Midwest Movie Maker

Filmmakers and friends, Aaron Schoonover and Nic Neary >>> What happens when an ordinary life collides with something extraordinary? Ohio filmmaker Aaron Schoonover brings that question to life this summer as he begins production on Meteor Anne in Wadsworth, Ohio , alongside producer, friend and fellow Wadsworth High School alum, Nic Neary. Inspired by true events, Meteor Anne tells the story of a woman struck by a meteorite — the first person in recorded history, in fact — whose life goes viral once the news hits the 24-hour cycle. At first, Anne avoids the spotlight. But as her husband encourages her to embrace her newfound fame, she’s swept up in interviews, public appearances, and even meets her celebrity crush at a live TV taping. When her 15 minutes end as quickly as they began, Anne struggles to return to normal life. The project was one of 14 projects recently awarded support from Ohio’s Motion Picture Tax Credit Program . We caught up with Schoonover and Neary to...

Volunteer zombies from 'The Dead Next Door' Our final five horrific questions feature - our Halloween edition - features one of my favorite horror directors, J.R. Bookwalter . And not just because I was an extra in his most notable film, the cult classic The Dead Next Door . In many ways, Bookwalter helped pave the way for independent filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith. The Akron-native dove into independent filmmaking in the late 1980s, shoring up funding, securing locations and writing his own personal guerilla filmmaking manual because, for the most part, no one else had done it yet. (Well, except maybe for Pittsburgh’s George Romero, an icon in independent horror filmmaking and one of Bookwalter’s idols. Oh, and Detroit’s Sam Raimi, who was coming off a hit with his independent horror movie The Evil Dead II and was instrumental in getting The Dead Next Door up off the ground.) After The Dead Next Door became a cult hit across the globe, Bookwal...

From the set of '25 Hill'. Early this month, I had the opportunity to visit the set of 25 Hill , producer/writer/ director/actor  Corbin Bernsen 's tribute to the All American Soap Box Derby . The film tells the tale of 12-year-old Trey Caldwell, who loses both his Army father to the Afghanistan War and the dream his father had for Trey, to race in a soap box derby. Trey eventually meets fellow lost soul Roy Gibbs, who has lost a lot himself: a son to 9/11 and the hope he once had for a bright future. Add to that a Soap Box Derby Championship cancelled because of financial problems, and you have a lot of uphill battles for Trey and Roy to overcome.  You could argue, though, that the story behind the story of 25 Hill  is more fascinating than the fictional story Bernsen's created. Reading a story about the real Soap Box Derby's financial troubles, Bernsen was inspired to write the story, make the film - and save the Derby in the process . Bernsen, along...

Akron filmmaker J.R. Bookwalter >>> It was more than ambitious for the time. Forget digital cameras and Macs loaded with editing and special effects software – the kind of off-the-shelf film staples that define the modern no-budget filmmaker today. This was 1988. A feature-length horror epic shot on a shoestring budget and Super-8mm film in downtown Akron, Ohio? What was J.R. Bookwalter thinking? “It was a complete fluke,” the filmmaker says. “A once in a lifetime thing.” That fluke turned into The Dead Next Door , a thunderbolt fueled by flesh-eating zombies, tough-as-nails soldiers, genius scientists, insane cult leaders, and gore – lots of it. It was even named one of Top 50 Essential Gore Films by Rue Morgue magazine. While it was made on a ultra-low-budget, it comes from a rich horror pedigree. Sam Raimi , the Detroit-born writer/director/producer, known for both his low-budget, independent horror film franchise  Evil Dead and his big-budget, studio blockbusters, i...