Room 101 Productions, 909 E. Clark St., Warsaw, will soon be filming a movie in Warsaw called "Blind Justice."

President and director Ben Bays is excited about filming in Warsaw.

"It brings in money to the community," Bays said. "It will really bring in acknowledgement (and) it'll be a great opportunity for the community."

"The push of this movie is to make it for $125,000 and it looks like we spent millions," producer and treasurer Jaime Ehrhardt, Warsaw, said.

The "millions" effect comes from the camera used to film the movie. Room 101 Productions will be shooting the movie on high definition video, using Sony's new HDW-F900 24p digital camera.

"We're going to be the very first production in the country to get this camera," Bays said. "That's why it's the perfect time (to make a movie)."

Bays said the camera is so new that they called a rental company in Chicago in January or February to reserve the camera but "it hadn't been released yet." They were planning to get the camera in March.

"Well, the date got pushed back to April, got pushed back to May, then to June, and now they're saying July 3," Bays said.

Bays said they watched a "35mm blowup of this thing and it looks just like film. You can't tell the difference. I was so impressed by it."

This isn't Bays' first movie, but it is his first movie in Warsaw.

"I have personally done movies before," Bays said. "I've been basically studying film for 12 years."

Bays attended Los Angeles Film Studies Center and interned for "some major production studios."

"It was actually a great experience," Bays said. "We did some short films while we were out there."

Bays said he has also done a feature in the past and "had the opportunity while (in Los Angeles) to make several term contacts."

And because of that, Bays said, he was able to come back to Warsaw and start a film.

"We gambled a lot and thought if we could get the money together and if we could spare the time (it just might work)," Bays said. "And we discovered that this is pretty much the right time to do this as far as the way the industry is going and the way the current trends are."

Bays said with his contacts in Los Angeles, "it just seemed like the right opportunity. So we came back here (Warsaw) where we knew everybody and we could do everything. It's just really cost-efficient that way."

If you film a movie in Hollywood, Bays said, "it's just millions and millions of dollars, and we don't have millions of dollars."

So Bays and his staff "put together a modest budget and figured out what we could get away with (to) do the most ambitious project."

Friend and screenwriter, Jeremy Bear, Ohio, put together a project called "Blind Justice."

"He's written a couple films in the past," Bays said, "and he's done a couple screenplays. (He's) just a tremendous writer (and he) knows his stuff."

Bays said the project is a "film noir private eye thing."

Within the last few months, Room 101 Productions has been busy.

"We've been in some serious pre-production," Bays said. "So we're just now getting to the point where we're ready to move into the production stage, which basically involves casting (and) setting up locations."

Bays said a lot of the movie has already been cast but they're still casting a few major roles.

Casting will take place next Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We're going to be filming around the Warsaw area," Bays said. "We'll be doing a lot of our interiors here. For the major exterior shots, we'll be doing those in Huntington."

Bays said the movie is a period piece set in 1941 "so we're going to be really kinda window dressing the streets there (and) bring in old cars (for the set)."

Assistant director and executive of production Ryan Wentz, Warsaw, knows the Cruisin' Hoosiers and has received several contacts from them "to go see people about cars."

"We're really optimistic about all that," Bays said. "We don't know how it's going to flow until we actually get on the set."

Room 101 Productions will "get on the set" July 24 to begin production.

As for the production cost, Bays said, they have investors.

"Basically, we have a lot of different people back home that are supporting us - friends and family," Bays said.

The prospective finish date is Oct. 1.

"Eventually, after October, we plan on moving to Los Angeles and selling it (the movie) out there," Bays said.

He also said, upon completion, they would like to rent out or use a local theater to show the movie to the casting crew and friends of the production.

"Then we go back to L.A. and we go to these studios where we have our contacts (and try to sell the movie)," Bays said.

He also said they need several extras. Casting auditions are set for Tuesday and Wednesday. Male and female roles are needed and production begins Saturday and will go through Aug. 3.

For more information and an appointment, contact Bays via e-mail: [email protected]

Other members of Room 101 Productions include vice president Chad Dutka and executive of development, Jeremy Bear. [[In-content Ad]]