NORTH DAKOTA-MADE
INDEPENDENT MOVIES
(Feature-length motion picture productions)
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PRODUCTIONS COMPLETED
listed by premiere
dates, most recent first, going back to 2001
(Underlined titles are links to individual movie websites)
- Last Updated November 24, 2007
Written, Produced, and Directed by Christopher P. Jacobs 81 min.
Starring Ellie Unkenholz, David Henry, Tara Ulness,
Sarah Phillips, Paul Kelly, Ali Scrable, Mark Landa, Jeff Kinney
Gothic
suspense thriller with supernatural elements
A
troubled teenage girl becomes entangled in the intrigue and dangers surrounding
a controversial ancient manuscript that her aunts boarder is hoping to
translate and publish for his degree. They join forces after ruthless fanatics
kidnap his girlfriend in an attempt to gain the document, while the aunt
harbors mysterious secrets about their house that will soon affect them all.
shot in Grand Forks, 2007
theatrical
premiere 2007
TRAILER
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Mercedes Ray
Written and Directed by Tucker Lucas, Produced by J. J. Gordon, Amber Rae
Bernhardt, Scott Edward Haugen, and Brad Delzer 50
min.
Starring Amber Rae Bernhardt,
Scott Horvik, Steve Poitras,
David Wintersteen, Scott Edward Haugen, J. J. Gordon,
Brad Delzer, Dana Harris, Jessica Wolf, Chris Berg,
Greg Carlson
Science-fiction
historical fantasy action-comedy
A
patch-wearing adventuress builds a time machine so she can steal items from the
past and sell them as high-priced antiques in the present. However, an
encounter with Abraham Lincoln inspires the president to use her machine to
travel back and forth in time, collecting as many United States presidents as
possible, in order to hold a wild political party at her house.
shot in Fargo, 2007
theatrical
premiere May 26, 2007
The Aborted
Written, Directed, and Edited
by Sonny Fernandez 86 min.
Starring Justin Kavlie, Dan Sorenson, Kelsey Parton,
Chelsey Hagel, Amanda Klose, Cody Tergesen, Sonny
Fernandez, Holly Newton
Horror thriller
In
a small college town, a young man investigates the grisly murder of his younger
sister and finds it is just one in a sudden outbreak of
similar mutilation deaths that may be connected.
shot in Jamestown, 2007
The Diarrhea Dilemma
Written, Produced and Directed by Nolan Devine 39 min.
Scatalogical fantasy-comedy
Several
roommates have severe intestinal problems after a night of wild partying and
contend with their drug-influenced friend hogging the bathroom by telling each
other crude stories while they wait.
shot in Grand Forks, Spring 2007
classroom
premiere, May 8, 2007
Written and
Directed by Michael Stromenger, Produced by Kak Lee and Michael Stromenger
119 min.
Starring Jim Alger, Dylan Brandt, Chad Driscoll, Daniel Dutot, Grant F. Haake, Ryan Joachim, Mary Karcz, Ben Mattson, Taylor Schatz, Mitchell Lee Skajewski, and Darin Kerr as "The Director"
Drama/fantasy
In the future when
the death penalty is outlawed, nine convicts serving life sentences are moved
to a special maximum-security prison run by an enigmatic director and his
guard. They soon find themselves part of a deadly game that only one of them
can survive although the survivor is to receive a full pardon.
shot in Moorhead, MN winter 2005-spring 2006
theatrical premiere November 18, 2006
TRAILER (1.2 MB Quicktime) (3.6 MB Quicktime)
Rooks Caskit
Written, Produced, and Directed by Chris Dorfschmidt 90 min.
Crime thriller
A detective named Malcolm Rook tries to solve
the murder of a local girl, but his investigation uncovers a conspiracy that
goes much higher than he would have suspected.
shot in
Grand Forks August 2006
festival
screening November 4, 2006
Cold
Blooded
Written and Directed by Sonny Fernandez
Horror thriller
Werewolves
terrorize teens in a small town.
shot in
Jamestown, 2006
Bleed
Written and Directed by Sonny Fernandez
Starring Cody Tergesen,
Matt Hagel, Jessica Polries,
Stephanie Zimmerman, Ashley Miller, Jared Eamon,
Katie Johnson, Alex Radi, Justin Kavlie,
Jonny Grimes
Horror thriller
Six teenagers meet under mysterious
circumstances one night, finding their town apparently deserted. They soon
learn they are not alone and must join forces against some sort of strange
night creatures that are out to get them.
shot in
Jamestown 2005-06
Music
to My Ears Winner 3rd
Place Family Features, 2006 Cleveland Indie
Gathering
Written and Produced
by Christopher P. Jacobs, Mark Landa, and Jenny
Morris,
Directed by Christopher P. Jacobs 119 min.
Starring Lori
Barrett, Paul Kelly, Jenny Morris, Karly Anderson,
Chris Hargreaves, Gordon Dexheimer,
Betty Gard, Marjorie Morris, Marc Arnason,
Royce Blackburn, Louise Pinkerton, Patrick Pearson, Ashley Braxton,
Lee Barnum
Musical comedy-drama
To save the citys oldest movie house
from demolition, townspeople try to overcome one obstacle after another while putting
on a benefit stage show, but no one is prepared for the backstage intrigue,
budding romances, or magical experiences that go along with it!
shot in
theatrical
premiere February 16-19, 2006
encore
screenings March 26, April 2, 2006
festival
screening November 5, 2006
TRAILER #2 - 656 kb (Quicktime) TRAILER
#3 - 1.9 MB (WindowsMedia)
AJ Goes to
Written, Produced, and Directed by Toby Jones, Danny Davy, and AJ
Thompson 60 min.
Starring AJ Thompson,
Toby Jones, Danny Davy
Sociopolitical
satire/teen comedy-romance
A
high school student would rather live in France than keep enduring all the putdowns
he gets from classmates and teachers.
shot
in
theatrical premiere
festival screening March 3,
2006
Adam Maxwell: Relationship Guru
Written, Produced, and
Directed by Chris Dorfschmidt 90 min.
Comedy
A
TV talk show host has difficulties living up to his public image.
Festival
screening November 2005
Henry Rifle Is Dead
Written, Produced,
and Directed by Dan Hendrickson 70 min.
Starring Dan
Hendrickson
Poet biography mockumentary
A university student
rises to fame as a folk poet and standup comic, but suddenly disappears and
others recall his career.
shot in
theatrical
premiere March 25-26 2005
Written, Produced, and Directed by Jonathan Hardesty 90 min.
Starring Nick Reinke, Andrew Bauers, Amber
Schatz, Les Nygaard, Jacob Underlee,
Greg Tommerdahl, Meghann Rezabek, Garrett Foltz
Dark comedy/crime thriller
Two young
farmers decide they can make more money hiring themselves out as hitmen than farming, but one finds their new profession
suddenly more complicated when someone calls in a lucrative contract on his new
girlfriend.
Shot in
festival screening
(roughcut with scratchtrack) Nov. 13, 2004
theatrical premiere
Feb. 12-13, 2005; local DVD release July 2005
Down
Twisted
Written and Directed by Sonny Fernandez
Horror thriller
shot in
Jamestown, 2004
Miss
Mystic Winner BEST FEATURE 2004 Forx Film Fest; Honorable Mention, 2005 Sub
Written, Produced,
and Directed by Christopher P. Jacobs 95 min.
Starring
Lee Barnum, Nicole Nelson, Dave Nash, Jared Kinney, Sharon Reinowski
Supernatural
thriller/character drama
A teenager is
shocked to learn the truth about her real parents, but is even more shocked
when her eccentric fortune-teller grandmother decides to swap bodies with her
-- permanently!
Shot in Grand Forks,
Lakota, Devils Lake, and US Hwy 2 west of Larimore
shot April-June 2004,
edited June-August 2004
premiere August 28,
theatrical run September 17-21, 2004,
festival screenings
November 13, 2004 and October 22, 2006; local video release December 2004
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TRAILER Lo 1.4
Mb (Quicktime) TRAILER Hi 9.8 Mb (Quicktime)
30-sec. teaser 210 kb (Quicktime) 30-sec.
teaser 3 Mb (Quicktime)
TV spot 1
414 kb (Quicktime)
TV spot 2
1.0 Mb (Quicktime)
TV spot 3 429 kb (Quicktime)
Looking for Lillian
Produced by Eric
L. Thompson, written and directed by Terence Brown II 88 min.
Starring
Terence Brown II, Audrey Slator, Eric Thompson,
Cassie Skauge, Jim Donat,
Jeff Nichol, Paul Tebben, Lezlie
Leeann Johnson, Jay Taylor, Justin Akers, Cole Flaat
Documentary-style mystery/psychological drama, partly improv
The lives of
two young men gradually become intertwined when the girlfriend of one leaves
him and the girlfriend of the other disappears mysteriously.
Shot in
festival premiere
November 13, 2004
Mr. Jones
Written, Produced, and Directed by Chris Dorfschmidt
58 min.
Starring Chris
Dorfschmidt,
Psychological action
comedy-drama
A young man
rebels against his previously quiet and conventional nature so he can get more
enjoyment out of life, at the urging of a mysterious new friend.
Shot in
festival premiere
November 12, 2004
Kitchen Appliances: The Movie
Written and Directed by Chris Rausch
Starring
Tanner Dahlin, Rhonda Kohl, Josh Trumbo,
Greta Frank
Sexual comedy with
music and dance, songs by 24 national bands and 2 local bands
Shot in
Fargo-Moorhead
premiere May 8, 2004
at Weld Hall, MSU-Moorhead
Dark
Highways Nominee BEST SCREENPLAY 2004 SMMASH Film Festival, Official
Selection 2004 NY Int'l Independent Film & Video Festival
Written, produced, and directed by Christopher P. Jacobs 98
min.
Starring Sarah Piersol,
Jeff Nichol, CeAnne Reese, Sharon Reinowski,
Mike Stromenger, Justin Guzman
featuring Paul
Kelly, Nicole Nelson, Shilo Morlang;
special guest appearance by Carter Evenson
Neo-noir suspense thriller/relationship drama
After a woman
is stranded on a rural highway by her boyfriend, she stumbles into more
difficulties as she attempts to get home. Meanwhile her friends try to learn
what has happened to her and uncover some disturbing secrets in the process.
Shot in
(plus a 5½ -min. Sons of Poseidon
music video shot Aug-Sept and edited Sept-Oct),
festival screenings
Nov. 22, 2003, March 5, April 24 & 27, July 21 & 25, October 18 &
19, 2004
theatrical run Nov.
28-Dec. 3, 2003, Empire Theatre,
TEASER 853
kb (RealPlayer) 30-sec. spot 1
1.7 Mb (RealPlayer)
TRAILER 1 2.9
Mb (RealPlayer) 30-sec. spot 2
1.0 Mb (RealPlayer)
TRAILER 2 3.8
Mb (RealPlayer) TRAILER 3 4.5
Mb (RealPlayer)
Produced and directed
by Derek Breuer and Dustin Ness, written by Derek Breuer 97 min.
Starring Wayne
McConnell, Rhino Matson, Eddie Gonzalez, Amy Klein, Ken Davis, Jessica Mayo,
Chris Rausch
Lowbrow comedy/social
satire
A group of
friends decide to make and market their own beer to raise money for a trip to
the Caribbean.
Shot in Fargo-Moorhead,
July 2003
theatrical premiere
and festival screenings November 2003, return engagement April 2004
video release 2004
TRAILER (choose
from Quicktime, Windows Media, RealPlayer,
-- all very large files)
Hush
Produced and directed by Brady Daley and Benjamin Gil-Solheim, written by Benjamin Gil-Solheim
Starring Janet Miller, Sam Heyn, Aimee Klein, Jordan Franzen,
Adam Sidler, Jerry Severson, Sally Morris, John Hirschmann, Ken Asbury, Michael Lochow,
Jason Livingood, Jenny Morris, Carrie Wintersteen, Bruce Asbury
Drama
Shot in
Fargo-Moorhead and Hillsboro, May-June 2003
Awry Winner BEST FEATURE 2003 Forx Film Fest
Produced by Cody Tesnow, written, directed, and scored by Terence Brown II
83 min.
Starring Cody Tesnow, Briana Young, Adam
Western
Serial killer
psychological drama
A cynical
young man whose hobby is killing random people as sort of a social service
starts to have second thoughts when he falls in love with an intended victim.
Shot in
festival premiere
Nov. 21, 2003
Ole and
Written, produced, and directed by Les Sholes
96 min.
Starring Kelly Clow,
Dawn Kidle, Grant Haake,
David Puma, Sharon Reinowski, Dave Nash
Ethnic situation comedy (ya, you betcha)/mocumentary
A television
crew follows a goofy Norwegian-American couple around for a reality-TV program.
Shot in urban and rural
theatrical premiere
May 23-24-25-26, 2003, return engagement July 16-17-18-19-20, 2003
video release summer
2003; festival screening May 2004
Pros and Cons
Produced by Eric L. Thompson, written and directed by Terence
Brown II 89 min.
Starring Paul Tebben, Rhonda Kohl, Mitch Oleson,
Jim Donat, Jeff Nichol, Lezlie
LeeAnn Johnson, Jay Taylor
Crime
thriller/romance
After a young
blind man leaves his con-artist father and brother to live on his own, he gets
involved with a beautiful bartender who has some sordid secrets of her own.
Shot in
Fargo/Moorhead, Dilworth, and Grand Forks, January-February 2003,
theatrical premieres
May 2-3 (
Mean Winner BEST SHORT 2003 Forx Film
Fest
Written, produced, and directed by Charles H. Hinton 44 min.
Starring
Charles H. Hinton, Terence Brown II, Rebecca West, Mik
Reid, Jim Donat
Crime thriller
Shot in
Fargo/Moorhead, 2002,
festival screenings
March and November 2003
Written, produced, and directed by Phil Kerr. 38 min.
Starring John
Dunkirk, Chandra S. Parkinson, James Bala, Dan Fuka, Anna Carroll,
Steve Stein
Bar band personal
relationship drama with rock music
Shot in
Fargo/Moorhead, 2002,
festival screening
and public premiere March 2003
Written and produced by Tony Tilton with
Starring Tony
Tilton, Jessica Mayo, Randy Long, Janet Miller, John Blazek,
Martin Jonason, Charles H. Hinton
Detective mystery
drama with swing music
A detective's
investigation of the disappearance of a beautiful young woman takes him halfway
around the world, only to uncover high-level crime and corruption in his own
community.
Shot in
Fargo/Moorhead,
roughcut premiere
December 1999, festival screenings (final cut) March and November 2003
Rubbed Out
Produced by Eric L. Thompson, written and directed by Terence
Brown II 85 min.
Starring Paul Tebben, Cassie Skauge, Joshua Trumbo, Jim Donat, Jeff Nichol,
Anthony Bergman
Campy dark
comedy-thriller/fantasy
An abrasive
young man awakens one day to discover his most prized possessions have
disappeared, his past has been erased, and his friends no longer recognize him.
He must enlist the aid of a friendly prostitute to learn what really is
happening.
Shot in
Fargo/Moorhead, late summer 2002,
festival
premiere December 2002, theatrical premiere January 2003, festival screening
March 2003
Produced and directed by Christopher P. Jacobs, written by Mary Novacek 92 min.
Starring Sarah
Davis, Kelly Clow, Jennifer Leroux,
Christian Clapp,
Supernatural
mystery-thriller with comic relief and high melodrama
A group of
college students and their professor investigate the mysterious disappearances of
people involved with the unwrapping of an ancient Egyptian mummy and the spirit
of an ancient sorceress who had been his lover.
Shot in Grand Forks/East
theatrical premiere November
1, 2002, local video release December 2002,
festival screenings
December 2002, March 2003
TEASER 967 kb (RealPlayer) TRAILER 716 kb (RealPlayer)
Boundless
Produced by Eric L. Thompson, written and directed by Terence
Brown II 75 min.
Starring Jim Donat, Casey Sherer, Rhonda Kohl,
Mik Reid, Jeff Nichol, Anthony Bergman, Lezlie LeeAnn Johnson
Psychological
mystery-thriller with supernatural overtones
Shot in Fargo/Moorhead, early summer 2002,
theatrical
premiere July 2002, festival screening December 2002
Written, produced, and directed by Christopher P. Jacobs 106
min.
Starring Darin
Kerr, Dawn Kidle, Paul Kelly, Sarah Davis, Kelly Clow, Walter Ellis, Christian Clapp
Supernatural fantasy
and socio-political satire
When a
graduate student gets permission to unwrap an Egyptian mummy for her
dissertation, activists steal the body to give it the ancient burial rites but
inadvertently bring it back to life. Far from ravaging the countryside,
however, this charismatic revived mummy has a carefully planned agenda to gain
political control of the world.
Shot in
theatrical premiere
April 5, 2002, local video release August 2002
TRAILER 2 MB (RealPlayer)
Van Hook
Written by Kirk Roos; Produced by
Elizabeth Tobias, Kirk Roos, Bryn Roos,
Lynn Boughey, Derek Schroeder, Jaye
Jameson;
Directed
by Robert Biehn
Starring Kirk Roos,
Bo Brown, Charlie Talbert, Keith Bear, Sam Jones, Steven Williams, Joe Howard,
Susan Angelo, Kelly Requa
Coming-of-age drama/road picture
Falsely tied to a series of deaths, two
young men flee from home for all the wrong reasons, encountering a number of
unique and mystical characters who make their journey across the Great Plains
state as spiritual and emotional as it is physical. A Native American wise man
tells them the legend of Van Hook, and they learn that the circle of life
sometimes gets twisted.
Shot
around
theatrical premiere
Oct. 5-11, 2001