Las Vegas Weekly

May 7, 2009 · 4:27 PM

Coffee and cinema at the CineVegas Café Series

By Allison Duck

Trevor Groth heaps high praise on this year's CineVegas Film Festival lineup.

Photo: CineVegas

You can soon get a dose of culture with your cup of joe. This weekend, CineVegas is launching the Café Series featuring local filmmakers and CineVegas staff engaging in film-relatred discussions over coffee. The series will take place at various Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf locations leading up to this summer’s film festival, scheduled for June 10-15.

The series kickoff is a May 9 discussion with CineVegas Artistic Director Trevor Groth, who was also recently named the director of programming for the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, which will take place at the Coffee Bean at The District at Green Valley Ranch. Come pick his brain about the selections for this year’s CineVegas program before you see the films.

Next on the docket is a chance to chat with local screenwriter Sean Clark and director Gary Nelson at the Canyon Point Coffee Bean in Summerlin on May 16. Clark is responsible for creating the Graduate Screenwriting program at UNLV. A recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry Award for playwriting, his TV credits include Coach, Northern Exposure and Early Edition. Director Gary Nelson has worked on The Andy Griffith Show, The Patty Duke Show, Gilligan’s Island, Get Smart and Happy Days. Perhaps you can finally find out if the nerdy Bob Denver ever got lucky with the ladies on the close quarters of the island and the S.S. Minow.

UNLV Associate Professor of film production and local writer/director/producer David Schmoeller will host the third installment at the Town Square Coffee Bean on May 30. Schmoeller will be premiering his film Thor at the Bus Stop as a Nevada Filmmaking Feature at this year’s CineVegas festival.

Rounding out the Café Series will be associate director of programming for CineVegas, Mike Plante, who will discuss CineVegas film selection at the UNLV location of Coffee Bean on June 4. Like Groth, Plante is a Sundance Film Festival vet, serving as a short film programmer. He organizes the overall art design for CineVegas and outreach to the film industry and hospitality.

So, grab a signature Coffee Ice Blended Drink or a Fru-Tea beverage and soak up some CineVegas knowledge. In just about a month you’ll be humming through six days of parties and premieres and hob-knobbing with film celebrities. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.

Share This