Artists in Conversation is a weekly column running Wednesdays on QuadCities.com. It features a conversation with a local creator or creators going into their artistic process, projects and more. Get to know your local arts scene and local creators better on QuadCities.com with Artists In Conversation! If you’re a local creator and would like to be featured, please email us at Sean@QuadCities.com or Tristan@QuadCities.com! This week our Artists in Conversation from QuadCities.com features Justin Marxen. Justin Marxen – actor, filmmaker, husband, father, all around goodfella – makes... Read More

The latest film from Quad-Cities born-and-raised duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, “65,” starring Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt, has gotten its Sony Pictures summer 2022 release date — May 13. That’s the only big-budget film set to open that weekend at this time. Beck and Woods, who have been making films since they were teens in the Quad-Cities in the late ’90s and early ’00s, finally broke through big time with their script to “A Quiet Place,” which was followed by the successful directorial debut of the duo with “Haunt.” “65”... Read More

“65,” the new science-fiction thriller from former Bettendorf filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (“A Quiet Place”) will be soundtracked by a familiar name — Danny Elfman. The Oscar-nominated Elfman has been a legendary figure over the past several decades, doing the soundtracks for massive hits including Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, and Dumbo; Raimi’s Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Oz the Great and Powerful; and Gus Van Sant’s Academy Award-nominated films Good Will Hunting and Milk. Elfman, who... Read More

We’re headed into the home stretch today! This week, every day since Sunday, we’ve been running down the top arts and entertainment stories and features we’ve run on QuadCities.com. We hope you’ve enjoy the look back, and let’s all hope for a happy new year and a much, much, much, much better 2021! To check out the previous installments, see Sunday for January/February, Monday for March, Tuesday for April, Wednesday morning for May/June and Wednesday afternoon for July/August. Today we hit the final four months of the year! This morning we’ve got September and October,... Read More

It’s been a rough year, honchos. So, damn it, you OWE IT to yourself to check out Khalil’s Christmas Special, sponsored by QuadCities.com. Yes. You OWE it to yourself. Khalil’s Covid Christmas Special premieres December 20, and will be a Christmas Special for the ages! Join your hosts, Khalil Hacker and Tristan Tapscott as they wrap up this dumpster fire year the only way they know how… with a Christmas special! Filled with surprise guest stars, a fruit cake eating contest and many laughs! Shot safely in the beautiful Renwick Mansion of Davenport Iowa! Sit back, poor some... Read More

How do you spell an upcoming film blockbuster? Add star Adam Driver to a sci-fi thriller written and directed by Bettendorf natives Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-produced by the legendary Sam Raimi. “We’re still pinching ourselves with this news,” Beck and Woods tweeted on Tuesday of the planned pic “65.” “Adam Driver will be the star of the next film we’re directing for Sony. He’s one of our favorite artists on the planet. Can’t wait to share this special movie with all of you.” In May, Variety reported a reunion for Beck and Woods (both 35-year-old Bettendorf... Read More

I want to give kudos to Rein Razer. In our story earlier this week on QuadCities.com on her upcoming burlesque show, Rein Razer’s Court of Royalty, coming to Village Theater tonight, she said the following:   “I got the idea from how the Speakeasy was doing their booking for shows.”   Seems simple, right? Just actually acknowledging that you got the idea for something from someone else on the local arts scene. But you’d be surprised at how little this is done. More often, much more often, people have an incredible selective amnesia about things others in the scene... Read More

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods aren’t slowing down. The duo, who grew up making indie films since their teen years in Bettendorf, Iowa, and currently reside in Los Angeles, shot to prominence with “A Quiet Place” last year, after over a decade of under-the-radar ups-and-downs in Hollywood. Currently, Beck and Woods are in Canada in pre-production on a new project they’re “not allowed to talk about yet,” that they’re writing and directing. “It should be a fun one,” Wood said. “I wish we could other than we’re still following our heart down the horror genre that path and we think... Read More

Even in the age of covid, when there’s plenty of depressing stuff going around, there’s a lot of good news in the Quad-Cities! And every month, as usual, I put together a collection of some of the awesome things happening in and around town, and share them with you here and on KWQC-TV6’s “Paula Sands Live,” airing at 3 p.m. weekdays! So, tune in to PSL, and read on here on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and good news, QuadCities.com! Beck And Woods Teaming Up With Raimi For Sci-Fi Film Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are teaming up with filmmaker Sam Raimi (best known for the... Read More

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods are teaming up with Sam Raimi for an untitled science-fiction project, Variety reported today. The filmmakers, who grew up in Bettendorf, worked with Raimi on the Quibi series “50 States of Fright.” Beck and Woods handled the Iowa segment. The original script is being kept secret, as per usual with Beck and Woods. After more than two decades of working their way up and making countless films of their own in the Quad-Cities and elsewhere, the duo shot to fame as the screenwriters of “A Quiet Place.” Last year they continued their success with their... Read More