Lights, Camera, Action: Milwaukee Gets Ready For Its Close-up

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Lights, Camera, Action: Milwaukee Gets Ready For Its Close-up

Innovative Dear MKE Film Series to Begin Production

MILWAUKEE – July 24, 2012– VISIT Milwaukee and Mayor Tom Barrett today announced the launch of the Dear MKE Film Series. This innovative project is a first-ever community collaboration that will tell Milwaukee’s story like it has never been told before. The project will dispel old perceptions, drive brand awareness, entice new talent, attract new businesses, and bring more visitors – and remind locals why we embrace the essence of what makes life good here.

VISIT Milwaukee is working in partnership on this year-long project with a team of local businesses and with Hollywood producer Jack Turner, who grew up in Milwaukee. The library of films he has been involved with has garnered more than 20 Golden Globe nominations and 25 Academy Award nominations – including four for Best Picture.

“I love this city and it is a great honor for me to work with VISIT Milwaukee and AboutFace Media on this innovative film series.  Like every great movie or TV show, it is the quality of the story and characters that captivate us,” said Jack Turner, the project’s producer.  “I want to approach this film series with this mind in order to focus on those people and those stories that define this city and make it such a great place to live."

The Dear MKE Film Series will premiere with a short image film at the Milwaukee Film Festival this fall, followed by 12 short documentaries profiling the people, places and things that make Milwaukee special, which will be released monthly over the course of a year. The Series will be made available throughout the community and also housed on a new web site developed to support the project, DearMKE.com. 

“The Dear MKE Film Series is a project to bring back Milwaukee’s swagger, to remind us of the reasons life is good here. We’re telling our story the way only we can, and it’s a completely local effort that showcases the breadth and depth of Milwaukee’s creative talent and what we can accomplish when we work together,” said Paul Upchurch, VISIT Milwaukee president and CEO. “We plan to share these films with area businesses, government, colleges and universities, attractions and media outlets. The series will be a powerful tool in changing Milwaukee’s image and in supporting local commerce.”

Milwaukee faces a challenge when it comes to image. Typically, people who have never been here, or who haven’t been here recently, have an outdated perception of Milwaukee. The DearMKE Film Series is out to change that. It’s a tool that can be used by businesses, universities, and cultural institutions to answer questions such as “Why should I do business there? Why should I relocate there? Why should I visit there? Why should I raise a family there?” It’s an initiative to build community pride from within, and develop brand awareness outside the area.

The project is a direct result of Mayor Tom Barrett’s Image Task Force, created by resolution to the Common Council in 2010. Its goal was to assess perceptions and image of greater Milwaukee and recommend development of a Milwaukee brand identity. The Task Force chose VISIT Milwaukee as the primary coordinator for the perception and image marketing of greater Milwaukee and charged the organization with developing external messaging that would better define and begin to improve the Milwaukee brand.

“This is an important step forward in changing Milwaukee’s image. I’m proud of Milwaukee and I love this city. Milwaukee has a great story to tell and I’m looking forward to seeing the results of this extremely creative project,” said Mayor Barrett.

The Dear MKE Film Series will tell the story of Milwaukee – why people choose to live, work and play here - in a way that is honest, genuine, and authentically Milwaukee, through the stories of the people who love it here. After the introductory film debuts at the Milwaukee Film Festival this fall, it will be distributed for use by businesses and organizations throughout the area, and on DearMKE.com. Moviegoers throughout southeastern Wisconsin will have an opportunity to see a condensed version that will run as a trailer at Marcus Theaters.

A series of 12, short documentary films will support the introductory film and will be released monthly at DearMKE.com for one year. These documentaries will explore different facets of life here in Milwaukee through the stories of people who love Milwaukee. Nationally-recognized, award-winning Milwaukee documentarians AboutFace Media, along with several local directors and production crews, will work with Turner on this phase of the project. 

The Dear MKE Film Series will be housed in its entirety at DearMKE.com, a web site created by local agency Jigsaw LLC, who donated time and resources to its development. The site, which will debut later this week, opens a door to community involvement, by inviting people to tell their own Milwaukee stories by video, photography or text, and upload them to the site. Visitors will be able to “like” content and share it directly from DearMKE.com with their own social networks.

Beginning later this week, people can win a chance to have their idea featured in one of the Dear MKE Film Series documentaries. VISIT Milwaukee and 88.9 Radio Milwaukee are offering four people an opportunity to contribute to the creative process just by sharing their Milwaukee story. Those subjects whose ideas or stories are selected for a documentary will also win one of four Milwaukee prize packages, valued at up to $1,000. Details on the contest will be announced when the web site goes live at DearMKE.com 

The Dear MKE Film Series is a community collaboration, which includes the following sponsors and partners.

Partners: AboutFace Media, Buzz Monkeys, Inc., Creative Alliance Milwaukee, Hanson Dodge Creative, Jigsaw and Milwaukee Film Festival.

VISIT Milwaukee markets Greater Milwaukee to tourists, and convention and meeting planners, both nationally and internationally. VISIT Milwaukee has approximately 600 members, including hotels/motels, restaurants, attractions, services and area businesses. Tourism generated $2.36 billion in spending in Greater Milwaukee in 2011and supported more than 47,000 local jobs. The City of Wauwatosa, Frontier Airlines, Potawatomi Bingo Casino and the Wisconsin Center District are strategic partners with VISIT Milwaukee, providing funding support for conventions and tourism programs.  For more information call 1-800-554-1448 or visit www.visitmilwaukee.org.