Manchester, Vt. Gets into the act with a film festival of its own

12:00AM / Wednesday, February 20, 2002Print Story | Email Story

Just three years after an annual film festival was launched in Williamstown, a Manchester, Vt.-based group has organized its own festival â€” an ambitious, international event that will combine instruction, recreation and competition and become a year-round cultural anchor for the local region. The festival is scheduled for its debut run the last weekend of June in a wide variety of venues throughout Southern Vermont. Two veterans in the film industry â€” Manchester native Michael Charles Hill and artist-turned-filmmaker Alan Scott-Moncrief â€” cofounded the Manchester Film Foundation in 1999, which will be the host of the Manchester Film Festival and, in the future, many other venues and programs. Executive Director Hill, a 25-year veteran in the film and television industry, was raised in Manchester and graduated from Burr & Burton Seminary, before heading west to study filmmaking at USC and UCLA. He has worked in many elements of the film world, from writing and producing numerous scripts, commercials, music videos, animated TV and film shorts, to serving as creative director at Mirage Studios, best-known for its creation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Most recently, heâ€™s worked as director of development and acquisitions for Northern Arts Entertainment (NAE), an independent motion picture distribution company, which allows him the opportunity to see a wide variety of work from up-and-coming filmmakers. NAE has released such independents as Chameleon Street, Drunks, Grayâ€™s Anatomy, and the 1996 Academy Award-winner Wallace and Gromit. Scott-Moncrief, who will be the festivalâ€™s executive artistic director, was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied art in Scotland before moving to the U.S., where he has written and directed such movies as An Exorcism of Artistic Phobias and Funk Off Green. He has also taught filmmaking at Trent University in Toronto and currently resides in Arlington, Vt. The duo developed the idea for a Manchester film festival in June of 1999, and by last spring they had raised enough money, both locally and from the film industry, to launch the operations as a nonprofit organization. Since then, they have held a fund-raising world premiere of Robert Atkinsâ€™ popular film Gosford Park, amassed a advisory board that includes Ben Affleck, and unveiled plans to create the Battenkill Film School, a year-round, hands-on program for aspiring filmmakers, especially those working in the burgeoning digital-filmmaking industry. â€œWe are aiming to become a high-profile, internationally recognized annual film festival that will showcase the best in independent film â€” a Sundance for the East Coast,â€ said Hill. â€œWe want to bring people from all over the world to Manchester to enjoy beautiful natural scenery and world-class film.â€ Film details of the four-day festival, which will take place June 27 - 30, have not yet been released. However, one of the features is a Screenplay Competition open to all independent filmmakers. Awards will be given for Best Film, Best Director, Best Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best Short Film and Best Screenplay. Deadline for submissions is March 31 and additional information about rules and requirements can be found at www.manchesterfilmfestival.org. Scott-Moncrief said in a recent release that local venues have been generous about lending their space to make a diverse group of venues. Festival events will be held at the Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, Vt.; at Arkell Pavilion, the 400-seat auditorium at the Southern Vermont Arts Center; in the newly-restored Dorset Playhouse; at Riley Rink in Manchester, and at Village Picture Shows, the newly-built, state-of-the-art twin cinema theater in downtown Manchester. Outdoor screenings may also be held, weather permitting. The ambitious project calls for a varied event hosting numerous film-related panel discussions with industry professionals. Talks will be given on screenwriting, directing, producing, and composing music for film scores. The group will be launching OOMFF!, a digital camera event providing an educational forum for aspiring digital-filmmakers. â€œAdvances in digital film technology are revolutionizing the independent film industry, making it affordable and easy to produce quality films,â€ said Hill. The group is also planning to hold a free Childrenâ€™s Film Festival in conjunction with the main event, and will premiere mainstream and independent films throughout the year. Their goal is to develop a year-round lounge/cafe where cinefiles can peruse film periodicals and trade journals, and a general store of Film Festival merchandise. On Dec. 15, the festival held its first benefit event, showing Robert Altmanâ€™s Gosford Park at the local movie theater nearly two weeks before its national premiere in New York and Los Angeles. Another element of the festival will be a â€œMusic in Filmâ€ concert series, in which celebrated film composers will discuss the process of writing classical music scores specifically for the movies. Musicians will conduct symphonic performances of select musical scores from their own work. The Advisory Board for the Manchester Film Festival contains some notable names in the film industry, including actor Ben Affleck (Shakespeare in Love, Good Will Hunting), Eleanor Bergstein (writer/producer of Dirty Dancing), author/playwright Spalding Gray, Ray Hartwick (producer of Scarface and The Untouchables), and Jack Foley, president of theatrical distribution for USA Films. Some Advisory Board will serve as judges in the flagship event, the Independent Film Competition. Look for upcoming schedule and ticket availability information this spring, check out the Manchester Film Festival web site, or call (802) 362-9960.

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McCann Recognizes Superintendent Award Recipient

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:32PM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Landon LeClair and Superintendent James Brosnan with Landon's parents Eric and Susan LeClair, who is a teacher at McCann.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Superintendent's Award has been presented to Landon LeClair, a senior in McCann Technical School's advanced manufacturing course.

The presentation was made last Thursday by Superintendent Jame Brosnan after Principal Justin Kratz read from teachers' letters extolling LeClair's school work, leadership and dedication.

"He's become somewhat legendary at the Fall State Leadership Conference for trying to be a leader at his dinner table, getting an entire plate of cookies for him and all his friends," read Kratz to chuckles from the School Committee. "Landon was always a dedicated student and a quiet leader who cared about mastering the content."

LeClair was also recognized for his participation on the school's golf team and for mentoring younger teammates.

"Landon jumped in tutoring the student so thoroughly that the freshman was able to demonstrate proficiency on an assessment despite the missed class time for golf matches," read Kratz.

The principal noted that the school also received feedback from LeClair's co-op employer, who rated him with all fours.

"This week, we sent Landon to our other machine shop to help load and run parts in the CNC mill," his employer wrote to the school. LeClair was so competent the supervisor advised the central shop might not get him back.

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