April Client Spotlight: House Painter Media

By Saper LawCategories: Client Spotlight

Saper Law Client Spotlight

Saper Law’s Client Spotlight is a series highlighting our various practice areas through client features. This month, we are highlighting our Media & Entertainment practice areas by shining a spotlight on Saper Law client, House Painter Media.

Meet House Painter Media

House Painter Media is an award-winning Chicago-based film production company specializing in documentary content. The company has produced numerous short form projects for local clients and full-length films for PBS broadcast with topics ranging from environmental history to historic preservation.

Pictured: Director of Photography Justin Hayward and Producer/Director Tom Desch, founder of House Painter Media, on location in Rosemary Beach, Florida, working on Walkable USA.

Airing/Streaming this Month on PBS

Their most recent project, Walkable USA, is now airing on PBS stations across the country including on WTTW in Chicago on Sunday, April 27th at 3 p.m and Lakeshore PBS in Northwest Indiana on Wednesday, May 7th at 6 p.m.. It is also streaming on the PBS App or through the Lakeshore PBS website.

Pictured: Walkable USA Poster

Walkable USA

Walkable USA follows the efforts of noted city planner and walkable cities advocate Jeff Speck as he works with the city of Hammond, Indiana in an effort to turn around the city’s struggling downtown district. The film examines the impact of decades of car-centric design and offers potential solutions to make our cities more vibrant by designing through the lens of someone walking.

Produced by Tom Desch and Patricia Wisniewski, the film won Best Feature at the 2024 Better Cities Film Festival in Detroit. Walkable USA was made possible, in part, with the support of the Efroymson Family Fund, The South Shore Convention and Visitor’s Authority, The Legacy Foundation, The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Indiana Humanities in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with Indiana Landmarks, The Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Pictured: Behind the Scenes of Walkable USA

What’s Next?

House Painter Media is starting a project called The Best Ballpark that Never Was, which follows the story of Architect Phil Bess and his alternative (and never built) proposal for a White Sox Stadium in the mid-1980s when the White Sox were looking to replace Old Comiskey Park. For more information on that film, visit The Center for Independent Documentary.

Do You Need Similar Assistance?

Saper Law has served as entertainment law counsel to House Painter Media for several years, assisting with a slew of legal issues documentary film makers face. If you need similar assistance, click here to schedule a consultation.