Chicago’s Bad Little Thing, Inc, releases its first feature and dramatic comedy, The Crusades in select theaters and on VOD & Digital on July 7.
The comedy will screen July 7 – 12 at the historic Pickwick Theatre, 5 South Prospect Ave, Park Ridge, not far from the film’s shooting locations in Glenview and Wildwood as well as Notre Dame College Prep in Niles. For tickets, go to Pickwick Theatre.
Starring Rudy Pankow (Outer Banks), Kahlil Everage (Cobra Kai) Mike Starr (Goodfellas) Nicholas Turturro (The Longest Yard) Indiana Massara (Hero Mode), Ashley Nicole Williams (Motherland: Fort Salem), Blaine Maye (Joe Bell) and Anna Maiche (Tiny Pretty Things) and introducing Ryan Ashton.
The Story:
For many, high school is supposed to be defined by wild parties, backseat hook-ups and a devil-may-care attitude. But, when three friends at Our Lady of the Crusades, an all-boys high school, receive earth-shattering news about an upcoming merger with their rivals, they make a pact to have one last, epic weekend before their lives turn upside down. The choices they make over the weekend might end up changing their lives more than they ever could have imagined.
After attending an all-boys private high school on the northwest side of Chicago, director Leo Milano studied at Columbia College Chicago where he met producer Brent Madison and cinematographer Dillon Schneider, who he would later collaborate with on The Crusades.
While in college, Leo discovered that his high school experience was nothing like his new classmates. “I was shocked to realize that the majority of the public have never witnessed the beautiful madness that is an all-male high school and became determined to tell the story,” said Milano.
Leo then teamed up with high school friends and collaborators, Shaun Early and Jack Hussar and set out to write what they believe to be a realistic view of teenage life in the Midwest, inspired by their time in high school. Over the last decade, the trio wrote countless episodes, filmed two TV spec pilots, and shopped the concept around Hollywood, until they finally got the project made as a feature film, now known as, The Crusades.
“The Crusades was a film born out of love of story and passion for filmmaking,” said producer Madison. “The film stays true to the creators original vision and that’s what we set out to do, make a movie that was uniquely ours. I know we certainly achieved that, and I couldn’t be happier with how this first feature endeavor turned out. It took everything our cast, crew, and supporters had to see this film through and I’m excited for audiences to finally share in their experience with us.
Bad Little Thing, Inc’s next film, Ten Cent Beer Night is currently in development.
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