​Join us in NYC with Love & Vodka Movie as we screen our New and Improved cut at the SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York -- make sure to snap up your $5 #earlybird ticket (check out the website: https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/) and remember to visit the festival website for details.

March 11th through the 16th, you'll find us celebrating the lineup at the #SociallyRelevantFilmFestival and our #SocialImpact film, designed to bring LOVE to #ukraine!

Mark your calendars and get your EARLY BIRD tickets to #LoveandVodkaMovie now, while they're still available!

We're headed to the European Film Market and will be there from beginning to end -- February 13th through the 19th.  Reach out to us via Cinando: www.cindando.com 

Leading up to the big SNEAK PEAK screening at the Cinetopia Film Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Sunday, June 23rd, Personae Entertainment Pictures CEO and Producer (p.g.a.)/Director/Writer Heidi Elizabeth Philipsen-Meissner has been busy hitting the Michigan press circuit, spreading the word about #socialimpact film "LOVE & VODKA" to not only fill seats at the 1600-seat Marquee Arts Main Michigan Theatre, but spread the love for Ukraine and Michigan's Ukrainian Diaspora -- both American citizen and newly arrived refugee -- population. 

In less than 10 days, Detroit's CBS, NBC, Fox, and ABC TV-affiliate stations aired interviews with Philipsen-Meissner, as did Michigan's Stateside Radio, WEMU Radio and several print papers, including The Detroit Free Press.

To watch/read/listen to the interviews, check out the links below:

https://www.easternecho.com/article/2024/04/director-heidi-philipsen-meissner-speaks-about-her-film-love-vodka

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/movies/2024/06/13/movie-made-in-michigan-set-in-ukraine-ann-arbor-cinetopia/74056372007/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/michigan-native-makes-solo-directorial-124804159.html

https://www.wemu.org/show/cinema-chat/2024-06-20/cinema-chat-cinetopia-2024-continues-with-the-world-premiere-of-love-vodka-plus-much-more

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/543652364/creative-impact

https://www.michiganpublic.org/show/stateside/2024-06-21/stateside-friday-june-21-2024

WXYZ Detroit Interview -- https://youtu.be/QkKNiy8QnEQ

Fox 2 Detroit WJBK's Charlie Langton Interviews Heidi Philpsen --  https://youtu.be/eF-eDK77TxU

Detroit Local 4 WDIV's "Reel Talk" with Greg Russell -- https://youtu.be/ZO8RZ0lacQE

CBS Detroit's Rachelle Graham Interviews Heidi Philipsen - https://youtu.be/mjQeHrPZVqQ
​

SNEAK PREVIEW!
LOVE & VODKA
JUNE 23, 2024
MICHIGAN THEATER
​We are so excited for the SNEAK PREVIEW of our film, Love & Vodka, on Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 5:00 PM at the Cinetopia Film Festival! We are also honored to be its Closing Night Film! Join us at 5:00 PM at the historic Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan for our red carpet - World Premiere - of Love & Vodka! After the film, we will be live on-stage for questions and answers with the audience. To close out the film festival, we'll be celebrating with everyone involved with the film and festival attendees at Cinetopia's Closing Night Party after the film and Q&A. ​

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
MICHIGAN NATIVE MAKES SOLO DIRECTORIAL DEBUT WITH 
“LOVE AND VODKA,” PREMIERING AT CINETOPIA FILM FESTIVAL 
ANN ARBOR JUNE 23, 2024
Ukrainian-American Romantic Comedy Celebrates Transatlantic Friendship Between Two Countries with a Focus on Love and Laughter in a Time of Tragic Loss and War
 
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – June 3rd, 2024 – “Love and Vodka,” an independent film five years in the making, is set to make its debut at the upcoming Cinetopia Film Festival Ann Arbor. The movie, which was shot in Bay City and Grayling, Mich., is directed and produced by University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University graduate Heidi Philipsen-Meissner, Director/Producer/CEO of Personae Entertainment. The movie stars Ukrainian actress Svitlana Kosolapova and American actor Zack Bradley.
 
The film will be the final film screened at Cinetopia Film Festival Ann Arbor on June 23, 2024, at 5 p.m. For more on the screening and festival, visit https://marquee-arts.org/cinetopia/.
 
“Love and Vodka,” which is based on a true story, is about a high school film teacher who recalls the magic of 2018 when he fell in love with a Ukrainian exchange student and impulsively traveled to Ukraine to propose to her and meet her family. Three years later, the war breaks out, as he works to finish the script and save the love of his life. 
 
The trials and tribulations in “Love and Vodka” were mirrored in real life during the filmmaking process, as Philipsen-Meissner made a transatlantic move from Michigan to Germany to immerse herself in the European film industry to find coproducing partners in Ukraine and Germany. Plans were then put on hold when Covid-19 emerged, and she experienced several deaths in her family. The film was then set to begin shooting in the summer of 2022 but was put on hold once again with the Russian attacks on Ukraine. The script then had to be rewritten to be respectful of the current times and the location was moved to Michigan.
 
“While I have experienced my own difficulties during this process, it will never compare to what our fellow human beings in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees around the world have been through and are still going through,” said Heidi Philipsen-Meissner of Personae Entertainment. “Being able to tell a heartwarming story about their culture, country, and people has been my way of keeping hope alive.”
 
“Love and Vodka” quickly turned into a passion project for Philipsen-Meissner, as she found her heart pouring out for Ukraine. While making the movie, she simultaneously focused on protesting, giving, and helping whenever and wherever she could. While living in Germany, she helped find homes and language lessons for refugees and donated cartloads of non-perishable items for volunteers.

“As an artist-activist who understands the power of storytelling, I started to understand this war was as much about culture and identity as it was about geopolitics,” said Philipsen-Meissner. “This led me to believe that maybe making a film about love and Ukrainian culture wasn’t such an off-kilter idea, after all.”
 
To see a preview of ‘Love and Vodka’ and to support this film as it makes its way to other film festivals across the country and world, please visit: https://www.love-vodka-movie.com.
 
For more on ‘Love and Vodka’ and Personae Entertainment, visit https://www.personaeentertainmentpictures.com/.
 
About Personae Entertainment 
Personae Entertainment Pictures is a film development and production company that started out as a small collective making short films, local commercials, and production managing low-budget indies in upstate New York. It has evolved into a transatlantic company with offices in Berlin and Detroit, with a singular focus on international feature films. Developing its own IP content, while also partnering with collaborators, Personae Entertainment Pictures is dedicated to collaborating with innovative filmmakers and international co-producers. 
 
Media Contact
Jason Brown, PublicCity PR, [email protected]; 248-663-6166
 
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Personae Entertainment Pictures will be at the European Film Market this February 15th through the 21st and is currently setting up meetings. If attending, please reach out through Cinando or the EFM registrant site of contacts.

Good news! "Darcy" - the multiple award-winning indie film that launch actress Gus Birney's career - is now for rent or purchase on Amazon! If you haven't seen it yet... or even if you have... check it out, again, and support true, grass-roots independent film.
Click HERE to be taken to the "Darcy" page on Amazon.