Robert Feinberg, whose day job is being the chief lawyer for New York’s public TV station Thirteen, has big plans. He’s organizing a Montclair International Film Festival to take place in November, 2011 and he wants it to be as cool as Sundance, with people “walking around in all black, drinking cappuccinos and going from movie to movie.” To that end, he’s opened a storefront space in the Clairidge Theatre building (donated by Dick Grabowsky) with a ribbon cutting, made up film festival caps and t-shirts, recruited local luminaries like Steve Adubato and Evie Colbert for his honorary board of directors, and convinced Montclair to close Church Street on three different nights this summer so people can come with lawn chairs and watch an outdoor movie. He’s meeting with Susan Cole, president of Montclair State University, next week to talk about partnerships with the school’s film department. He’s applied for 501(c)(3) non profit status, and is hoping to raise up to $1 million to run the festival.
He foresees a festival in which you could “go from venue to venue every couple of hours” seeing movies, using spaces like the Clairidge, the Wellmont and the old Luna Stage. The festival would be juried, and there would be prizes including a “finishing award” to help some worthy filmmaker finish an uncompleted film.
With his partner in the project, John Servidio, who was producer of “Inside the Actors Studio,” Feinberg hopes to bring a filmmaker series to Montclair, in which the auteurs would screen their first films and then talk about them — to MSU film students and the public.
Once a steady drumbeat of enthusiasm has been established, Feinberg hopes to get big corporations interested in sponsorships.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people,” he says. “Not one person has said, ‘That’s a really stupid idea.’ ”
In fact, Jim Peskin, executive director of the Montclair Arts Council, is enthusiastic in his support. “We’re helping him in any way we can. We think it’s a terrific idea,” says Peskin. “We hope it takes root.”
One person Feinberg hadn’t talked to, at least as of this morning, is Robert Moretti, a local actor and filmmaker who produced something he called the Montclair International Film Festival between 1995 and 2008.
“I was quite shocked,” said Moretti, who hadn’t heard about Feinberg’s project. “I don’t know what this guy plans on doing.” Moretti owns the URL montclairfilmfestival.com. Moretti also has an executive producer credit and an acting role in a movie called, “An Affirmative Act,” about gay marriage in New Jersey, which debuts at the Hoboken International Film Festival as the opening night film on June 4.
As for his part, Feinberg says he tried reaching Moretti through his old company, Parabox, and ran into dead ends. He vows to contact him now. “The last thing I want is step on the toes of somebody who’s already doing this,” he says.
