A movie shot in Chelsea premiered at the Santa Monica Film Festival the night of February 7th. It’s called Guest Artist.
Chelsea native Jeff Daniels wrote and stars in the film, which follows a troubled playwright that is paid to deliver his play in the Midwest.
Daniels first wrote the story as a play, which has been adapted to the film. It is inspired by his encounter with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson.
Guest Artist is directed by another Michigan native, Tim Busfield. Busfield and Daniels' company, Grand River Productions, produced the film. Busfield hopes for expansion in the Michigan film industry. He says, "[Almost] every project that we are moving forward with, our first location, if it fits the story, is Michigan." He hopes the new administation can bring filmmaking back to the state of Michigan.
As of now, the film is not scheduled at any film festivals in Michigan. However, Busfield hopes it will play at the Traverse City Film Festival.
You can see the trailer https://vimeo.com/311336187">here.
