'Ohio Goes to the Movies'

COLUMBUS — If Ohio and movies don't strike you as going together, organizers of an upcoming statewide celebration of cinema hope to open your eyes. Not only is Ohio birthplace to dozens of famous actors -- from Lillian Gish, known as the First Lady of the Screen, to Clark Gable, Paul Newman, Martin Sheen, Tom Hanks, Halle Barry, Rob Lowe and Janelle Monae — but it's also home to celebrated director Steven Spielberg, Oscar-winning composer Henry Mancini and the Warner brothers. And then there are all the movies filmed or set in Ohio, among them A Christmas Story, Rain Main, The Shawshank Redemption, The Avengers and Hillbilly Elegy. The idea of Ohio Goes to the Movies will be to highlight all those rich connections at a series of themed movie screenings scheduled over 250 days to coincide with the 250th anniversary of America's founding in 2026. A trailer starring actor Beverly D'Angelo, a Columbus native known for playing Ellen Griswold in the "National Lampoon's Vacation" movies, began airing in movie houses across the state last month to promote the event, in hopes of capitalizing on the popularity of "Wicked" to promote the event. Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran — both avid film buffs — also appear in the spot and are supporting the effort. Project director Molly Kreuzman, who has spent 25 years making and producing movies, organizing film festivals and preserving historic theaters, said the size and scope of the Ohio event — at least one screening in every one of Ohio's 88 counties — has never been tried before. "That's the part that really excites me the most. To go outside of the three C's (Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati) that always get all the stars and to really go into small communities — some of them that don't even have movie theaters, and we may end up showing films in the park or at a library or, you know, we'll figure it out — to include the entire state in this celebration." The event's organizers are encouraging towns and cities alike to get creative with their planning. Some might host a costume party themed around the film or read the book on which a movie is based as a community undertaking. Others might schedule a month's worth of activities around the movie or even invite one of its stars to their town. "With any luck, we could pull off something crazy, like show the Apollo 13 film and have Tom Hanks come back. I mean, it's not out of the realm of possibilities," she said. "Everything is possible at this point." To engage communities and spark ideas, the organization has put together an Ohio Movie Database that lists hundreds of actors, directors, producers, musicians, writers, craftspeople and film industry influencers who were born in Ohio. It also lists all the films shot or set in the state. Kreuzman said organizers are also working with a host of Ohio institutions for permission to show non-theatrical movies known as corporate, special interest or industrial films as part of the festival. The idea for this came from Stephen George, the person who first conceived of the movie festival while he was planning Ohio's bicentennial celebration in 2003, she said. These might include a movie about the stopped-heart operation performed at the Cleveland Clinic in 1956, a reel Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble produced for the release of one of its iconic American brands, or a historic training film for students, faculty or staff at one of the state's many universities. "Stephen has this idea, and it's brilliant, to not hold ourselves just to independent or Hollywood blockbuster films," Kreuzman said. "There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these industrial films all these people have, and they're fascinating."