Actor Andrew McCarthy to kick off Macon Film Festival

When Andrew McCarthy took on the role of rich boy Blane McDonnagh in the 1980s flick “Pretty in Pink,” he cemented his place as a teen heartthrob.

It’s been 30 years since the release of the John Hughes film, and McCarthy will be in Macon on Thursday to kick off the 11th annual Macon Film Festival with a special screening of the movie.

“I think he’ll be a real crowd pleaser. For so many girls my age, he was their high school crush,” said Terrell Sandefur, festival spokesman. “With the resurgence of the ‘80s pop culture, even younger people know who he is because ‘Pretty in Pink’ is on television quite often.”

Sandefur said he’s wanted to showcase something from the ‘80s for a while and when he saw “Pretty in Pink” would be celebrating its 30th anniversary, it all clicked. He reached out to McCarthy and got an email back the next day that the actor was interested.

McCarthy starred in several ‘80s movies featuring a group of actors collectively known as the “Brat Pack.” He continues to act but also writes and directs.

“He’s actually directing quite a few of the ‘Orange is the New Black’ shows,” Sandefur said. “The next season is filming now so he’s real consumed with that so he’s not going to be in Macon but just for one day.”

Unlike some of the Film Festival’s past featured guests, McCarthy has no connection to Macon.

“But he is heavily involved in television and film production, and Georgia is a huge player right now,” Sandefur said. “Hopefully, he’ll come and he’ll see (Macon) and say, ‘Wow, I need to be doing some stuff in Georgia.’”

The “Pretty in Pink” screening will be the first in the festival, which continues to grow, and includes more than 60 juried entries.

The film categories include narrative feature, narrative shorts, documentary, music documentary, Southern documentary, LGBT and student shorts.

Those screenings start July 22 at 10 a.m. with movies playing for the next three days at the Douglass Theatre, Cox Capitol Theatre and Theatre Macon.

There also are daily spotlight films, and each evening is capped off with a special screening. Here are highlights for the other special screenings, which all show at the Douglass:

▪ “The End of the Tour” at 7:45 p.m. July 22. This film stars Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segal and tells the story of a five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and novelist David Foster Wallace. The movie was directed by James Ponsoldt, who works with the Sundance Institute and will be conducting a workshop on short films.

▪ “My Blind Brother” at 7:45 p.m. July 23. This film was a hit at South by Southwest and stars Nick Kroll, Adam Scott and Jenny Slate. It also features actor Charlie Hewson, who will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening.

▪ “Morris from America” at 6:15 p.m. July 24. This film won two prizes at Sundance and tells the story of a 13-year-old who has just moved with his father to Germany.

Spotlight films include “The Spectacular Now”: 11:50 a.m. July 22; “The Seer”: 3:15 p.m. July 22; “Harry Benson: Shoot First”: 1 p.m. July 23; “Contemporary Color”: 1:30 p.m. July 24; and “The Arbalest”: 3:15 p.m. July 24.

The festival also provides several opportunities to learn more about the film business. This starts Thursday with a Short Film Master Class led by director James Ponsoldt.

“All of our workshops are open to the public and they are free,” Sandefur said.

There is a July 22 panel on the Georgia film industry and July 23 workshops on sound booms and casting. All of the workshops are in the lecture room of the Tubman Museum.

“It’s going to be an opportunity for people to come in and really ask questions and find out how they can be involved in the Georgia film industry,” Sandefur said. “I’ve got some major heavy hitters from the Georgia film world coming in to do the panels.”

The film industry brought in $6.1 billion for Georgia in 2015, he said.

“It’s probably doubled by now and that is no joke,” Sandefur said. “It’s the fastest growing industry in the state of Georgia, and Macon needs a piece of that pie.”

For more information about ticket costs, passes and a complete list of screenings, visit maconfilmfestival.com.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Actor Andrew McCarthy to kick off Macon Film Festival."