The Kansas City Star, Sunday, September 12, Bob Butler…

The first meeting of CinemaKC, the new umbrella organization for the local film community, gets under way Thursday, September 16 at the Screenland Crown Center.

The program honors “Dried Up,” the locally made animated short which this year won a Student Academy Award for three current and former Kansas City Art Institute students, and “Next!,” the Web serial created by local casting director Heather Laird. In July “Next!” took top honors in a competition sponsored by the National Association of Television Program Executives.

That will be preceded at 6:30 p.m. by a mixer for members of the film community.

“We hope to set a precedent of recognizing individuals who do exceptional things,” CinemaKC founder John Shipp said.

“I think it’s going to be like a snowball rolling downhill. We started out with 18 strategic partners and hope within a year to double that number. Our plan is to showcase each of them, give them a chance to talk about what they’ve done, what they’re doing and what they hope to do.”

Admission to the event is $10 ($5 for students with I.D.).

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