Thanks to Orpheum president and CEO Pat Halloran for his Christmas Day opinion piece on the virtues of Memphis. "Since moving here 40 years ago, I cannot remember a time when so many positive things were happening in Memphis or about Memphis," he said in a guest column in The Commercial Appeal.


Among the kudos was this mention:

"The city of Memphis was recently ranked by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the top 10 best movie cities in the country. Memphis was ranked at No. 8 for Memphis and Shelby County Film Commission's attention to detail and the city's strong quality of life."

Read his entire column here and remind yourself of what it is that makes Memphis Memphis.

Francis Ford Coppola wanted some electronic barbecue.

Actually he wanted the real thing and a crowd of filmgoers at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art reminded him he was welcome to come back anytime to make another movie and get all the ribs he could handle.

The occasion was a Q&A session Sunday Dec. 20 over a Skype connection after a screening of Coppola's latest film "Tetro."

Linn Sitler of the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission led off the conversation between the Brooks filmgoers and the director who was speaking from his home in the vineyards of California. Sitler recalled that when Coppola was filming "The Rainmaker" in Memphis, he said he was doing it to finance a movie he really wanted to make. "Was 'Tetro' that movie?" she asked.

In a way, he said, it was. Three decades ago, "The Conversation" was Coppola's screenplay but he did "The Godfather" first to help finance it. The director also said that his wine making operation allows him to make the smaller films he likes to do.

The Q&A went on for about an hour, with Coppola responding to questions and comments about "Tetro."  

And he was generous in his praise of Memphis — the people, the food and as a place to make a film.

FilmNashville is producing an event next April designed to bring distribution companies, financiers and filmmakers together.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean this week announced Film-Com, an annual event intended to boost film projects in Middle Tennessee.

Twenty-four filmmakers will be able to screen and pitch projects to execs from such organizations as The Weinstein Company, Nu Image/Millennium, United Atlantic Capital and The Panda Fund, among others.

The event is April 13-16 and is open to filmmakers around the world, but the event is not open to the public. (The Nashville Film Festival runs from April 15-22).

For information, click here.

Indie Memphis and the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art continue their year-round collaboration this month with A Couple of Coppola’s: The Conversation and Tetro.

Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 masterpiece, The Conversation, will screen at 7 p.m . Thursday, Dec. 17th. Sponsored by the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission/Memphis ED, Tetro will screen at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20th and be followed by a live Q&A via satellite with Coppola himself.

For more information, click here.