GREAT LAKES, a Minnesota-made independent feature film written and directed by Minnesota Independent Film Fund Award Winner, James Byrne, and produced by Sara Klee, completed production of a twenty day shoot earlier this summer.

GREAT LAKES is a dark romantic comedy about overcoming unfortunate twists of fate. It was produced on a micro budget utilizing the latest digital technology, a tiny crew, and some of the Twin Cities' finest actors.

James Byrne is a St. Paul writer/director and also teaches screenwriting at Metropolitan State University. "We limited ourselves to natural sunlight, and if we didn't have a set piece or something else, we just framed it out or made adjustments." said Byrne, commenting on the creative strategy he adopted. He added, "Fresh performances and a bold vision are the things we focused on."

The filmmakers made a police car with a stencil and a borrowed light bar from the manufacturer. The only problem was that it was impossible to attach the light bar to the top of the car, so the police car never moved. "Art is made from its limitations," noted Klee.

The lead roles of Dara and Noble are played by discoveries Heidi Jo Langseth and Jeff Gilson, both fresh faces to the Twin Cities film scene. These actors are appearing for the first time in leading roles in a feature film. The ensemble supporting cast includes veterans Nancy Marvy, Marshall Hambro, Robert Berdahl, and Terry O'Sullivan, and range in age from 16 to 85.

GREAT LAKES has been in the planning for five years. The screenplay won the 1996 Minnesota Independent Film Fund Award. Since then, Byrne and Klee have worked to put support and financing together to make the film. This year everything fell into place.

"We have been ready to shoot for three years. We actually cast the film two different times in the past, in preparation to shoot it, but it never happened. This year the stars aligned, financing fell into place, and we moved ahead," says Byrne about the marathon process it takes to put together an independent film. "It took five years to plan, and twenty days to shoot," added Byrne.

Synopsis

Fresh out of prison, Dara is on a mission to scatter her mother's ashes in Lake Superior. She meets Noble, an endearing bundle of tragic flaws, and sparks fly between these two lost but likable souls. Together they set off from Minneapolis to Duluth on what they think will be a redemptive and romantic road trip to the North Shore.

They are abruptly sidetracked when Dara accidentally runs over someone on a lonely country road and wrongly takes the blame. The fatal accident was actually choreographed by Henrietta, a Kervorkian wannabe, and Dara and Noble become Henrietta's unwitting pawns. Against their better judgment, Dara and Noble agree to deliver the body to Duluth and hope that will be the end of it. But their troubles have just begun.

Dealing with the aftermath of the 'accident' brings out the best and the worst in them. Twists of fate along the way test and strain their relationship even further. They persevere and in the end a startling surprise bubbles to the surface that changes everything.

Editing is going very well. We are deep into the film and it's looking bold, exciting and fresh. We are working with local musician, Jessy Greene of VIOVOOM, on the music. She wrote and performed everything we're using and it's simply fantastic, and it's the perfect fit for GREAT LAKES. James and I also met with the talented people at Hi-Wire recently and we are all very excited to join forces in post production. We are anticipating a completion date sometime in mid December.

For more information please contact James Byrne at [email protected] or 612-373-2733.