WIFT-FL South Florida Branch Virtual Event w/ Filmmaker Deborah Hutchison

Join us for a screening of the short film 'The Improbably Journey of Berta Benz' and conversation with its filmmaker Deborah Hutchison.

Wednesday June 17th

6:00-8:00pm EST

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAldOqspz0uGdPGwLs4WH6YykS9XtpW5f_c

Hutchison has co-founded several companies and worked with numerous film studios, as an atmosphere casting director and/or assistant director, including Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Paramount Pictures on one or more of their various films.^[1] In 1979, while working as an extra in The Blues Brothers, she saw an opportunity to form her own casting company for extras in Chicago. In 1980, she cast three days worth of extras for the feature film, Thief, starring James Caan and went on to found Rosen-Knutsen Casting^[2] in Chicago, where she worked as the founding partner for five years.^[3]

Hutchison's company was responsible for casting for extras on numerous films, including Streets of Fire, Class, Doctor Detroit, Lucas (film), Grandview, USA and Code of Silence. She also served as Production Assistant on many of these films. In 1984 Hutchison was voted into the Directors Guild of America. In 1985, she worked as 2nd assistant director on Weird Science and the TV pilot of Lady Blue. Hutchison sold the company the same year to her partner, Susan Knutsen, and moved to Los Angeles, where she quickly established a new production company, Rosen-Caplan. She worked with ABC as the associate producer of movie of the week, Bluffing It^[4] and with developing the in-house pilot, Night School. During this time, Hutchison simultaneously co-founded Panther Productions Inc. with husband Hall Hutchison and worked on such TV projects as, Liquid Television, Jay Jay the Jet Plane, and Pee-Wee's Playhouse. In 2008, Hutchison began work on the animated short film The Improbable Journey of Berta Benz which was released in 2012 and won numerous awards. The Berta Benz project led Hutchison to her next venture, Gutsy Gals Inspire Me, a multimedia entertainment company that encourages women to live with clarity and courage and "drive their destiny" by pursuing their dreams.