

Second Annual
NW Illinois
Film Festival
JUNE 24-25, 2022
CELEBRATING NW ILLINOIS INDIE FILMMAKERS
Film Festival Selections

About the NW Illinois Film Office
from Gary Camarano,
Executive Director
The Northwest Illinois Film Office is dedicated to assisting film projects find the right locations, navigate local regulations and State film incentives, and identify local cast, crew and supply chain. The film office also promotes Illinois filmmakers and their projects through events like our annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival.

2022 FESTIVAL
LINEUP
Sons & Daughters of Thunder
Without Grace
The Blacklight
Wolfdog
Chucky Chicken


Meet the Filmmakers



Kelly and Tammy Rundle
Fourth Wall Films, Quad Cities, IL
Husband and wife Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the owners of Fourth Wall Films,
an Emmy and award-winning Northwestern Illinois-based film production
company specializing in Midwestern and American historical documentaries
and docudramas for public television broadcast, national DVD and Blu-ray release, and streaming.

Don Hatton
Dashford Media, Rockford, IL
Don Hatton is an American filmmaker who co-founded Dashford Media with Nick Snow. He holds a B.S. in Operations Management & Information Systems which he acquired from Northern Illinois University and also has an M.B.A. from Webster University.
Hatton resides between Chicago, IL and Brooklyn, NY. He is continually working with his Brooklyn baes close-knit team of creatives.

Michael Cook
Valley Studios, Oswego, IL
Growing up a kid in the Disney decade, Michael Cook has been a fervent watcher of cartoons since he was a kid back in the 90’s. From a young age, he knew that all he wanted to do is create cartoons that make people smile, and leave an imprint in the ever-changing animation industry. After graduation from the Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg in 2012, Cook got a job for Toonopolis pictures in Indianapolis, IN. There he worked on “the Cartoon Guy Show” as an animator and puppeteer for the character “Dynamic”. The show was broadcast on PBS Indianapolis in 2013 thru 2015, being nominated for an Emmy award in 2014 for “Best Children’s program”. While working on The Cartoon Guy Show, Cook also was producing and directing the comic variety series, “HodgePodge Tonight!”, which was released on YouTube between the years 2014 -2016. The show went on to be broadcast on CAN-TV in Chicago, and also had two live performances: one at the famous Arcada Theater in St. Charles, IL, in 2013 and their last at the Cairo in W. Chicago, IL in 2016. His love for animation however has always been a driving point to everything he’s done; in 2017, he and his best friend Aaron Berogan founded Valley Studios as a cloud based studio, and pooled talent together from literally all over the world to create content, including brand new Chucky Chicken cartoons. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Cook and Berogan were able to set up a small studio where he plans to continue the Chucky Chicken series, as well as develop other projects through Valley, and for the world.

Matthew Cichella
Never Submit Entertainment,
Rockford, IL
Matthew Cichella, owner and CEO of Never Submit Entertainment, is an award-winning director, producer and screenwriter.
In September 2020, Matthew was finally able to bring life full circle when he held the world premiere, red-carpet screening for "Without Grace" at AMC Showplace 14 in Rockford. Once again selling out to several hundred people, the film premiered to a strong positive response. The film is dedicated to his wife & finally brings the filmmaking dream and the honor of being a family man together as one cohesive unit.. It was a dream come true for Matthew and one he is thankful for to this day. "Without Grace" is streaming nationwide on all major VOD platforms such as Vudu, Amazon, ITunes, etc.
Northwest Illinois Film Office
Gary Camarano
Executive Director
200 E. Knox St., Morrison, IL 61270
(815) 772-5247 Office
(575) 520-5279 Cell