In the March 11, 2015 issue of The City Paper, we took a look at local film makers in a story— Lights, Camera, Local. As the year progressed, so did the projects of the artists profiled.
So where are these movies now?
Kim Sanchez
Kim and her organization, Reel Ohio, have worked to help foster local filmmakers. The Toledo Indie Filmmaker’s MeetUp, an event in March, was “to provide a networking opportunity for local filmmakers”, Sanchez noted. Reel Ohio curated over 75 regional film submissions for screening during Artomatic in April. Reel Ohio will also help promote the CommUNITY Film Festival next February, hosting a Filmmaking 101 workshop at the festival, looking to find local films that “inspire audiences, promote inclusion and celebrate the everyday lives of people with disabilities”. For more on these events and a myriad of others Reel Ohio is putting on, visit their website at ReelOhio.com
Michael D. Cullen III
When we talked with Michael in March, he was working on the fake music documentary Down Along The Road. Since then, Cullen has started work on another project, the slasher film Pi Day Die Day (check out an inside look at the making of the film on The City Paper website). But that doesn’t mean he’s done with his “passion project”. “[I] had to put it on hold once (Pi Day Die Day) came up, along with some other setbacks, but I’m determined to get that film finished,” said Cullen. Pi Day Die Day has a few more weeks of production and a planned premier at the Maumee Indoor Theatre in March. Cullen been collaborating: “I also recently finished doing cinematography and co-producing Chad Zuver’s next film New Blood Awakening,” said Cullen. Visit CullenPark.com for more info
Chad Zuver
New Blood Awakening, the ambitious sequel discussed in the March article is almost done. “We started filming in June and wrapped up in August. I am currently editing the movie, in the early stages, only about a quarter of the way there.” Zuver hopes to have the movie released by April: “I’ll have the premiere at Maumee Indoor Theater, and then Collingwood Arts Center and Ohio Theater after that.” See more about New Blood Awakening, and Zuver’s other productions,
at ShatteredImagesFilmsLLC.com.
Emilio Areas
Emilio has had a rollercoaster of a year, film-wise. First, his film Silencio, was mired in electrical problems: “The setting of the film takes place in Chicago. We were supposed to film for 2 days… there was a winter advisory because of the cold & snow and I had complete equipment failure… the cold disabled the electronics. I actually had to go back in May to re-shoot those scenes which, I’m happy to say, came out amazing.” It also turns out The City Paper helped him get a project off the ground. “Shortly after the article came out, my friend approached me about making a documentary about Nicaragua – the country that he, as well as my parents, are from. So we spent about 6 months filming and editing this full-length documentary, A Better Tomorrow.” To see Emilio’s work, visit his personal YouTube page.
Larry D. Williams
Larry and the team at Project A Studios have had a rather tumultuous year. Fire Power, mentioned in our March story, is completely finished, but hasn’t been released yet. The company just signed on two producers, Kristen Colvin and Roshawnna Peoples. They’re helping to create the Project A Studios Epic Short Film Premier, “which consists of a few filmmakers making their own short films in December and January, screen the films, and the filmmakers will have a round table discussion with a Q&A portion.”
Steve J.P. Rodojev
“Shaft: The Akron Chronicles”, which Steve discussed in the March article, might be available for people to see soon. According to Steve, “I just launched a new YouTube channel ‘Rodojev Films’ which contains trailers of most of the films I’ve made. I’ve actually thought about releasing all three ‘Shaft’ films onto the channel to be viewed publicly so keep an eye out for these movies to be released in the near future.” Steve is working on a film that will bring attention to an important problem in Toledo. “The Wandering” is a fictional account of a girl’s harrowing experience with human trafficking. “I was inspired to write this film based on the times I heard about people going missing in Toledo and learning that Toledo is ranked as one of the top cities in the US for human trafficking— in our own backyard, that is very alarming to me.”
