Exactly one year after the independent feature film Leading Ladies wrapped a month-long shoot around Champaign and at Allerton Park, out comes an incredibly positive review of the mostly-completed film in Variety, the movie and television industry’s most important trade magazine.
The film is still in the very final throes of post-production, but has already started showing at film festivals across the country. It won an award at the Sonoma (CA) International Film Festival, has been featured at festivals in New York City, Miami, and Honolulu, and will soon show in Philly and LA. After the exposure provided by the Variety review, hopes are high for even bigger and better.
The trailer:
Leading Ladies (official movie trailer) from Shatterglass Studios on Vimeo.
Filmmaking couple Daniel and Erika Randall Beahm formerly lived in Champaign — she a dance prof at the University and he a graphic designer and leader of a local indie band. Along with them, literally hundreds of other C-U residents worked on the film in ways big and small, from script co-writer Jennifer Bechtel to co-producers to financial investors to production assistants to extras (etcetcetc). Many businesses and community and educational groups said yes to requests for shooting locations, rehearsal rooms, behind-the-scenes equipment, and props. While the film doesn’t explicitly take place in Champaign, it could not have been made anywhere else with such little money but such great quality, talent, and local support. Thank you Champaign-Urbana!
We desperately want to present the film in C-U, but must wait until we hear back from some of the nearby festivals (Chicago, Indy, St. Louis) that ask to have “regional premiere” status. As soon as possible, we’ll show it in Champaign! (We’re hoping for sometime this fall).
For more information and updates, see the film website or, even better, join us on Facebook.
(Full disclosure: I’m very closely involved with this film, having a number of roles on the production team. I’m also a long-time Champaign resident, and thus am very excited to share this update with everyone. Thanks!)