The first lady picks 2013 Sundance favorite “Mister & Pete” for a screening

Brooklyn Park screenwriter gets a White House invitation

The first lady picks 2013 Sundance favorite “Mister & Pete” for a screening

Blog post by: Colin Covert

Updated: January 10, 2014 – 3:44 PM

Michael Starrbury

Brooklyn Park screenwriter Michael Starrbury has had some nice accolades. His scripts have won multiple awards and his first film to be produced debuted last year at the Sundance Film Festival. “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete,” the story of a streetwise, neglected Brooklyn eighth-grader looking after his vulnerable 9-year-old friend, won nationwide praise from critics (though not wide distribution.)
None of those kudos quite measures up to the email he received today, inviting him to attend a screening of the movie with a very special audience in Washington, D.C.
It read: “Mrs. Michelle Obama requests the pleasure of your company at a screening of the film ‘The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete’ to be held at The White House.”
“When I heard that “Mister & Pete” would be screening at the White House and I was invited to attend,” he said, “the first thing I thought was, ‘There goes my goal of going my entire adult life without wearing a suit.’”
Starrbury isn’t sure whether the President will attend the presentation Wednesday. Either way, he’s now in a company of filmmakers that’s a lot more exclusive than winning an Oscar.

This post is from the Artcetera blog

http://m.startribune.com/entertainment/?id=239667801&c=y