888-776-0942 from 8 AM - 10 PM ET
Featuring a Rich Collection of Photographs, the Book Follows Kutza's Rollicking Journey Heading the World-Class Film Festival That Predated Sundance, Tribeca, and Toronto
CHICAGO , Aug. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Coming in September some 57 years after launching the Chicago International Film Festival, the event's founder and longtime artistic director, Michael Kutza , has written Starstruck: How I Magically Transformed Chicago into Hollywood for More Than Fifty Years. His provocative, sexy, colorful, irreverent memoir details his wild ride that transformed Chicago into an essential cinematic destination.
Published by Bear Manor Media, the tome traces Kutza's journey as the child of doctors growing up on Chicago's West Side, who decided in his early 20's that his town desperately needed a truly international film event to call its own. With essential assists from silent screen star Colleen Moore and the legendary director King Vidor , he launched the festival in 1965.
As described in vivid detail in Starstruck, Kutza presided over an annual gathering that would over the next half-century host a veritable Who's Who of the film world – from Harold Lloyd to Clint Eastwood , Bette Davis to Viola Davis , Steven Spielberg to Spike Lee , Guillermo del Toro to Jodie Foster , Lauren Bacall to Al Pacino . At the same time, the festival helped introduce a plethora of new talent that would go on to revolutionize the movie business, including Martin Scorsese , Oliver Stone and Helen Mirren .
STARSTRUCK will be available this fall via all the usual online platforms, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as at select bookstores in Chicago and around the country. The author is available now for interviews both electronic and print. The cost of the book is $29.00 for the paperback and $39.00 for the hardcover.
CONTACT: Lynda O'Connor , O'Connor Communications, Inc. [email protected] , 847-615-5462 ; or David Brimm , [email protected] , 847-444-1198.
Cision Distribution 888-776-0942 from 8 AM - 9 PM ET