To the surprise — and total delight – of the Humble Pie Films’ producers, their low-budget indie Fancypants, was a hit right out of the gate. At its first festival entry, it won Best Feature, the top prize from the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Fla., in April.
The comedy/drama is the redemptive story of wrestling legend, Leo the Blue Lion, at the end of his once vibrant career. One day Leo learns the only fan he has left is an 11-year old boy.
The festival prize and acclaim reinforced the producers’ belief in the power and emotional resonance of the film.
“It’s a sweet story about how Leo and the kid end up bonding, a fallen hero story about redemption,” says producer Daniel Hanson.
In 2007, Hanson, who also owns non-film businesses, formed Humble Pie Films, with creative director/DP Jim Andre, creative producer Jim Poole and Fancypants writer/director Joshua Russell, a screenwriting instructor at DePaul University.
The following summer, with money raised from private investors –- Hanson declined to say what the budget was — Russell directed over a four-week period and Andre shot with a Panasonic HVX 200 camera.
Ex-con Patrick Gleason stars as Leo the Lion
The movie’s unlikely star as Leo is a Maywood ex-convict Patrick Gleason, a childhood friend of Andre. Gleason had served 15 years in Illinois prisons for attempted murder of a policeman and a bouncer outside a bar in suburban Stone Park in 1989.
When the producers asked Gleason if he would be interested in playing tattooed wrestler Leo the Lion, Gleason was completing the final two years and eight months of his sentence, under house arrest. The parole officer arranged to have Gleason’s electronic monitoring bracelet cut off early for good behavior, specifically so he could take the role.
“He was a movie buff,” Gleason says. “So I said, ‘I’m supposed to start one month of training for this role, how can I do that with this bracelet on?’ And he managed to get me cut out loose four months only.”
The Mexican wrestling group, the elaborately masked Lucha Libra, put Gleason through physically-challenging, fast-paced training. “The director came to a workout and said what are you guys doing? If you get hurt it’s going to stop production,” Gleason laughed.
Gleason now wishes to pursue other acting gigs. He has taken acting classes at Chicago Motion Picture Studio in Greektown, and posed for headshots. “Dan Hanson has started putting them out there for me, like he’s my agent,” Gleason says.
The film also stars “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (They Live) Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds), two American Gladiators, Don “Hollywood” Yates (a.k.a. Wolf) and Chicagoan Beth Horn (a.k.a. Venom, or Animal Babe in Fancypants).
Actors Richard Kind (A Serious Man) and Nicholas Turturro (The Longest Yard) have featured parts.
Real-life friends Jackson Dunn, 11, and Noah Rogers, 9, from Glenview’s Christian Heritage Academy, play two of the principal children’s roles as fans who help Leo face his fears outside the ring.
Hanson says a Chicago premiere is planned for early fall and by then Humble Pie should have a deal in place for Video on Demand and DVD release. The partners are also planning a theatrical self-release.
