Comedy feature ‘Sister Mary’ premieres in St. Charles

FILMMAKER JAMES VALLO’S COMEDY, Sister Mary, has its world premiere Saturday, July 16 at  the  Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St., in St. Charles, followed by a party at Chord on Blues. 

The story is about homophobic detective Mark Rima (James Vallo) who must with flamboyantly gay detective Chris Riant (Shawn Quinlan) to stop a serial killing nun (Judy Tenuta) from offing five band members otherwise known as The Ex-Choir Boys.  A task force focuses on the Catholic Church and a suspect group of priests who have had a propensity for “cleansing the souls” of innocent choir boys.

Produced by James Vallo’s Movies and West Bridge Entertainment, Sister Mary also stars comedians Bruce Vilanch, Ant, Brent Corrigan, Anthony Fagiano, Miss Foozie, Jayden Varun Shastry, James Pusztay, Eddie Huchro and many others.  

Tickets are online at www.oshows.com.

KICKSTARTER MADE A BIG FAN out of docmaker Malachi Leopold, who raised a little over $25,000 for his film, I am the Water, You are the Sea, about two gay men reuniting in the Middle East.  “We are now going into simultaneous pre-production for the shoot this fall, and equity fundraising for the completion funds for the documentary,” says Leopold.

Elizabeth Lawrence of 'Roll Out Cowboy'ROLL OUT, COWBOY an award-winning feature documentary about struggling artist Chris Sand, a.k.a. Sandman, the Rappin’ Cowboy, who tries to make  a buck as he travels the open road experiencing the highs and lows of a modern day troubadour, has its theatrical premiere July 22-31 at Facets Multimedia.

Produced by Elizabeth Lawrence
and Warner Boutin, Roll Out Cowboy is the directorial debut of Lawrence, who has worked as a production manager and line producer and has written and directed numerous short films. Editor was Elizabeth Ross, who has been an assistant editor on several features.

A FEW DAYS AFTER GRADUATING from Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, Andrew Zurek was named Microsoft Tech Student of the Month for June.  He won the award after a semester that included a U.S. Imagine Cup win in the Game Design category for Spero, the video game that he and other members of TFA’s Team Bloom created. 

Zurek’s long-term plans are to open up his own game development company in Chicago.

IN PRODUCTION NOW through July 24 on Chicago’s North Side and Lake Forest, is indie film, Nightlights, produced by Play On Productions, which was founded by special educator and filmmaker David Midell of Northbrook to give a voice to the special needs community through film.  

The story is about Erin, the sole caretaker of her autistic twin brother, Jacob. After Erin stumbles in a chance at love, she is forced to redefine her relationship with her brother, and make one of the most difficult decisions of her life.”

Middell is executive producer/director, Adam Dick and Keaton Wooden produced, Don Albert associate producer, John Klien, DP, Meagan McDonough, production designer, Michael Chandler, first AD.  Nick Izzo wrote the script.

It stars Shawna Waldron, Leslie Easterbrook, Jeff Garretson and Kate Black. Midell wrote and also directs. Producers are Adam Dick and Keaton Wooden.  

POPULAR SOUND OPINIONS at the Movies series will screen the 1984 Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense as part of The Music Box Theatre Summer Music Film Festival, closing night July 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Chicago Public Media’s Sound Opinions, the world’s only rock ‘n’ roll talk show, is co-hosted by pop music critics, the Tribune’s Greg Kot and WBEZ.org’s Jim DeRogatis, and airs on more than 90 radio stations around the country. They will be on hand to provide some pre-show historical perspective.

The 1984 concert film was directed by Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) who crafted concert film from footage of three live gigs at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre.  

Please continue sending your Indie Focus news to Ruth@ReelChicago.com, while regular Indie Focus columnist Ed Koziarski is away in Japan producing a documentary.