Midwest Movie Maker

'Lost's Radzinsky is Cincinnati Native, Miami Grad

2009-05-14T11:51:00.001-07:00

Fans of Lost who live in the Midwest might love to hear that actor Eric Lange, who played the over-the-top and love-to-hate-him Stuart Radzinsky this season, is a Cincinnati native and Miami University graduate. The actor has played a slew of guest roles on such shows as My Name is Earl, CSI, Bones and more.

The Cincinnati Enquirer hosted a live chat with the actor in celebration of Wednesday night's season finale of Lost, "The Incident". You can read it here.

'Ears' Some News: 'Star Trek' Ears Come from Ohio

2009-05-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

Hey all you Trekkers headed out to see J.J. Abrams Star Trek this weekend. When you swoon over Spock's pointy ears, just remember that those ears came from Ohio.

More precisely, the make-up artist who crafted all the ears in the new blockbuster is from Ohio. Scott Gamble, a Kent State University grad and Stow, Ohio, native, is the make-up artist behind the lobes.

Hope to talk to Scott soon ... but in the meantime, here's a short interview with the artist courtesy of Cleveland's CBS Action News:

Interview with ‘Supernatural’ Creator Eric Kripke

2009-05-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

I had the unique opportunity to speak with Eric Kripke, Toledo native and creator of the popular CW horror/adventure series Supernatural. Eric was in his car on his way to lunch, and I was sitting in my car sweating (the air conditioner is busted; maybe one of the Winchester brothers could fix it for me?).

Eric was incredibly kind and very generous (though I couldn’t get him to spill any Supernatural spoilers … sorry folks!). His is a great story of determination – something he calls “dangerously obsessed.” His is a journey any aspiring filmmaker from the Midwest can follow, though he does have some sobering advice:

“My advice isn't necessarily comforting, or hell, even correct,” Eric says. “Cause who knows anything? So take it with a wheelbarrow of salt. But if you really want to break into the film industry, you probably have to move to where the film industry is. New York or Los Angeles. That's where the producers, production companies, agents, managers, and studios are, and if you want to get your foot in the door, you need to be where you can meet all of these people. It ain't easy, and it ain't fun – I miss the Midwest terribly – but its probably a necessary evil.”

He admits that he doesn’t know much about the Midwest’s independent film scene – a thriving and growing scene – so he encourages filmmakers to pursue that as well. “It’s a solid option,” he says.

And he has some great advice on getting started, especially for screenwriters.

“Write, and write often,” he says. “Directing, producing, shooting – It all takes money and therefore permission. But writing is free. You don't need permission to write a script. So keep at it. It’s a craft, and it takes practice. Most writers I know burn through multiple scripts – a dozen or more – before they get the hang of it. But if you're good, and if you write a truly great script, and if you're persistent, eventually it will get into the right hands."

Want more? Check out Eric Kripke: A Filmmaking (Super)Natural.

Two Stories of Sheer Talent from Northern Ohio

2009-04-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr., opens today at a cineplex near you. It tells the true story of Cleveland native Nathaniel Ayers, a gifted young musician whose life falls into chaos when he is overtaken by schizophrenia.

Foxx plays Ayers and Downey Jr. plays journalist Steve Lopez, an L.A. Times columnist who encounters Ayers, now homeless, in downtown L.A. Lopez takes on Ayers' story - not believing, at first, that this talented homeless man once went to the Julliard School in New York - and the two form a bond of friendship unexpected by both.

Scenes of Ayers childhood (I believe) were shot in Cleveland last winter. Foxx was on hand for the shoot.

Another film coming soon and about a Northern Ohio phenomenon is More Than a Game. The documentary paints a portrait of Cleveland Cavaliers great LeBron James during his days at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.

More than that, it tells James' story, of coming from a difficult life to find friendship and family among his high school basketball teammates. The trailer is slick and the film looks like it could be the next Hoop Dreams. Certainly, it looks like it could have been a feature film.

And with talk that James is shopping a TV show based on his life growing up in Akron, you can be sure that this documentary would serve as a great pilot.

Interviews with Filmmakers Erik Bork and J.R. Bookwalter

2009-03-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to point you toward two great interviews posted in the last week. (I know, a post. Can you believe it?

The first is with Erik Bork, Emmy-winning screenwriter and producer of From the Earth to the Moon and Band of Brothers. Bork talks about what it takes to make the journey from Dayton, Ohio, to the Emmy stage, and gives valuable insight into the screenwriting craft.

The second is with J.R. Bookwalter, an Akron-native who has moved back to the Midwest after more than a decade in Tinseltown. Bookwalter wrote, produced, directed, edited, acted in, and scored the ultra low-budget cult phenomenon The Dead Next Door. He's still in the biz, helping produce and distribute from his offices in Akron.

More later!

PS: I'm always looking for folks who might like to contribute. If you'd like to write or do some design work, e-mail me at thomas.o.tennant@gmail.com.

Annnnnd Action!

2009-01-23T08:16:00.000-08:00

Hi, hello, and welcome to Midwest Movie Maker, your premiere source for informative and entertaining news and views about filmmaking and filmmakers in and from the Midwest.

As you can see, we’re still hanging lights and moving props. You might even call this Midwest Movie Maker: Take Two. (It’s a long story – so let’s just say this: We won.)

So what’s our deal? And why is there a picture of Spider-Man in our profile? (The same one that adorns this blog post?) Originally, it was because our first stab at MMM launched on the same day Spider-Man 3 premiered in theaters in 2007.

And that’s not a promo pic, by the way. That’s a snapshot I took on my way to work in April 2006. That’s when a second unit crew from Spider-Man 3 spent the better part of a week and a half in Cleveland, shooting one of the summer blockbuster’s larger action set pieces.

The crew took up nearly 10 city blocks along Euclid Avenue. They sped, crashed, flipped and demolished all manner of vehicles, much to the delight of lunchtime onlookers. Spider-Man was spotted slinging webs in the theater district and battling the Sandman in the intersection of E. 9th and Euclid.

By the time the shoot was over, Cleveland had adopted old webhead as one of its own (a Westsider, no doubt), and local news stations were declaring the city Hollywood on the Northcoast.

And at the time, it seemed like this might be a reality. Prior to Spider-Man swinging into town, a crew had wrapped on the comedy The Oh in Ohio with Paul Rudd, Parker Posey and Danny DeVito.

It seemed like the work of the Cleveland Film Commission was slowly, but surely, coming to fruition. The small office and its dedicated crew worked hard to convince officials that attracting film crews and productions to the city would be both a mechanism for revenue generation and recognition that is largely – if not completely – overlooked by comparable cities throughout the United States and the Midwest.

They’re still working hard, by the way, to both pass a tax incentive for the state of Ohio that will help draw filmmakers to the region (one that recently was OK’d by the state’s house and senate, but vetoed by Governor Ted Strickland – but more on that in a later news post) and convince filmmakers that locating in Cleveland is not only a viable option, but a desirable one.

It offers everything a production would need: talent and crew, world class accommodations and attractions, a shoreline that can mimic any ocean or sea, a downtown that can mimic Manhattan or L.A., Middle America suburbs, countryside – the list goes on and on.

With technology advancing every day, shooting on location is less and less an obstacle. Before long, locating in Hollywood will no longer be a necessary evil to producing commercial feature films and television programs. For proof, look to Austin’s vibrant film community.

There’s no reason the Midwest can’t become the New Hollywood. The variety of locales, the low cost of living, the burgeoning incentive programs, its accessibility to the rest of the nation – it’s a virtual treasure trove for today’s filmmakers.

All that’s needed is a map to guide them.

And that’s what we aim to be.

Take a look around. Get a sense of what’s coming soon. Or just drop us a note and say hello.

More importantly, if you’re a filmmaker tell us about your film. We’re interested in telling the stories of films of all sizes. So let us know.

In the meantime, we’ll get back to work.

Tom Tennant

Publisher and Editor