Corbin Bernsen's planned movie about the All-American Soap Box Derby has gotten the go-ahead from the actor-producer.
Bernsen, who plans to shoot most of the movie in the Akron area, was in town recently to make sure the financing would be available for the film, 25 Hill, which he also wrote and will act in and direct.
Bernsen originally imagined the movie costing $750,000 to $1 million but said the commitments he now has for about $500,000 are enough to get the film going — if the commitments are all met.
''It's not a jump-up-and-down [situation],'' Bernsen said on Wednesday. ''But we are green-lit.''
The movie is in better shape than it was when Bernsen was interviewed on Sunday. Then he considered starting with as little as $300,000 or $400,000, although he said Wednesday that would still have meant coming up with a total of $500,000 before the movie was finished.
Still, Bernsen said: ''People did step up on Monday. People who had committed before came in, and we got a good amount of checks. And I saw great energy going forward. I also got direct promises from a good handful of other people that looked me in the eye and said, 'You will have [money] . . . in the next week and a half or so.' ''
He still hopes to raise more, to get at least $750,000 to make the movie as conceived — and especially to allow for more extensive shooting in July, when 25 Hill will work in and around actual derby events.
''We have the confidence now,'' he said. ''We have a massive list of people still saying they want to contribute. . . . We are confident that we will get enough to make a really good movie.''
Some observers have asked why Bernsen himself does not simply put up the money. After all, he is a steadily working actor currently appearing on USA Network series Psych.
''I've already written a script for nothing,'' he said. ''I've already spent X amount coming here on these six trips. . . . I have an ownership in the movie, but I'm also writing, directing, producing . . . for free.''
He will get paid Screen Actors Guild minimum for appearing in the movie, he said. But he noted he has also given up other possible jobs to work on the film.
''I could be out doing movies-of-the-week, movies, TV guest appearances and all that kind of stuff,'' he said, adding that he often makes as much as $500,000 on work during breaks from Psych and he has instead been focusing on the derby film. ''That is my investment.''
Besides, he said, a movie that is not a community project ''is not as exciting.''
''My original intention was to get this funded between myself and people I know in Los Angeles,'' he said. Such a movie probably would have been shot in California. ''It's when it became a community project, a made-in-Akron thing, that it became a different thing.''
Bernsen said that while scouting locations on Tuesday, the movie team found a house in Silver Lake that was so perfect for the film, it was a sign that it will get done. (He declined to say whose home, pending completion of a deal to shoot there.)
''It was just a really nice, great vibe to the house,'' he said. ''The people couldn't have been nicer and really opened their arms to us and opened their house, and we worked out something.''
More will yet be worked out. Production offices in derby headquarters will open in about two weeks, with shooting tentatively set to start around April 5. Bernsen hopes also to cast some roles locally.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com, on Facebook and on Twitter. He also does a weekly video chat for Ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
