BY TIM ALEXANDER FOR COURIER NEWSPAPERS
MARCH 26, 2008
A little slice of Hollywood is coming to central Illinois.
Metamora natives Levi Obery and David Zimmerman II have completed production of a feature-length movie, Into the Woods, which will premiere at the Apollo Theatre in Downtown Peoria on Sunday, March 30.
Shot on-location exclusively in Metamora and rural Washburn, the film follows five college students during a camping trip into the woods. When four disappear overnight, the race to find them stirs up a roller coaster of twists and unexpected events, according to the film's press release.
Obery, who is 21 and a Bradley University student majoring in entrepreneurship, said the movie could be described as akin to the popular Saw horror franchise. "We can't give (the plot) away," Obery told the Courier, "but audiences will be surprised at the several plot twists at the end of the film."
Obery began producing small video projects under the auspices of Ten Thirty-One Pictures in 2002 while a student at Metamora High School, from where he graduated in 2005. The name was derived from his first film collaboration with his friend and fellow Metamora High School student David Zimmerman and is, of course, the date of Halloween (10-31, get it?). Obery was named chief executive officer of Ten Thirty-One Pictures Entertainment Inc. in 2006 and is the principal shareholder in the company. He manages the company's overall operations, which include motion picture, video, television, and web development, production, and distribution.
In 2004, Obery and Zimmerman wrote, directed, and produced The Only Way, a film Obery said focuses on the causes and consequences of a school shooting. The following summer the due produced another film, Before the Storm, which premiered at Peoria's Willow Knolls Theaters in August of 2005.
Obery's career as a fledgling producer of independent films received a boost earlier this year when he was asked to go to Los Angeles to serve as line producer for an indie flick sponsored by the Filmmaker's Alliance, a community of film artists dedicated to the advancement of "true" independent film making. The film's production company and award-winning director, Edgar Michael Bravo, had noticed Ten Thirty-One Picture's website and found Obery's roster of work to be as advertised -- original and cutting-edge.
"They contacted us about a possibly co-producing the film," said Obery, who left for L.A. on February and worked for three weeks.
Obery is proud of his company's reputation for quality, cutting-edge films, saying they're not afraid to produce films about controversial subjects. "We're not afraid to tell stories that others may be reluctant to tell," he said, "but we're also known as cutting-edge because we stay up to date with the latest technology and film making methods. We also stay up to date with our equipment and software."
Obery and Zimmerman purchased their first pieces of production equipment, a Sony Handy Cam, with earnings from small projects such as compiling video from sports highlights. They own all of the equipment used in the filming and production of their movies. Filming in high definition video, they eschew the popular "hand-held video" production style prevalent in many of today's movies and television shows. "We don't film our movies Blair Witch-style," Obery said.
Ten Thirty-One Pictures' commercial production services include feature and short films, "teasers and trailers," music videos, television commercials, wedding, sports, and promotional videos, DVD authoring, menu, and packaging design, CD/DVD duplication, graphic design, web production, scripting, and product placement. "We feel that film and video is a powerful medium and understand how it can inspire your audience," Obery tells commercial clients. "Our state of the art equipment and talented production team will bring your ideas to life."
The company has produced commercial projects for clients such as Eureka College, the Art Rod Foundation, and Didley's restaurant.
Obery and Zimmerman, who currently resides in Chicago while completing his education at Columbia College Chicago, plan to make the March 30 premiere of Into the Woods a memorable event for those attending.
"There will be a red carpet and some of the actors and crew will be attending," Obery said. "We are going to make it as Hollywood-like as possible."
The thespians filling the movie's roles are all from the area, Obery said, and include Zach Neff, Tara Turner, Chris Brown, Sarah Rachel Riddle, Josh Portscheller, and Brandon Zimmerman. Crew included Kelvin Parker, Jordan Zimmerman, Emily Martin, Jake Laduke, Ian Keime, and Tyler Glaub; all are locals, as well.
The premiere at the Apollo Theatre, 311 Main Street, will begin with cast and crew arrivals at 6 p.m. followed by the film and a "black-tie" reception. A second screening of the film will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the premiere and reception or $5 for the 8 p.m. showing. Tickets can be purchased in advance online.
Obery doesn't expect the movie to propel he and Zimmerman to star status in the film making industry, though they plan to shop the movie to a few independent film festivals. "We'll send it out and see what happens," he said, adding that after the premiere it will be available "on demand" through Internet sales.
The film will likely represent the final curtain for Obery's central Illinois-based film making career. After graduating from Bradley in May of 2009, he's planning a long-term move to the City of Angels, where he expects to begin work in the fall of that year on a sequel to the film he recently returned from working on. "I plan to make this my lifetime's work," Obery said of filmmaking.
If Obery succeeds in L.A., it will certainly seem a lifetime away from the woods of rural Washburn and the streets of Metamora.
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