Semester Cinema to Shoot its Next Feature Film in Berkshires

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LENOX, Mass. — Kingdom County Productions, a Vermont-based film and performing arts non-profit, has selected Lenox as the new home for its Semester Cinema indie filmmaking and experiential learning program. 
 
At Semester Cinema, thirty film professionals mentor and collaborate with forty-five college film and theater students to make an ambitious feature film for national release.
 
Students participate from a dozen liberal arts colleges including Swarthmore, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Spelman, Skidmore, Mount Holyoke, and Wesleyan, to name a few. 
 
Students will spend seven weeks in classes, workshops, and guest lectures, examining the script, exploring cultural contexts, and working to discover and articulate artistic possibilities for the semester's central projects. They then spend the remainder of the semester working in substantial roles on the physical production of the films. The program's next iteration is set to run from late January to early May 2026 and will reside on the campus of Shakespeare & Company.
 
The narrative project for this coming spring, which will be shot in the Berkshires, will be an edgy film noir that combines Henrik Ibsen's Tony-winning play, "An Enemy of the People," and Dashiell Hammett's crime novel, "Red Harvest." 
 
Students learn all technical aspects of filmmaking, including producing and production management; camera, lights and sound; production design and art direction; costume design; and editing and post-production.  The program also includes an expanded documentary (TBA) planning and production unit. 
 
Students receive a full semester of academic credit and a professional film credit on IMDb. Semester Cinema also works to help students develop added confidence and enhanced skills in critical thinking, problem solving, flexibility, and collaboration. Past participants have gone on to find success in a variety of departments, including directing, producing, production design, casting, and grip & electric. In fact, program founder and director Jay Craven recently brought on an alumna of the program, Nicole Doerges, as a co-producer.
 
Semester Cinema was conceived in 2005 when Craven was working on his fifth feature film, "Disappearances," starring Kris Kristofferson. Craven was then a professor at Marlboro College and had found critical success in the film industry as an independent filmmaker. Semester Cinema works with professional actors, through the Screen Actors Guild - and past projects have featured Academy Award, Tony, and Emmy winners and nominees Bruce Dern, Jacqueline Bissett, Genevieve Bujold, Jessica Hecht,  Marin Hinkle. Gordon Clapp - and Kristofferson.
 
As an introduction of Semester Cinema to the community, Craven will screen the program's 2022 project, Lost Nation, at the Shakespeare & Company Bernstein Theater on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7pm.. The film is set in Massachusetts and Vermont during the American Revolution and centers its story around rebel instigator and Vermont founding father, Ethan Allen - and pioneering Black poet and rights advocate,  Lucy Terry Prince. Advance tickets for the screening are available at www.kcppresents.org.
 
Additional screenings & events open to the community are also planned for the Spring. Any businesses or individuals looking to support the program through community housing or services are encouraged to reach out to the program organizers.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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