Director to Present New Film at Vogue Theatre
This week, the Vogue Theatre in Downtown Manistee will be the home of a nationwide premiere. The new film from PureFlix Entertainment – ‘God’s Not Dead’ – will screen in the Pure Michigan Auditorium at the Vogue at 7:00pm Wednesday, March 19th.
“Our ‘Special Director’s Screening’ on the 19th will be the first public screening of this film in the entire country,” says Travis Alden, Theatre Manager at the Vogue. “We’re proud of that, and it would not have been possible without Harold Cronk.”
Cronk, who directed ‘God’s Not Dead’ for PureFlix, is no stranger to Manistee. Originally hailing from the area, Cronk is Co-Founder of 10 West Studios which has produced numerous feature films in the Manistee area over the last few years, including such titles as ‘What If’, ‘Jerusalem Countdown’ and ‘Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure’.
“Manistee has been extremely supportive of our efforts to bring the film industry to our little part of the state,” says Cronk. “I couldn’t think of a better place to premiere ‘God’s Not Dead’. I’m really looking forward to seeing this film on the Vogue’s big screen, as well as producing more features in the Manistee area.”
The film – which follows the experiences of present-day college freshman and devout Christian Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) as he is forced to defend his beliefs in a philosophy class taught by the dogmatic Professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo). Additional plot lines involve terminal illness, family and forgiveness. The cast includes David A.R. White, Cory Oliver, Dean Cain and Willie & Korie Robertson.
“Since we opened the Vogue in early December, this is the film I’ve received the most inquiries about from the public,” notes Alden. “When I spoke with Harold about it, he was all in. It’ll be awesome to have him there for one of our screenings.”
Cronk will be in attendance at the March 19th screening, and will conduct a question-and-answer session with the audience after the credits roll. “It’s always great to interact directly with audiences – to receive feedback and also talk about the filmmaking process.” says Cronk.
The film is receiving very positive buzz and is highly anticipated on the movie aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s Facebook page has over 900,000 likes. It is especially trending well with youth audiences.
“Our students have been talking about this movie for months, and were thrilled to learn that it’s coming to the Vogue,” smiles Betsy Neph, K-12 music and middle school religion teacher at Manistee Catholic Central School. “I think this film will be very relevant and personal to our students, and I’m looking forward to discussing it with them afterwards.”
According to Alden, the special engagement of ‘God’s Not Dead’ is significant for the Vogue in a number of ways – over and above being the theatre’s first filmmaker question-and-answer event.
The arrangement with Cronk and his production team for this special engagement includes a very generous give-back to the community.
“Instead of the normal percentage-of-ticket-price that would go to the distribution company or studio, Harold wanted it to go to a local charity.” says Alden.
Fifty percent of the price of every ticket sold for all showings of this film at the Vogue will be donated by Cronk to the Manistee Community Kitchen and Love INC of Manistee. Both organizations provide various assistance programs to low-income and at-risk populations in Manistee County.
“Between the Vogue non-profit organization and these two great causes, every cent of that ticket price is staying locally to better Manistee,” said Alden. “That’s something we can all feel good about.”
Showtimes for ‘God’s Not Dead’ at the Vogue Theatre are:
- Wednesday, March 19th at 7:00pm
- Friday March 21st at 6:15pm
- Saturday, March 22nd at 12:30pm and 8:30pm
- Sunday, March 23rd at 7:00pm
Tickets will be available at the Vogue box office in advance starting on Saturday March 15th, and at the door if not sold out. See www.voguetheatremanistee.org for ticket prices, showtime schedules and more about the Vogue Theatre.
