Port shines on silver screen

Port Washington’s silver screen moment has come.

Native Miles O’Neil, who wrote, directed and shot much of his film “Intoxicated Rain” in the city in 2018, completed the project last July. The movie will be playing at the Milwaukee Film Festival this month.

O’Neil is excited, not only for the success of his movie but for everyone involved.

“The premier festival in Wisconsin — you aspire to that. That’s what we wanted for everybody in the cast and crew. That’s the one you want to get locally. Everyone can go see it,” he said.

The movie’s website description says it tells the story of biracial Jaden Sobczak, who was born in Milwaukee’s inner city and “raised in a small Wisconsin town where no one else looked like you. Teased, mistreated and objectified because of your physical differences, you put up with it. 

“But you’re older now. And you’re more mature. You see the world differently.”

O’Neil calls it a “low-budget indie film” that “has a little grittiness to it.”

The plot is based somewhat on what O’Neil saw and experienced living in Port until he was 11, then moving to Milwaukee.

O’Neil had been executive producer for independent films “Little Red” and “The Field.” This is his directorial debut but not his full-time job. He owns and operates The Wicked Hop, a bar and restaurant in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward where he met and hired lead actor Dominique Reeder for two jobs. Reeder, who only had high school acting experience, plays Sobczak and worked his way up from restaurant host to manager. He was 22 during filming and is now 30.

Last year in the Stockholm City Film Festival, “Intoxicated Rain” won awards for best drama, best feature film and best director for a feature film.

Port’s role in the 87-minute film started with O’Neil’s idea and a cold call.

O’Neil approached Maureen McCourt Mathew, who in 2017 was executive director of Port Main Street Inc., out of the blue, saying he was going to write a script for a film he wanted to shoot in Port. She doubted he would follow through.

“A month later here comes Miles through the door with a manuscript,” she said.

She had no experience making films but became one of the movie’s producers.

So did local Realtor Tom Didier, O’Neil’s childhood friend from St. John XXIII Catholic School (then St. Peter Catholic School) who helped connect him with locations and equipment.

“The most fascinating and surprising part to me was the time and energy and effort it takes to film, reshoot, reshoot and edit and re-edit,” he said.

Didier recently hosted a private screening of the movie in his mother’s basement.

“I thought it was a great film,” he said. “It’s not representative of Port, but it’s an artistic point of view.”

McCourt Mathew said, “There’s something that everybody could identify with one way or the other. I was talking to my husband, who had different takeaways.”

That’s exactly what O’Neil is aiming for. He hopes audiences see different things when watching for a second or third time.

“I made this film to have a lot of details to it,” he said.

While responses may differ, a couple of  components were constant, including the welcome the crew received in Port, which provided cooperation, scenic backdrops and plenty of extras.

“The people rolled out the red carpet for us no matter where we went, even though they didn’t entirely know what the movie was about,” O’Neil said.

The finished product differs from the original script for a multitude of reasons, but O’Neil kept to his core themes.

“I don’t think I compromised the film at all,” he said. “In the end, it’s a piece of art you’re trying to create. You’ve got to stay true to who you are.”

The pandemic slowed post-production, as did the fact that O’Neil enlisted help from people who had full-time jobs instead of outsourcing the work to California for several hundred thousands of dollars.

“I never really doubted that it would get done,” he said. “Everybody I’m working with are good people. I do not regret one minute of my time working on it.”

One of the actors, Candice Rose, had a part in the second season of “Stranger Things,” and another, Grover McCants, plays former Michigan and NBA star Jalen Rose’s psychologist in the series “South West High” available on Tubi.

One of Didier’s Ford trucks is in the movie.

“That’s three trucks ago,” he said.

The film’s title, O’Neil said, refers to a flashback in the movie.

O’Neil isn’t trying to get rich with this film but instead tell an authentic story.

“I don’t think you can predict what’s going to happen in the end,” he said.

He hopes to get the film streamed on different platforms.

Tickets for Milwaukee Film Fest members go on sale Monday, April 6. General public tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 8. The movie will be shown at the Oriental Theatre at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 19, and at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 24. 

To buy tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com/3f9vjpwk. The movie’s website is www.intoxicatedrain.com.