The Strand Theatre will offer a selection of four movies including a locally-made film this weekend.
The “Third Option” will premiere Friday night and stars Cassandra Dickhof, Paul Padgett, Andrew Miller and Hannah Weaver.
The feature length film begins with a girl who has no memory of her past. Her faceless captor forces her to kill people under the threat of death. But the situation changes when she meets Christopher, who offers her another option.
“This is film is so directly related to Delaware,” said Garrett Bailey, the film’s director.
The 19-year-old sophomore at Columbus State Community College has lived in Delaware for eight years and has worked at the theater, 28 E Winter St., for more than a year.
“I’ve always been interested in film,” Bailey said. He developed his own style of film with help from online videos. Bailey and three other people started BackRow Films studio. They made a half-hour long film that was screened at the Strand last April.
“I think anyone can make a film,” he said.
Bailey decided to take his hobby to the next level by making film an hour longer. He and about 25 people worked three weekends in August, shooting the film in Delaware, Radnor and Centerburg with a DSLR camera. The $500-budgeted movie took almost 10 days to shoot with the following months devoted to post-production.
Bailey said he was proud of the cast and crew and praised Dickhof, who had no prior acting experience, for her performance in the lead role.
“She’s the best actor in the film,” he said.
Bailey himself makes a cameo in the film but acknowledges that he’s a bad actor.
The movie showcases fight scenes and car chases, but the film is also a modern-day allegory with Christian-based elements, said Bailey, a member of Lifepoint Church, 104 N. Sandusky St., in Delaware.
“God help us to put it together,” he said.
In addition, the Strand Theatre and Cultural Arts Association and the Strand’s managing director, Tracey Peyton, gave its full support to Bailey’s film. Although the theater does not necessarily open its doors to every local film maker, she said, Bailey was an exception because he worked closely with her as a Strand employee.
“As local leaders, I think its important to spotlight local talent,” Peyton said.
Bailey would not have found similar success if he worked for a larger corporate theater, she added.
“It would have to come from the top down,” Peyton said. “… We were able to do it pretty quickly because we’re small.”
After seeing the movie twice, she said the film can still be relevant 20 years from now.
“It doesn’t have a weak plot by any means,” Peyton said.
The film will premiere at 11 p.m. Friday with a second showing at 11 a.m. Saturday. The film was rated for ages 13 and up for action, violence and thematic material. The rating was issued by a private committee made up of members that have no relations with the cast or crew, Bailey said.
The film may be screened at a film festival but will become available online for purchase, he said.
“It is a lot of fun and that’s what we want it to be,” Bailey said.
For information go to www.facebook.com/BackRowFilmsOhio.
