The local filmmaker-support organization is set to move into the 2441 Arts Building this fall.
When it comes to filmmaking, people imagine that there’s Los Angeles and New York, Andrew Peterson likes to say — and then there are the 300 million people living in between.
Why shouldn’t filmmakers be supported in telling stories in the places they want to live? Such as, for example, Minnesota?
That idea is at the heart of FilmNorth, a nonprofit that provides resources to filmmakers in the upper Midwest. Peterson is the executive director of the organization, currently based in Vandalia Tower. And the idea is also at the heart of the 2441 Arts Building, a project under construction in St. Paul’s Creative Enterprise Zone that’ll be the new home of FilmNorth this fall.
The organization is transforming a former furniture warehouse — designed by Clarence Howard Johnston, the architect behind Glensheen Mansion in Duluth and Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota — into a massive hub for local filmmakers, editors and educators.
The centerpiece of the project is the cinema, a dramatic but cozy 54-seat screening theater, and the building also includes a media lab, editing bays and spaces for classes and events. It’s “a message that goes out to the rest of our peer organizations around the country,” Peterson said, that Minnesota cares about supporting local filmmakers and attracting high-quality, diverse movie projects.
“This building is coming along, in my mind, at the perfect time to capture a moment in Minnesota where our industry could really profoundly change within the next five years,” Peterson said. “More projects coming here, more crew based here.”
The planned cinema is visually stunning, with its entrance flanked by an interior wall that shoots up to a third-story skylight. But that’s not just for show, Peterson said: The aesthetics are actually a vital piece of support for filmmakers.
For one, advance screenings with stars and influencers can make or break a film’s release, Peterson said — so impressing them has tangible economic benefits. Plus, experimental projects might struggle to fill a 300-seat theater but could screen at FilmNorth, where a professional-grade space lends legitimacy to up-and-coming artists.
And, Peterson said, it’ll simply be a great place to watch a movie. In the cinema, state-of-the-art projection and sound systems are a given, of course. And thanks to a floating floor, not even vibrations from passing trucks or trains will be perceptible in the theater. Plus, comfortable seats, a brand-new HVAC system and drinks — FilmNorth secured a special liquor license for the space.
“A lot of movie theaters, you come in and you’re pushed out,” Peterson said. “Think of ones you’ve been to. (We’re creating) somewhere you want to spend the day before and after the movie.”
Accessibility is just as important as technology and aesthetics, he said.
The cinema is designed with the entrance at the top row of stair-stepped seating, rather than the bottom, so folks using wheelchairs can watch films from an actually desirable vantage point. Every film screened will be captioned, and audio-description listening devices will always be available.
If a filmmaker is unable to afford to caption their movie, Peterson said, FilmNorth will foot the bill.
A “national model” for nonprofit stability
With FilmNorth on the ground floor and lower level, office spaces on the second and third levels will be leased out to a few other nonprofits and small companies. And rather than renting their portion, FilmNorth partnered with D/O Architects, the firm that’s leading the redesign, to purchase the building outright.
It’s a fairly unique ownership arrangement, Peterson said, but one he hopes could be a “national model” for nonprofits to build long-term stability. FilmNorth can own its own space but share the risk, and the organization can boost its revenue from tenants’ rent payments.