St. Louis is a star in ‘Four Color Eulogy’

When your friends are local professional actors, making a movie with people renowned for their stage work would be like play practice, right?

Well, yes and no. Jason Contini, co-writer who stars as Chris in “Four Color Eulogy,” had already learned that stage acting was different than acting on camera. But a quick lesson in mechanics was needed for those not used to the transition.

“On stage, your actions have to be bigger because you’re playing to the 50th row,” Contini said. “On film, the camera is right there in front of your face so you’re playing to the camera. Therefore you get to do more with your eyes, you get to do subtle little movements. Things don’t have to be quite as big. We had a great cast of consummate professionals, all of which were able to flip over to film acting very easily.”

Because of their camaraderie, bonding during productions in 30 regional theater companies, their ease with each other was conveyed seamlessly on screen.

The movie debuted at the 2014 St. Louis International Film Festival with a sold-out screening. On Friday, it begins a one-week run at Ronnie’s 20 Cine in South St. Louis County. The Wehrenberg Theatres chain accepted the film for showing as a theatrical run.

“This will hopefully be the first of several theatrical screenings across the U.S, and if the first week of screenings at Ronnie’s is successful, they have the option to hold it over for another week,” Contini said.

“This is a huge victory for a small indie feature, something that many bigger films haven’t been able to achieve. This will give us a boost of credibility as we continue to wind our way through the distribution maze, which all things considered, is going quite well.”

On Friday, the initial screening was sold out, so Wehrenberg has moved it into a bigger auditorium. About 80 tickets remain, which can be purchased online http://fourcolorthemovie.com/events/ or at Ronnie’s box office.

The cast will begin arrivals on the red carpet at 6:30 p.m., followed by the screening at 7:30 p.m., then conduct a question-and-answer session afterward.

The talent involved is 100 percent from the St. Louis metropolitan area, Contini said. Those with metro-east roots include Belleville native Whit Reichert, Nashville native Erin Kelley and James Anthony, who lives in Madison County.

St. Louisans Nicholas J. Hearne, Zachary Allen Farmer, Amy Loui, Dean Christopher, Jon Hey and Ryan Scott Foizey are in the cast. Local musicians and artists also contributed, including the band Clockwork and Abby Stahlschmidt. Taylor Pietz wrote an original song, “Color Me,” which can be seen as a music video on YouTube.

The story centers on a comic-book artist who returns home to south St. Louis when his mother becomes ill.

The movie is about friendships, Contini said. His character Chris says: “Our pasts … the moments of our life, they make up our story, as well as the stories of those that we let in.”

St. Louis is also very much a character in the film. Shot during the summer of 2014, local businesses and institutions, such as Uncle Bill’s Pancake House on South Kingshighway, Melrose Club on The Hill, Newcastle Comics in Maryland Heights and Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Church, are featured prominently in the film.

“The majority of the film was shot in and around Dutchtown and South City. The south side is where my dad and I both grew up and it was important to us that the film was set there,” Contini said.

In the past two years, John Contini has won St. Louis Theater Circle Awards for his portrayal of Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman” and for directing “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” His son Jason played Happy, Loman’s son in “Death of a Salesman” at Insight Theater Company, and won a Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. They have both worked steadily at numerous theaters.

Jason and his father, who stars as a bartender who becomes a mentor to Chris, started writing the script while they were each working on opposite coasts – Jason was in L.A. and John was in New York City. They would Skype to confer. Jason had worked at a comic book shop, Comic Headquarters, in South County, and drew on that experience.

Along with his brother Nathan Contini and his friend Hearne, he co-founded Archlight Comics/Studios and his a co-creator and artist for their flagship comic book, “Legacies’ End: Celestials and Paladins.”

“The opportunity to create this film with my dad has been such a rewarding experience, from writing the film via Skype, to watching these characters come to life, to the release of the film,” Contini said. “And then to include people like Nicholas J. Hearne, who has been a surrogate brother of mine for 15 years, and Wyatt Weed, the older brother I never had, into the process made this a giant ‘family’ experience in every aspect.”

Weed, who had 18 years of Hollywood experience before moving back to St. Louis, formed Pirate Pictures and shot the movie “Shadowland” about eight years ago, joined the project as director, co-writer and cinematographer. He shares a love of all things comic-related, and wanted the finished piece to put geek culture into the mainstream.

“This movie has been an opportunity to mash things up. The look of the film is straight out of ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’, but the mood is somewhere between a classic ’50s melodrama and an ’80s comedy,” Weed said. “There are some in-depth geek references, but you don’t have to get them in order to understand the film. It is about family, friendship and love, and when it’s over, it will make you appreciate your family and your crazy friends.”

“Four Color Eulogy” is Weed’s second St. Louis-based feature film project with his producing partner Gayle Gallagher and second collaboration between Weed and Jason Contini.

Weed praised Jason as a very experienced and studied actor.

“I can always call on him for anything, behind the camera or in front of it. Through all of this, we’ve become really good friends,” he said.

Jason returned home after eight years living in Los Angeles but is thrilled with the opportunities here.

“It is so hard to get a project made out there that during that entire time I only made two feature films. And one of those got shelved. I’ve only been back in St. Louis for a little under three years. And yet in that time I’ve made a feature film, a music video, two shorts, a fan film, and done about 15 various live theatrical productions. It almost feels like the arts are more alive and thriving here than anywhere else. And hopefully we can bring more exposure to the local artists in our community,” he said.

“The best thing about working and filming in St. Louis is the support that we get from the community. Here in St. Louis, filmmaking is still a new and exciting and magical thing. People in this town are not jaded to a film crew coming in and shooting all day. It brings the fun and joy back to the craft itself,” Contini said.

Recently, Jason was a producer, editor and star of the indie war film “Khyber” with director Kermit C. Graham, which is currently in post-production. Next, he will be seen as The Gentleman Caller in Upstream Theatre Company’s production of Tennessee William’s “The Glass Menagerie,” which opens April 29 and will be part of the inaugural Tennessee Williams Festival.

“’Four Color Eulogy” is a very big and exciting moment for all of us who worked on the film – everybody’s time and hard work has paid off,” he said.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 11:14 AM with the headline "St. Louis is a star in ‘Four Color Eulogy’."