More info on Film Streams, part of the River North Project..

[TMac]

... Look, I'm trying to come up with something better than North Downtown (hence, "River North"). Anyway, there's a story about the Film Streams independent theater project on my site right here. I think it's going to be pretty cool...

[Swift]

how about Webster Street Valley? Or something of the sort (Webster Valley, etc.)?

[edsas]

Wow! That's going to be one incredible complex when it's done. I can't think of any places here in LA that combine the indie music scene with the indie film scene. Great news for Omaha!

[Swift]

Agreed I was practically jumping up and down in my seat after reading this article. Damn I can't wait to get back to Omaha.

[StreetsOfOmaha]

Wow. This is friggin' awesome. I can't wait for it to happen!!!

[Omaha Cowboy]

Gotta love it!..

..

..Ciao..LiO....Peace

[Raraavis]

Fantastic.

The non-profit membership idea is brilliant. It is a model that is already very successful in Omaha with the zoo, and Omaha Playhouse. This is the best news I have read in a long time.

[OmahaChef]

This looks great!! I can't wait for the groundbreaking of the Saddle Creek project. It really signals futher progress for North Downtown.

On a side note, I notice most of the articles I read and almost everyone I talk to refers to North Downtown as North Downtown. About the only time I hear it refered to as North Downtown is on this site. Perhaps if we quit using the term, it will just go away. Even the Mayor refers to it as North Downtown.

[MTO]

Awesome awesome awesome! It’s great to have another project up there in North Downtown (HA!), especially something cool and different like this. And its wonderful to see some improvements in this design. Meaning the building actually approaches the street and no big parking lot like Slowdown’s. However its still missing shops kind of like the study was thinking.

[OmahaChef]

Actually, it's the same design as before. This article just addressed the design of the theatre component of the total project. There is still the Slowdown concert hall and bar, the offices for Saddle Creek Records, the retail, and yes, the parking lot. And in reality, the parking lot in the designs isn't all that big, maybe 50-75 spaces. If there is a concert, and two movies showing the same night, that is 600-700 people. Just where will they all park their cars, when most of the main south-north roads through North Downtown have no available parking?

[MTO]

They could park their cars in the middle of the building(s) in the hidden parking areas. Oh yes of course you can’t put parking in this project. But……………………… my point still stands.

[Swift]

Why isn't saddle creek having their offices above the venue, then apartments above the offices? The offices would act as a noise buffer for the apartments from the noise of the club below. Since shows are always at night, the noise wouldn't bother them while they are working, and since during shows there would be at least one empty floor to buffer the sound, it likely wouldn't distrub the apartments above.

[nebraska dreamin']

I don't know if this has been already discussed but I recieved the following email.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ALEXANDER PAYNE JOINS FILM STREAMS’ BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Film Streams, an Omaha-based nonprofit organization devoted to the presentation and discussion of film as an art form, is pleased to announce that Academy Award-Winning director and Omaha native Alexander Payne has joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Film Streams will be the operator of a new independent cinema scheduled to open in downtown Omaha in 2006.

Mr. Payne joins the Film Streams Board of Directors as one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers today. He made his feature film debut with the critically acclaimed CITIZEN RUTH. He followed that up in 1999 with the much lauded ELECTION, which led the year’s critic’s Top Ten lists, earned Best Director and Best Film Independent Spirit Awards and, for Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor, won a number of Best Screenplay awards including the Writers Guild of America, the New York Film Critics Circle and the Independent Spirit Award, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. His 2002 film, ABOUT SCHMIDT, was nominated for two Academy Awards and won two Golden Globes. In 2004, he won an Oscar for his widely celebrated film SIDEWAYS. Payne was recently appointed to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“Alexander’s involvement will certainly help to secure the future of the organization,” said Rachel Jacobson, Film Streams’ Director. “He has a great understanding of Film Streams’ mission. His films are a true representation of the kind of work we hope to bring to Omaha- unique, socially relevant, and artistically interesting. He also has encyclopedic knowledge about the history of cinema. His curatorial help will be invaluable. I couldn’t be more excited to work with him.”

Mr. Payne said Tuesday, “I’m so happy that downtown Omaha will have cinemas again for the first time in thirty years. I couldn’t be more thrilled that a home for arthouse and retrospective screenings will now be a permanent part of the community in general and of the new downtown residential and arts scene in particular.”

In addition to his leadership role, Mr. Payne will be selecting ten of his favorite films for a special series that will run during Film Streams’ first year of operations.

In 2006, Film Streams will open a two-screen cinema that will be part of a downtown Omaha development plan anchored by internationally-acclaimed music label Saddle Creek Records. Dedicated to screening films based on their merit, Film Streams depends on the support of its membership program, individual donors, and grants from foundations, corporations, and government organizations. Such funding will ensure that Film Streams’ selections are based on quality, social value, and artistic achievement rather than box office potential. Film Streams will begin programming at Joslyn Art Museum’s Abbott Lecture Hall this January, showing ten films over five months. The project will reflect the diverse nature of film, both in terms of form and culture-- American Independents, foreign films, and documentaries will all be represented.

Please contact Film Streams Director, Rachel Jacobson, with questions:

[ItsAllAboutMe]

When is construction going to begin? Do we know the completion date yet?

[MTO]

I am ampt’ about this because it’s going to add to Omaha’s growing urban/trendy/java/emo culture. And even more so help this city become even coooooler. Not to mention it’s another domino tippet for the North Downtown area.

[Swift]

I actually know a lot about this project because I have been in touch with Rachel since August.

She told me that she's been telling people that the theaters will be open on September 1.

[Raraavis]

9/01/2006 ???


How about Northtown.

[MTO]

9/01/2006 ???


How about Northtown.

You are talking about calling North Downtown Northtown? Hey I actually dig that, norhttown….. northtown kinda just flows northtown sounds nice sounds trendy like a hot spot northtown I could get used to this. Northtown a town within a town. Okay now someone finally gave me a reason to hate North Downtown.

[Harpoon]

Northtown is the name of a crappy mall up in Blaine, Minnesota... north of Minneapolis.