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Boy meets Girl. They marry. Single friends cope. With this simple
story Blue Yonder Films is breaking into Hollywood via downtown
Tulsa.
Blue Yonder Films is made up of ORU alum Rob Yanovitch (92) and
a handful of Anderson University alums Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards,
Brad Knull, and Preston Stutzman. Up until this past year the guys
at Blue Yonder were living on peanut butter and corn bread while
doing commercial work for companies such as WGN in Chicago, KC Royals
and PSO, and dreaming of making films.
This past year they were making their dreams reality with "Chillicothe"
(pronounced Chill of Coffee - and named after a town in Ohio), their
first "Blue Yonder's purpose is to make feature films Yanovitch
said. "Films that have main stream appeal but more importantly
to us, they're built around spiritual truths and morality. They
are very much like modern day parables."
"Chillicothe" takes a unique look at life after marriage
- for those left out. The film, by Todd Edwards, stars, among others,
ORU grads Yanovitch (92), Tara Racynski (Hundley - 97) and current
ORU student Charity Gassman. Brothers Tony (90) and Dennis Leech
(94) also worked with the film as assistant director and production
coordinator, respectively.
The 35-mm film (more than 80,000 feet of film was used) was produced
with a budget under a million dollars (many worked on a deferred
payment option) and yet still sports a cast of 40 with over 300
extras. Principal photography took place in Tulsa this past winter
and was completed in 34 days. They are currently seeking funding
for the final film print (a step they could skip by going straight
to video - but it could weaken their position when the film is picked
up for distribution).
While in the midst of post production for "Chillicothe,"
they are also in pre-production for "The Night Divine."
"The Night Divine," formerly titled "Swanky Nights"
(changed because of a recent distasteful movie of a similar name),
has already been shopped around in Hollywood with the use of a trailer
and has received a lot of positive response. The one drawback for
major Hollywood funding was the lack of a complete film to market.
To overcome this. Blue Yonder began thc production of "Chillicothe,"
a semi-autobiographical film, which has a smaller budget than "The
Night Divine."
"Divine" already has one star committed (Michael Rapaport
-Beautiful Girls, Metro & Copland) and is in negotiations with
some other Hollywood heavyweights. Yanovitch, Blue Yonder's business
manager (he's "in charge of the nickels"), believes the
success of "Chillicothe" will strengthen their hand when
they approach future projects, and present investors with a proven
independent film.
The guys at Blue Yonder are having a great time pursuing their
dream of making films, even though they still subsist on peanut
butter and corn bread.
Update 2001: The Chillicothe DVD is now available at a Hollywood
Video near you.
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