SC Funeral Home Hosts Indy Movie Filming

In early-March, played host to the final day of taping for an independent movie trailer that will be used to hopefully inspire funding of at least $200 thousand for a feature-length film in 2013.

The Last Summer has a tag line that explains it all.

Four friends. One town. A summer that changed them all...

"What we’ve done is we’ve taken this full-feature length script and condensed it down to its essence," said producer Colleen Mullen, who is from West Chester. "These are the main characters and these are the conflicts they’re dealing with in the film. We’ve tried to choose scenes and situations that really illustrate those and film them that showcase our actors’ capabilities and crews’ capabilities to turn any random house into this beautiful looking scene. The end goal of that is to show it to potential investors, get the word out and build buzz and excitement about the feature film and get moving."

The film itself, Mullen said, is a commentary on the coming-of-age for our generation right now.

"In a time when there’s so much uncertainty and hopelessness, and how do you feel with a situation where you’re in a town that’s dying and you’ve reached this point where there’s no real plan set out for you any longer," said Mullen. "So, what happens? Does everything fall apart or do you take that leap and leave home and do something with your life? That’s the conflict all of our characters are facing and they’re all dealing with it in a different way. Unfortunately, one of them bites the dust, so that’s why we’re here today."

Spring City was the last of eight filming locations for the "sizzle trailer." Other locations included Cheers & Beers Bar in Telford, the Kozak House in Phoenixville, Faraco's Pizza in Quakertown, and various locations in Radnor, Wayne, Ashland and Centralia.

The story takes place in Ashland, which is the town adjacent to Centralia, a ghost town in Columbia County, which constantly burns due to a mine fire.

The film is produced by Keylight Films, a Philadelphia-area film company owned and operated by executive producers Brian Simon and Cheryl Wallace. Simon, who has many connections in the industry, said he was happy to see the film's progress.

"It’s great," he said. "This is the fun part of the whole process, because you see it all coming together and everything. I’m happy to be done with this part because it gets hectic, but everyone here does a great job, which makes it a lot easier."

Keylight chose Shalkop Grace & Strunk Funeral Home as the filming location for the final day through a connection to Simon's family.

"We’re immediately from this area," he explained. "Unfortunately, when we have a death in the family, this has been the place we’ve come to since I was a little kid. I’m 45 now and I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember. He is close friends with my uncle who lives in Phoenixville. That’s how I know him and he was generous enough to allow us to use his facility. This is the key scene in the trailer. Without it, it doesn’t pull it all together."

The funeral's owner Bob Strunk, who has been in the business for 19 years and owned the home for eight, was excited to give Keylight the opportunity to film the drama, which is the first time he's had this type of inquiry.

"I feel honored," said Strunk. "I think it’s kind of cool. So, it was an easy decision."

The team is now in the post-production stage, where they are putting together various versions of the trailer to show to potential investors. They've already put feelers out in Hollywood and have interest from Mickey Rooney and Rider Strong.

If the movie gets enough funding and he is still interested, Rooney would play the part of Max, a bartender, who is a crucial character in the film.

"He follows the whole film," said Simon. "It’s all based around him telling the story."

Strong, who is primarily known for his role in the 1990s show Boy Meets World, would play main character Don’s "older, better-looking brother," Tim. Simon said that character is also a crucial part of the film.

Don is played by Robb Stech, who is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College. Tim was played by Kevin Duffin, a New York actor, in the trailer. Other main roles were played by Montana Marks (Sammie), a Penn State graduate, and George Gdovin (Mickey), a graduate of Stockton College.

Despite the actors' roots in other parts of the state and East Coast, Mullen said most everyone is from the Philadelphia and surrounding areas, which comprises a tight-nit film community. Overall, the film's director Shawn Caple, was happy with his cohorts.

"Dealing with a drama piece can get a little heavy-handed sometimes," Caple said. "There’s a level where if you cross it, you can go over-emotional or be over-acting. I think they’ve done really well to just hit a nice, medium level in which I can push them to get upset or emotional, or pull them back for a nice subtlety that will look great on film."

Simon paid homage to other cast and crew members throughout the process.

"Wow," said Simon. "We have a full list. Where do I even start? The executive producers, myself included, put this team together. We’ve known them over the years. They’ve all been hand-picked. They’re the best from the Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Shawn, our director is an amazing director. He really can get the actors to perform at the highest quality so we get the best. Our director of photography, Nick Murphy, is amazing at what he does. His camera angles, the way he shoots things, the lighting he does with the cameras, really brings a true feel to the scene.

"Everyone here is doing this for free at this moment with hopes we can all get paid with the feature film. The prop people – Mallory Holloway and Annette Johnson – they make it look as realistic as possible. They can make a pile of mud and make a wedding cake out of it. There’s so many talented people on this crew, without each one of them, this film wouldn’t be what it is. They make the Keylight team."

Murphy is also known for is work on the Preston & Steve show on WMMR.

As of now, the team has hope for its trailer to really spark some interest. The next steps will be crucial in the process.

"The first debut, we’ll have a big release party with the cast, crew and potential investors, because the whole point of it is to generate funding and interest in the film itself," Mullen said. "We’ll distribute it via YouTube, websites and all that, but we want to get people the opportunity to meet us and see how passionate and excited we are about it and to get people on board to be excited about it."