Local filmmaker Tate Bunker

Tate in production on Resurrection Ferns

Local filmmaker Tate Bunker has been making movies for almost 20 years, if you count the home footage he shot on Super 8 when he was still in high school. He’s the recipient of two Milwaukee Filmmaker awards from the now (notoriously) defunct Milwaukee International Film Festival and a 2008 Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowship Award for Emerging Artists. You’ll see his film Albatross — the third film in his Trilogy of Light, along with Perceval and the award-winning Starlight — at the new 2009 Milwaukee Film Festival. And he’s working on his latest feature-length film, Resurrection Ferns.

So, he’s busy. But he found a little time to drop by WMSE and talk to Mark Metcalf about why he stays in Milwaukee, what he likes about the city’s artistic community, the importance of a fine art filmmaking curriculum and how to explain your life (and your bank account) to your parents.

Listen now!: Backstage with Mark Metcalf: Tate Bunker

Backstage with Mark Metcalf is produced with WMSE 91.7 FM at the beautiful downtown studio of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Tell your friends, and if you’d like to get in on some sweet podcast action (should we interview you? Do you know someone who has a great story to tell?), by all means, send us an email.