definitely, that's one I would definitely attend.

I would love to hear what they have to say.

I've had several people from Action Wisconsin on this show over the course of the last year, and I know that things are coming to a head there.

So I actually wish them luck.

I really hope they're able to get those passed.

And speaking of that, while we're on that topic, Kirsten, how many films, not a specific number, but

Do you guys allot a certain amount of films every year to Wisconsin filmmakers or films that are shot in the state?

Not necessarily specifically Wisconsin.

We have our Cream City Cinema Program, which is all local filmmakers.

So that's the five counties.

in the Milwaukee area, but yeah, obviously anytime a film has some sort of Wisconsin connection to it, we're going to pounce on that.

But yeah, we always have the Cream City Cinema Program, which has lots of local talent on display.

I love it so much because, similar to Sally,

You get to see all of these films that are filmed here or the actors are from here or people behind the scenes got to work on it.

And they just get to have their films shown on an absolutely huge, gorgeous screen and have Q&As with all their friends and family.

And they're so joyful and really what the festival is all about.

So we always get our film submissions and we just sort of see

what comes in every year.

And then we just have the very, very hard work of whittling it down from that giant pile.

And I know we always know it's going to be great, but it's it's always so fascinating to see what's going to come through.

That's great.

My guest is Kirsten Larson.

She's the program director of the Milwaukee Film Festival, which takes place April 24th to May 8th.

Get your tickets now, folks.

There are still tickets available for opening night, which is always a fun event.

We have just another minute or two here with Kirsten because I'm sure she has to get back to work.

Kirsten, if someone said to you, I can see three films this year, what would you tell them to see at this year's festival?

All right, so we always tell people to check out our spotlight presentations category, which is like the opening night film Sally and desperately seeking Susan.

Um, but three other films from that category, we have the silent 1920s film notes for our two that will be playing musical accompaniment, which is always a very unique film experience that you can't have very often.

And so being able to see that at the Oriental is going to be great.

And especially with.

the new Nosferatu coming out, everybody has to check out what the original one was like and there's no better way to do that than with the Anvil Orchestra playing alongside it.

Then we also have a documentary called The Librarians, which is a political documentary like we were talking about with librarians fighting against people trying to ban books.

And so I just am really excited to see that one.

And then we're also having a panel afterwards where the filmmakers will talk to librarians from Milwaukee and sort of see how these issues are relevant to our city specifically.

And then the closing night film is called Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.

And that is just a fun rom-com.

It is both French and British.

about a woman who goes to a Jane Austen writer's retreat and then, you know, ends up sort of living out a Jane Austen kind of romance.

So we always like to end the festival with a crowd pleaser that will send people off into the world having fun.

So I'm excited for everybody to come together and watch that one.

I absolutely love that.

The whole festival sounds fantastic.

Keep up the great work there, Kirsten.

And don't be a stranger.

Please come back on and tell us how it's going.

And I'm excited to talk to some of the people you've referred me to this week.

So we'll see if we can help you put some butts in the seats, but not that you need the help, but break a leg this year and have a great time.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

All right, that's Kirsten Larson, the program director of the Milwaukee Film Festival.

Conrad, did anything grab your attention there?

I mean, I really would like to see that the movie about the park or the mall in

the apartment in the mall.

That's

I

don't know how that would be done, but it sounds awesome.

I'm Exactly, I'm so curious as to how they did it without being detected like

like I used to when I first moved back to Wisconsin it was so cold here I would mall walk my wife and I sometimes I go with my mom we would walk them all you go back and use the restroom and there's all these like cavernous hallways and like it just gives you this weird feeling like what's back there like that truly fascinates me and that's probably the one I would I would want to see as well um

So thanks to Kirsten Larson and good luck to everyone at the Milwaukee Film Festival this year.

Tim Sowers is coming up in just a few minutes, folks.

He's gonna tell us they just got their new lineup at the Overture Center in Madison, the beautiful Overture Center on State Street.

Tim is the Chief Artistic Experiences Director, and he gets to pick the lineup.

So we'll talk to Tim about what they're offering.

We've got how we doing on text am I caught up?

No, I've got a new one here I need to get to that our question of the night folks.

What is your favorite serial killer movie and?

Kirsten suggestions were great.

I love them, but Barb from Waukesha That's the 262 she says Friday the 13th from 1980 saw it at the drive-in theater.

Oh my gosh Have you ever been to a drive-in

theater Conrad?

Yeah, I can't remember the last time I went but I remember going to one

Couple they're pretty cool.

I mean, they're just a different experience and I think I've been there a handful of times I guess like when I was in high school and seeing a film like Friday the 13th with a bunch of kids in cars.

That's a special That's a special experience So what do what should we should we go to a clip here before we take another quick break?

What do we have con?

Well, I mean last Friday one of my

Wouldn't say all-time fair move, but it's a good movie.

It's funny.

I really like it for getting Sarah Marshall came out.

Oh, yeah, and it did a lot of actors in it that weren't fully They're potential yet.

Okay.

I just think it's a hilarious movie

Do we have time to do a quick clip before?

Yeah, just a quick clip.

Let's do it.

You got to do some setup here.

Oh,

he He's he went to Hawaii to forget about a breakup

And this is the moment where, starting to get off his mind, he went to the ocean and surfing is what he wanted to do.

Okay, awesome.

Tony, you look down here.

Man, I don't know.

I quit wearing a watch when I moved down here.

Wow, that's so cool.

Yeah.

No, like my cell phone has a clock on it, so I don't really need it.

Right, so basically the same thing.

How old are you?

I don't really believe in age or numbers.

You know, I don't...

I mean, if you had to put a number on it, I guess that'd be 44.

Thanks for taking me out here.

This is the first time I've felt good in three weeks or so.

You need to get back on that board is what you need to

do.

Yeah?

Okay, here's the deal.

When life gives you lemons, just say frick the lemons and bail.

Yeah, no.

You said it.

Totally.

You got to just pull yourself up by your wetsuit, get back on that board.

Hey, look, man, if you're attacked by a shark, are you going to give up surfing?

Probably, yeah.

That's great.

All right, when we come back, folks, after this very short break, don't go anywhere.

We're having fun here.

Tim Sowers joins us from the Overture Center in Madison.

It's Beachwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.

I wish every day the sunshine

Ladies and gentlemen, we are lighting it up tonight.

And it needs, this night in particular, it needs lighting.

It is a gloomy day in Wisconsin.

I, you know, kind of, I think this is like one of the worst springs on record.

It's just really sucked.

Yeah.

It hasn't felt really like spring yet, has it?

No, it blows.

I'm going to be honest.

Forget about it.

Glass half full, Pete is gone.

Brian checking in on the text line.

He's in the 414.

He says Hannibal Lecter film series and TV show I've not seen either one of those I don't think unless he's talking about the Hannibal Lecter is like from Silence of the Lambs.

I said manhunter.

That's my favorite serial killer movie share ears folks Let us know on the text line the app or the stream and we will read it on the radio right now We've got a lot to get to still we got a lot of show left because our pal Tim Sowers

the Chief Artistic Experiences Director at the Overture Center right there in Madison just Unleashed or unveiled I should say a new lineup and some great shows coming up the Overture Center He joins us tonight here on night like to talk about them Tim.

How are you?

I'm

good.

The

Sun just came out down here because it you're right.

It was crap brutal man the whole awful spring

cold.

It's terrible.

I know it

So let's, we gotta bring a little warmth here with your new agenda, I think.

How you doing tonight, Tim?

I'm good.

I'm good.

I'm just getting over COVID, but other than that, I'm all right.

Oh, wow.

I know it.

First time?

No, it's like third.

Okay.

How does it affect you?

Like, does it really kick your butt?

Are you one of those people?

Just my

sinuses.

It just hits my sinuses, and then it takes like five months to go away.

Like, it's...

That's it.

It just hits my sinuses.

But it's all right.

It was weeks ago, but I'm still.

You sound like you.

You must have gotten it right after you were on the show when you came into the studio.

I got

it.

I got it like towards the end of March.

OK.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, you sound great.

It's good to have you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So you've got all these great shows coming in.

Let's talk about, before we get to the new lineup or the new shows you've just announced, you've got three shows that people can still see in this current season.

Are there tickets available for Clue, MJ The Musical, or Wicked?

All of them.

Wicked tickets are getting scarce, but we had a huge on sale.

We do subscriptions first, and then with Wicked, we had a single ticket on sale, and we were like the...

10th highest one day total Since like 2014 That's pretty good people are excited to see it.

It was perfect timing right with the movie coming out

Absolutely, we just drove by in Appleton the other day.

Yeah the Performing Arts Center there.

Yeah all it now, but MJ the musical is either there or coming there I know you guys have it coming up in June.

Yeah, how is that show?

I may have asked you this

actually

it's actually very you know there's so many biopic musicals out there and this one's one of the better ones okay because it really focuses on his genius as an artist

right

and the period of time is set when he's rehearsing his dangerous tour so they go back in time and look at

him growing up and stuff, but they really just focus on him and his music and his creative genius, really.

And I think it's a good way to do it, right?

Yeah.

So

there is story, there are story.

Yeah, there's

story element.

I mean, the

story element to it is, is he's being interviewed by, I think, Rolling Stone magazine.

And then he's,

you know,

looking at his life and talking about his shows.

But there's a there's a number in there that has to be one of my favorite.

numbers from a Broadway musical.

And it's a number with his three geniuses.

And it's like Fred Astaire and Bob Fosse.

And then I think it's the Walker Brothers from Vaudeville.

I think that was their name.

It's a very cool piece.

it's very it's popular it'll do really well it's doing really well across the country and its tour so

that's

really good.

Is it uh do they do smooth criminal in it?

I don't remember.

That's such a great

song

um okay so let's go to the new lineup you guys just uh rolled this out I think last week

um just yeah Thursday

yeah

just last week

right right so

You have this this caught my eye, and I think it sounds so fantastic Back to the future the musical March 10th through the 15th and what on earth?

It's about that.

It's them.

It's the movie on stage really they're pretty Tried and true to the story of the movie

It has an original score, plus then some of the hit songs like The Power of Love, that's part of the movie.

And there's a DeLorean and it flies.

On the stage.

Yep, we'll see.

I mean, it did.

I saw it on Broadway flying.

Yeah, so people were that one year we did a live event the other night.

And that was one of the titles that people were most excited about back to the future.

So how do I mean?

Let me ask you this because you have the great Gatsby on this list, too, that I want to ask you about.

But I do you ever have shows?

And I think I'm sure you wouldn't book them if they didn't work.

But when when they're not typically musicals and

they write

music for them, does it ever seem forced or is it like?

I'm sure the ones you book work.

But you ever watch one of those and go, this is sort of the other.

Oh, yeah.

OK.

There's it.

It's hard.

The trend right now on Broadway is movies, movies, and more movies being turned into musicals.

And I like when they write an original score for that.

Sometimes it's a jukebox and it's somebody's music that's just kind of put in there.

That's what Mama Mia is all about, right?

They create this plot.

put in all the album music, but I like it when it's original.

I'm with you.

And I, that's why I just, and like the outsiders too, I haven't seen that either, but I'm like,

one of the best in years.

That's what you said last time.

It's

just a

powerful, beautiful show.

I noticed that was not on your list though.

Maybe there's not ready to send it

out.

Now it's going out next year for the first time, but usually.

with a title like that, it'll probably play longer dates in the major cities.

All right, Tim Sowers is here.

We're getting the lowdown on the lineup at the Overture Center in the new season, which comes up.

We'll have more with Tim after a very short news break here.

It's Pete Schwabba in Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

I meant to make friends, she said But you're probably gonna say I look lovely But you probably don't think nothing of me

Welcome

back tonight like I'm peach wabba Great to have you with me on this Monday as we kick off our last our fourth quarter here tonight Our question of the night.

There's still time if you want to get in on the fun is what is your favorite serial killer movie?

I said manhunter Conrad said scream

Tyler from Wisconsin Rapids says Christina Ricci plays Naughty in her portrayal of Lizzie Borden, the miniseries, killing more than Ma and Pa Ruthless.

I forgot about that one too.

Thank you, Tyler.

Brian from Milwaukee says, yes, I'm talking about manhunter, silence of the lambs, Hannibal Red Dragon and Hannibal Rising, the films and the NBC series Hannibal.

Okay, I thought that's what you meant.

Thank you for clarifying that, Brian.

Yeah, it was pretty hard to argue with Hannibal Lecter stuff.

I still say Brian Cox, the best Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter.

Not as much camera time as Anthony... Who am I trying to think of, Conrad?

Who plays... What's that?

Anthony Davis?

I'm totally blanking.

He won the Oscar for a... Hey, Tim, do you know who played?

Who am I thinking of?

Got the two.

Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter.

Oh my