Door County’s Laura Stewart Featured at Regional Filmmakers Panel Discussion

Local Door County filmmaker Laura Stewart has been selected to appear in a forum discussion on filmmaking presented by the Green Bay Film Society on Thursday April 2, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm, at the Central Theatre Library in Green Bay. Stewart will be joined by Frank Anderson and Hunter Adams in a panel of three filmmakers who will each present a 10-minute screening of samples of their work followed by a round-table discussion.

Stewart screened her most recent documentary, American Carnival, at the Neville Museum where it was seen by Larry LaMalfa, organizer of the upcoming event who notes, “Audience response was overwhelmingly positive.”

In the film, Laura delves into the lives of “carnies,” the crew that staff two Wisconsin midway shows as they transverse the state in the summer months, setting up and tearing down their transportable realm of fantasy. The laughter, screams, tilt-a-whirl and cotton candy are all part of the show, as the carnies live like modern-day gypsies, amidst discrimination from the “townies.”

Stewart will present an excerpt from American Carnival, as well as the short Super 8 film, Ken: Story of a Western Drifter, which was previously screened at the Wisconsin Film Festival. The discussion that follows will include an assessment of the Northeast Wisconsin film making movement, as well as finding sources of funding, dealing with promotional costs and being a volunteer versus making a living. Questions and answers will also be taken from the audience.

Laura says her next project will be about the American West.

“I’d like to do a modern day western as a road movie, a search for identity in a symbiotic relationship with the land as you move westward.”


If you are interested in film making in Northeast Wisconsin, plan to attend! The event is free and open to the public. Central Theatre Library is located at 515 Pine Street in Green Bay.

American Carnival was funded in part by a grant from the Peninsula Arts Association in partnership with the Wisconsin Arts Board. Stewart’s trailer for American Carnival can be seen on YouTube as well as on the film’s official Web site, http://www.AmericanCarnival.info.