Movie with a Message: World premiere is inspirational, entertaining By HADASSAH VERSNICK Special to the Record-Eagle TRAVERSE CITY -- A local film buff has produced an inspirational movie that will debut at the City Opera House Monday. Matthew Kinne filmed "Don't Give Up The Ship: The Tale of a Boy and a Boat" in Traverse City, Harbor Springs and Leland. He says it's a family friendly film and an "allegory of creation, loss and redemption." The premiere will benefit SFTV, the student-run high school television network at St. Francis High School. The tale begins when 12-year-old Joshua and his father build a model tall ship, the Imagination. Due to a cruel twist of fate, Joshua loses the ship while sailing it. After an extensive search, he finally finds the Imagination for sale at a toy store. However, he must then work all night to buy back his creation before another boy purchases it. This 25-minute film was shot on Front and Sixth streets in Traverse City, in Harbor Springs at The Rocking Horse Toy Company and By the Bay, and in Leland. "It's kind of like 'Chicken Soup for the Soul,' except for movies," Kinne said. Kinne is also the former host of WLJN-FM's "At the Movies with Matthew Kinne" as well as the creator of the one-minute daily radio show "Daily Reflections for Movie Lovers." He is also a producer on the upcoming Messenger Films production, "The Bill Collector." Kinne has been working on films as a freelance artist since 1995, including "Barn Red" and "Frozen Stupid" by Rich Brauer. This is his first larger formatted film. His co-producer is Traverse City resident Glen Petersen. The men have worked together before on various projects. Petersen has won three Emmy Awards of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Michigan chapter), and is a five-time National Telly Award winner. He was also a winner in 2001 of the Top 100 Producers Award from AV Video Multimedia Producer Magazine. Petersen has produced Gladhander videos for 20 years. Kinne graduated from Regent University in 1995 with a master's degree in communication. From 1995 to 2000 he was editor of MovieGuide magazine and published his own book, "Reflections for Movie Lovers," in 2004. Kinne got his initial inspiration for "Don't Give Up The Ship: The Tale of a Boy and a Boat" from the short film "Most." "I found it to be extremely inspiring," Kinne said. Sharing the film's premise with Petersen led to even more inspiration. Petersen was reminded of another similar story, which he shared with Kinne, and that was the final push. "I said, this needs to be made into a movie," Kinne said. The decision to film in the Traverse City was automatic. Kinne said all the necessary resources, from talent to equipment, were right here. "All we had to do was kind of walk it out (and) make it happen," Kinne said. Kinne grew up in Petoskey and has lived in the Traverse City area since 2000, when his father was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. "Traverse City was big enough to have some amenities that big cities had, but was close to Petoskey (when I) had my fill of big-city living," Kinne said. While "Don't Give Up The Ship: The Tale of a Boy and a Boat" is a family friendly film, Kinne recommends not bringing very young children, because they might not understand all the film's nuances. Tickets for "Don't Give Up The Ship: The Tale of a Boy and a Boat" are $10 and are available at By The Bay in Harbor Springs and at Krissies and Orvis in Traverse City, as well as at the door. Kinne and Petersen are donating 25 percent of ticket sales to SFTV. Limited edition DVDs will be available at the time of showing. In addition to "Don't Give Up the Ship: The Tale of A Boy and a Boat," the 60-minute film "First Landing" by Cristóbol Krusen of Messenger Films will also be shown. For more information, call Jan McCall, SFTV adviser, at 392-9521.

Captains log: Adrift at sea. No wind. Temperature high. Rations low. Morale low. Who will rescue us?