April Wright is an award-winning filmmaker who fell in love with movies going to drive-ins and movie palaces in the Chicago area where she grew up. She brings a fresh and creative approach to her narrative projects and documentaries, and is drawn to material inspired by real people and events, especially stories with an underdog point of view. April’s doc “Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the American Drive-in Movie” enjoyed a theatrical release in 2013. Having visited over 500 open, abandoned, and former sites of drive-ins in 49 states, April has been recognized as a historian and supporter of drive-ins, appearing in media like Time, USA Today, Parade, BBC World News, WGN Radio, The Chicago Tribune, CNN online, CBC. April loved directing the critically acclaimed “Stuntwomen:The Untold Hollywood Story” executive produced by Michelle Rodriguez, which was awarded Best Documentary of 2020 from the national Women Film Critics Circle and Best Sports Doc of 2020 by Film Threat's Award This. She visited some of the best stuntwomen in the business on the Marvel set in Atlanta, and it’s not often in a doc that you get to direct a drift car racing sequence with Michelle Rodriguez and her amazing stunt driver from the Fast series. Her doc “Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace” enjoyed a theatrical release and won numerous Best Documentary and Grand Prize awards at film festivals prior to its broadcast premiere on TCM Turner Classic Movies. Leonard Maltin appears in the doc and Forbes, called it “a richly crafted look at our passion for movie theaters.” She’s in post-production on two new documentaries: “Back to the Drive-in” goes behind the headlines of the drive-in resurgence to show the truth that families are struggling to keep them alive, and “Carnival” a finalist for Tribeca’s IF/THEN at Big Sky Film Festival, is about a family that forms within a traveling carnival in the northwest.April worked as a narrative programmer for the Sundance Film Festival and AFI Fest for over 15 years, which was a wonderful film education. She has an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and is an alumni of the Sundance Institute, member of Women in Film, Film Fatales, Film Independent, the Documentary Association and the Alliance of Women Directors. http://goingattractions.comThe Douglas Coleman Show now offers audio and video promotional packages for music artists as well as video promotional packages for authors. We also offer advertising.Please see our website for complete details.http://douglascolemanshow.comIf you have a comment about this episode or any other, please click the link below.https://ratethispodcast.com/douglascolemanshow

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