NWI Events: Stephen DeLeon

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00 Thursday, 04 February 2010 00:48

Stephen DeLeon

Bar Room Hero,

By Mona Dickinson

Local resident Stephen DeLeon turned a short story into the independent film, Bar Room Hero, which made its screen debut Jan. 18 at the Portage 16 theatres.  “It was more than I could have ever expected,” DeLeon said after the premier, which drew a capacity crowd of not only family and friends, but also others who had heard about the film through internet postings and word of mouth.  “I had film students and others that saw the movie poster coming up to me and congratulating me on the project,” added Deleon. “We actually had to turn people away.” A second screening has been set for 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb.  12, at Clancy’s Irish Pub in the Portage Mall, the setting for the film. There will be no charge for the viewing, but donations will be accepted.

The storyline of the film, which DeLeon calls a “semi-personal experience,” is simple – a guy returns to a small town years after leaving it. Broken hearted, broke and living with his parents, he reconnects with his old group of friends who try to get him to stop wallowing in his own self-pity through beer and laughs.

At their local bar, he meets a beautiful bartender, who is going through her own divorce. He falls for her and starts hanging out at the bar. When his best friend urges him to confess his feelings, he refuses on the notion that she will reject him and thus ruin their relationship.

“It’s a story that everyone can relate to in some way,” said DeLeon, who has been writing and interested in film work since high school (Portage 2001).

The film stars Steve Budkis, Kimmie Walsh, Andrew McKee, Fernando Ramirez III, Joe James, Darren Hehr, Snezana Kecman, Jennifer Marshall, Christy Sandage and bar patrons who were used as extras to film some of the bar scenes.  Some answered a casting call that DeLeon put out on Craigslist and others were friends who wanted to be involved.  He said he chose Clancy’s as the setting since he worked there and it seemed like the perfect setting for his story.  The film itself took about nine months from start to finish, including the 10 Sundays of actual filming at Clancy’s and at locations in Portage and Lake Station. DeLeon said that about 40 hours of actual filming was condensed into the final project – 1 hour and 44 minutes.

“I couldn’t have done without a group of people who were dedicated to the project,” DeLeon noted, especially coproducer Rainier Alcantara and director of photography John Metzler.

Special thanks also go out to Brendan Clancy and the staff of Clancy’s Irish Pub, the Ramirez family, Mary O’Heir, Clark Johnson and Chris Melendez. Additionally, several Portage restaurants provided food for the cast during filming including Quizno’s, Dunkin Donuts, Gelsosomo’s and Verona Pizza.  The film does contain strong language and DeLeon said he was concerned about the audience reaction when the film premiered on the big screen. “I was worried about the audience reaction to the language and being a comedy, if they would get the humor,” he said. “We actually prescreened it with the cast before the premier.”

“We laughed, we laughed a lot (at the pre-screening),” noted Andrew McKee, who plays the best friend in the movie.  McKee said he’s never done anything like this before but had so much fun and really learned from the others in cast, especially the lead characters - Steve Budkis, a stand-up comedian and Kimmie Walsh, an actress who has worked on other films.

DeLeon said a lot of people really liked the music from the movie and because of the response, a soundtrack from the film may be in the works.

“I actually used several songs from With Honors, a Lafayettebased band I used to play drums with, and some other local and Midwest bands I knew,” said DeLeon.  Besides With Honors, music is also featured from Sam Vicari, a musician from Crown Point, along with Carridale, District, Cori Indiana, Fernando Ramirez III and Mouth Dakota.  The movie has been entered into several film festivals around the country and will be entered into others. Entry fees range upwards of $100 for each entry. The films are then screened by judges and audiences and awarded accordingly.