MSUM Alumni Return With Horror Film Screening

By Conor Holt
Contributing Writer

With the extraordinary number of independent films being made today, even being accepted to a film festival is an achievement. Winning awards, though, puts your film on an entirely different level. And that’s where Moorhead native Gregg Holtgrewe’s film Dawning stands, which has won Best Picture at the 2009 Rhode Island Film Festival and Best Screenplay and the Audience Award at the 2009 Solstice Film Festival in Minneapolis.

Dawning is a horror film set in a lake cabin in Northern Minnesota, where a family gathering unfolds into an evening of suspense and tragedy.

Along with its awards, the film has been accepted to 13 film festivals, and Holtgrewe is currently looking for distribution.

Now, Holtgrewe and Producer Michael Howe are returning to Moorhead to screen their film at MSUM, where they both graduated with degrees in Speech Communications with an Emphasis in Film.

High Plains Reader: Where did the idea for the film come from?

Gregg Holtgrewe: The original Dawning story started between myself, my brother Tim and my sister Meagan. We had originally shot that film in 2004 on a really small budget, basically no budget. After that version I continued making other films while re-working the script to where I had ultimately wanted it. 2004 was kind of a test-run to see what worked and didn’t work.

HPR: What challenges did you face in making this film?

Michael Howe: Where to start? We shot on location in Hayward, Wisconsin, which was great, but we were isolated and in a small town so we didn’t have access to everything we would have had in Minneapolis. One night, a major storm came through and the power went out, and everyone was cold and wet, which was not a lot of fun. The best way to overcome challenges is to make sure the director has the best cast and crew around him, and we were very lucky in this regard. Everyone was on the same page and gave their all, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

HPR: What is it like returning to MSUM to screen your film?

GH: It’s really an honor but also kind of bittersweet. My strongest connection to MSU was Ted Larson, the late film professor who started the whole program. We didn’t even have a real film degree at the time of my graduation and Ted’s death but he was such a great inspiration and had such a great love for film that he elevated my education to something special, which I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else. I wish Ted could be there to see my film and know that I kept my promise of making films. I’ll never forget when he said to me “Gregg, I’ve never had a love affair like I’ve had with films”...that’s always stayed with me. I’m sure he’d be proud but that’s where the bittersweet part comes from…I’d love to hear from him.

MH: I’m very excited to come back to MSUM. I’ve only been back to campus once since I graduated in ‘96 and I’ve heard things have changed quite a bit. There wasn’t an actual film degree back then; the closest you could get was a Speech Telecom degree with a film emphasis. We’re showing the film in Weld Hall where all my film classes were, so it’s going to be exciting, yet strange in a way. It’s also bittersweet since my film professor, Ted Larsen, won’t be there to see the film. He was, and is, a big influence and inspiration for both Gregg and me, and we refer to him often anytime we are discussing or making a film.

HPR: What has it been like having Dawning be accepted to so many film festivals, and win awards as well?

GH: I’ve felt honored, humbled and spiteful I guess. It’s been a really strange up and down process. To know film programmers of not only horror festivals but non-genre fests as well have liked the film is a tremendous acknowledgement (Solstice, Charlotte, Seattle, KC and Lone Star Int’l as an example). To be a small horror film and get into festivals which rarely program horror films shows me that there is a yearning for films which don’t rely on gore and nudity to frighten the viewers…as well as a film which doesn’t talk down to its viewers. The only problem is that, at the end of the day, distributors don’t really care what your film has done unless it’s Sundance, Toronto, etc…but that’s a whole different discussion.

MH: It’s very flattering. One thing we learned early on is that we needed to target our film to specific genre themed festivals. We’ve been very fortunate in that regard to have been embraced by the indie film and horror film community. I am very proud of the cast and crew’s work, and I think that effort is evident on screen, so it’s nice to have their work recognized by others.

HPR: What future film projects do you have in development now?

GH: I have a lot of scripts which I’ve written over the last few years, probably 5 or 6 which just need to be re-written a bit and would love to make any number of them…but at this point I just want to put the finishing touches on Dawning and try to get the investors their money back. If I can do that then it’ll be a lot easier to find investors for another project.

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What: Dawning, feature film screening
Where: MSUM, Weld Hall
When: Thurs, Dec 9, 7pm
Info: 218.477.4624