THE GEM & CENTURY THEATRES At The Movies Based on the true story of Patsy Cline's friendship with an adoring fan, Always... Patsy Cline is a heartfelt comedy featuring over 20 of (line's most memorable songs. Written and Directed by Ted Swindley "Patsy Cline is brought to exuberant life by Jessica Welch." -Michael H. Margolin, Detroit News "The audience loves Patsy." -Martin F. Kohn, Detroit Free Press The Purple Rose Theatre Company Production of "Yoop it up for Escanaba, a Gem of a comedy." -Michael H. Margolin, Detroit News "Some comedies have laughs by the dozen. Escanaba has them by the gross." Stepping Stone -Martin F. Kohn, Detroit Free Press A Hilarious Comedy BY JEFF DANIELS 1. ri:u With the launch of "Road to Nowhere," former Detroiter Mark Leutcher has high hopes for a successful career in film. ,tit \I)11 SPEC111.! BUT ONE, GET ONE FREE \ p i R I R I I \ \ JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR 313-963-9800 • 333 Madison Ave www.genitheatre.co ill Special to the Jewish News (248) 645-6666 www.Ocketmastencom (wilt ) "The best Pizza in Metro Detroit" " Tops on my list... Their Filet Mignon" John Tanasychuk Detroit Free Press January 8th, 1999 • Pasta Specialties • Pizza • Steaks• Chops • Poultry • Seafood • Cocktails OPEN DAILY - LUNCH & DINNER OPEN WEEKDAYS UNTIL 2:00 AM WEEKENDS UNTIL 3:30 AM A Ferndale Favorite Since 1961 111 0 4 Italian-American Famly Restaurant 01110 9S OUTDOOR PATIO!! 4/7 2000 110 Woodward at 9 Mile • (248) 548-5005 n Hollywood today, making a movie with a budget of a mere seven figures is a feat of question- able accounting and ingenuity; putting one together in six figures spells indie or amateur or worse. But stitching together a film with only $7,500 called for a special combination of creativity, hard work, fast talk and interesting deals for a Detroit-area native. Mark Leutcher, 27, spent a good deal of the last year living his dream of mak- ing his own movie, Road to Nowhere. It will be screened 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, at Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater, through a grant from the Michigan Filmmakers Outreach Program, which provides filmmakers with an opportuni- ty to get their projects shown. Now, Leutcher is applying to film festivals from the Slam Dance Festival in Park City, Utah, to the Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France, hoping his hard work and per- severance so obvious in the film's frames will pay off — launching him into a formal career in filmmaking. The Hillel Day School grad began his latest film by writing the script, a tale of two young men in a deteriorat- ing friendship who decide to go on a last road trip before college com- mencement to see the Grateful Dead in concert. During the six-day adven- ture, the pair discover their relation- ship has unraveled to the point that it cannot be repaired. To fund the project that he believed in so much, Leutcher emp- tied the account in which he kept the money given to him for his bar mitz- vah 14 years ago. "It made me feel really good," he said, sharing a story about a friend who bought a motorcycle with his bar mitzvah money. Both are vehicles, he added, one more literally and one more figuratively. "When you are sink- ing your bar mitzvah money into something, you better damn well make sure you are going somewhere with it." But that little sum was not enough to pay any actor for any considerable stretch of time much less find good equipment, film, crew members, music or editing help. For all of these elements, Leutcher had to find ways to get people to give him what he wanted without having to spend a lot of cash. "I had to ask and ask and ask, beg and beg," he said. "I believe in the film, 2D , SO I didn't mind being a schnorrer." One way he saved cash was by filming in public places, on week- ends, in the dead of night. For a seg- ment of the film devoted to the grad- uation of the two stars, he obtained the right to film scenes during the University of Michigan graduation, thereby unobtrusively working in sev- eral thousand unpaid "extras." For the stars and other actors, he promised interesting payments. Corm