OUGHTA BE IN PICTURES

BY ANDREW WELLNER

Frontiersman

WASILLA — You may have heard some chatter lately about Hollywood coming to Alaska — the big-time movie being shot in Anchorage — and the tax incentives the state hopes will entice film crews here.

Somebody else has heard all that too — the Quake Brothers, Michael Burns and Dean Q. Mitchell.

Burns is the guy who put together Blambo Entertainment, the crew that brought you the locally produced documentary on Wasilla’s skate park, “Breath of Fresh Air.”

For the last three years, he and Mitchell have worked to assemble a whole new crew of locals under the banner of 1964 Motion Pictures. That new group is putting together a film by the name of Proper Binge, sort of a dark comic look at alcoholism.

A fund-raiser for the movie is at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 16, in the theater at the Alaska Club in Wasilla. The event includes speakers from all aspects of the film to explain what is happening here in Alaska.

“We are currently looking for investors to help get this project off the ground and filmed in June of next year,” Burns said. “We want to keep the money here, in Alaska and as local as possible for this particular film.”

He said the plan is to shoot the movie at the Motherlode Lodge in Hatcher Pass and in Wasilla and Palmer.

Burns said movies are the next big industry coming to Alaska and the state needs to be prepared. Part of preparing means putting together companies like his, to take advantage of those tax incentives and to provide talent when the big-name Hollywood companies start rolling into town.

He and his crew have the highest of aspirations for Proper Binge.

“We’ve got enough, more than enough, plenty of talent here locally,” he said. “We know we’ll be on a certain level to be able to compete with all the independent films in the world.”

He has his sights set on national and international independent film festivals. Getting into one of those is not out of the question, he said. He knows of at least one Alaska film that has played at Sundance.

One of the people who will help him get there is Chery Manning, who has signed on in the role of executive producer. Manning was working in her day job at a local chiropractor’s office when Burns and his co-director and co-writer, Mitchell, walked into her life.

“They wanted to try to get some fundraising money from the doctor,” Manning said. “I said, ‘you guys have no idea who you just came across.”

Manning said she’s been dreaming of the film business since she was a little girl. She’s written scripts. Her first, penned at age 13, was a sequel to Return of the Jedi. She sent a copy to George Lucas, 20th Century Fox and to Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. In response she got a note letting her know they were appreciative that she was so passionate about Star Wars but, it is a copyrighted item, Manning said.

“I wanted to go to California after I graduated high school up here by my mom just did not want me to going to L.A. by myself,” she said.

She’s written scripts since then, off and on, but she had children and those things were put on hold. She did make time to go to Valdez when Steven Segal was filming “On Deadly Ground” there.

That day when Mitchell and Burns walked in, she said she told them she would do anything it took to get their film made. She’s working on the money end of things, hence the title of producer.

1964 Motion Pictures has put together a trailer for the film and a few short making-of-type documentaries. The company is still fund-raising. Anything below $1,000, he said, they consider a donation. Anything higher is an investment and his intention is to try and double his investors’ money through theatrical releases, home movie deals, broadcast licenses and the soundtrack.

The goal is a budget of around $300,000. The film has pre-qualified to receive a third of its money back from the Alaska Film Production Tax Credit Program. And since it will be the first all-Alaskan movie with an all-Alaskan cast, crew and music, it also qualifies for a larger return when completed.

While fund-raising is ongoing, Burns and company have already assembled a cast and crew. They use a nearly deserted strip mall in downtown Wasilla for rehearsals — the plain walls and dreary carpet were a perfect set for the main character’s court-ordered alcohol awareness classes.

“Everyone already has their lines memorized and are just waiting for the funds to show up for filming,” Manning said.

A lot of the actors come in from Anchorage. Burns says even some actors with just one line show up religiously, just because they enjoy the process.

“They’re super into it,” Burns said. “Everyone who is a part of it is really into it.”

Manning thinks Proper Binge is a story everyone can relate to. Most everyone she knows has had some run-in with an alcoholic. Hers came at age 19 when she was hit by a drunk driver.

“This story is really something that needs to get out there,” she said. “Binge drinking is not a good thing.”

But Burns is quick to add that it’s not a preachy movie. There’s a lot of humor in this dark comedic drama; like the scenes when the main character is black-out drunk and getting into crazy scrapes. The trailer contains a montage of the main character getting punched, slapped and kicked by everyone his 12-step program has required him to make amends to.

“Someone described it as if the Cohen Brothers did ‘The Hangover,’” Burns said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.

Proper Binge - Trailer from 1964 Motion Pictures on Vimeo.