June 4 marks premiere for local independent movie
June 4 marks premiere for local independent movie
By Dan Magazu
LEOMINSTER–Residents who packed the stands at Doyle Field during the summer of 2008 for the filming of an independent movie will have a chance to see themselves on the big screen when it premieres in Worcester next week.
“There are a few different football scenes in the film and each one has a lot of crowd shots and close-ups,” said Andrea Ajemian, producer of the film “BoyBand: Breakin’ Through in ’82.” “A lot of the people who were in the stands during filming will appear in the movie.”
The film is scheduled to open to the public on Friday, June 4 at Showcase Cinema in Worcester, where it will run for one week. Originally called “We Got The Beat,” the film was shot entirely in Worcester County over the course of five weeks during the summer of 2008.
“It took us a year and a half to cut the movie down from three hours to an hour and a half,” Ajemian said. “I’m extremely happy with the final cut. We did a lot of test screening to figure out which scenes to keep and which to cut out.”
The movie is a commercial teen comedy set in 1982 about a high-school quarterback who qui9ts the team to turn his heavy-metal band into the first-ever boy band.
The film is being self-distributed in select theaters in Massachusetts and Ajemian hopes to create a national buzz. She said the movie differs form typical arthouse indie films, because it’s a wacky teen comedy with commercial appeal.
The writer and director of the film is Jon Artigo, whose other films include “Rutland, USA” and “Freedom Park.”
The film features 11 actors and actresses who have appeared in various television shows and movies.
The star of the film is Michael Copon, 27, who has appeared in “One Tree Hill,” “Beyond the Break” and “Reno 911.
“Michael will be at Friday’s opening,” Ajemian said.
Ajemian is a producer and partner with Artigo Ajemian Films, based in Worcester. The group’s first film had just a $4,000 budget, but “BoyBand: Breakin’ Through in ’82″ cost $750,000 to make.
“We’ve come a long way,” Ajemian said. “We always promote Central Massachusetts in our work.”
The film isn’t yet rated, but filmmakers anticipate a PG-13 rating for language and sexual references.
There will be three showings on Friday. For more information, visit http://www.boybandmovie.com
An after-party open to the public will be held at Gilrein’s, located at 802 Main St., Worcester, following Friday’s opening. Doors open at 9 p.m. and there is a $7 cover charge.
