On July 31st I settled on the sale of my long time house in Trolley Square in Wilmington. I packed what I could into my car, piled Buckner the dog into the back seat and headed West. After spending a couple of days with friends on a lake in Newaygo, Michigan; I met my girl Pam in Chicago, and we stared weaving our way west.
We spent the next two weeks dissecting Rt 94 stopping at some great spots along the way including Deadwood and Sturgis, South Dakota; and Missoula and Flathead Lake, Montana eventually landing at my new home in Portland, Oregon.
I wasn't in Portland for that long before getting the call. One of my old buddies from college, Matt Fine, was making a movie in Michigan with his brother Jeff. It was one of those all-hands-on deck calls that you have to answer if you can. Fortunately for me and much to the chagrin of Portland Pam, I had yet to really look for a job so I had some time on my hands.
So for the passed two months I have been in Kalamazoo, Michigan working on an independent movie called Cherry which is a coming of age story about a young man embarking on his freshman year of college that is enriched by great writing and solid acting. The cast includes:
West Chester's own: Kyle Gallner; plus: Laura Allen, Brittany Robertson, Esai Morales, Stephanie Venditto, Kirk Anderson, DC Pierson (Search YouTube for his comedy troupe: Derrick), Zosia Mamet, and Matt Walsh.
The film was written and directed by my friend Jeff Fine, and shot by legendary cinematographer Marvin Rush.
We made the film in Michigan because of the incredible incentive program that the state is offering the film industry. We shot the film on two college campuses: Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College, and several locations throughout the town of Kalamazoo.
The entire crew was also living in a vacant dorm on Western's campus. So in many ways it was like we were all going back to college as well including playing bocce ball in the halls and tapping the occasional keg in the party room of the sixth floor.
For me it was a once in a lifetime experience. I was charged with many different tasks including casting a few of the supporting roles, casting the hundreds of extras that appeared in the film, and overseeing an internship program that saw scores of college students get an opportunity to work on the movie in several different capacities. One of those students may get a chance to go out to LA to continue to work on the movie during the post production process.
I also have a neat cameo in the movie as a male nurse; plus I even cast a robot. When it is all said and done I will be credited as an Associate Producer.
I am not exactly sure what is next for me but I feel like I have been bitten by the bug, and I am looking forward to continue to write and hopefully drum up some interest in one of my screenplays. But for now I am getting ready to head to Mexico and relax for much of December with my girl Portland Pam.
I have been trying to keep up with Delaware Football as best I could from afar, and I know it has not been a great year. Hopefully the basketball team will step up and get things going in the right direction again. Plus we all know that UD Football will not be down for long.
Goodbye for now and Happy Thanksgiving!
Bill Komissaroff
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