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WAYNE – “The Painter,” an original film by Wayne State College film instructor Dr. Michael White, premieres Tuesday, Sept. 30, at The Majestic Theatre, 310 Main Street in downtown Wayne. The event is free and open to the public; however, seating is limited and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
The 6 p.m. red carpet event is followed by a 7 p.m. screening, and an 8:50 p.m. question-and-answer session. The film runs 1 hour, 50 minutes and is rated PG-13 for violence, sensuality, smoking, and adult situations.
The public is also invited to sessions earlier in the day in the Film Studio, located in Wayne State’s Humanities Building, room 308. They are “Period Make-up and Costumes,” 10 a.m.; “Producing ‘The Painter,’” 11 a.m.; a tour of Hot Attic Film Studios, 1 p.m.; “Building World War I (with effects designer Marc Fustos),” 2 p.m.; and a meet and greet with the cast, 3 p.m.
“The Painter” is a historic romantic drama and the fifth feature film by White, associate professor of mass communication at Wayne State. The plot follows gifted painter John Amory, who is haunted by the horrors of World War I, seeking a tranquil life after returning stateside. His new benefactor, Florence Doyle, has offered him a small studio to live and work on the grounds of her husband Quinton’s estate. The Doyle’s debutante daughter, Lilly, fascinated by the artist, eventually becomes his muse, which ignites the wrath of her father.
Inspiration for the film came from White’s interest in international cinema and fine art.
“I spent several months watching artist biopics in various languages and became fascinated by them,” said White. “‘The Cross’, my last picture, was a period piece, and there was a lot of pressure to produce another (period film) because of its success.” His last film is currently available on Amazon Prime and Fawesome.
“The Painter” was two years in the making. The original screenplay was a submission piece for White’s entry into the UCLA Professional Program in Screenwriting, and White graduated from the program in June.White was also a recipient of the Iowa Art Council Screenwriters Grant for the project. The screenplay won the Iowa Motion Picture Award of Excellence for Best Unproduced Screenplay and the Star City Film Festival’s Best Iowa Screenplay. The film was funded by various sources including an Iowa Greenlight Grant for shooting much of the picture in Iowa.
Principle production was done by professionals with students from the summer Feature Film Production class. Several Nebraska and Iowa sites served as locations for the film. This included a student-constructed set in the recently added film studio in the Wayne State Humanities Building.
White is thrilled to offer this experience to his film majors.
“This was such an extraordinary experience for students to work on a feature length film of this scale,” said White. “We were able to do things outside the scope of the typical film production classes during the academic year, such as the set construction and special practical effects in the war scenes.”
White’s film was produced and co-directed with Wayne State adjunct professor of mass communication Shelby Hagerdon, with cinematography by Wayne State alumna Ally Boyd, Papillion. Wayne State film production students also worked alongside many industry professionals. The cast includes Joshua Lillyman, Kearney; Carli Eliza, Omaha; Sydney Readman, Omaha; Jacob Schory, Lake Zurich, Ill.; Fletcher Day, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Joe Frenna, Waverly, Iowa; Chrissy Hogue Bartles, Dubuque, Iowa; Cedric Fevrier, Des Moines, Iowa; and Linda Hughes, Omaha.
White was named the Best Iowa Filmmaker by the Star City Film Festival in 2021 and 2023. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Film from the Iowa Motion Picture Association in 2023.
