Silver Screen time for local screenwriter
Self-taught screenwriter James Ziolkowski has waited for this moment for a while.
“I started writing screenplays years ago and had some success in various screenplay competitions,” says Ziolkowski. “There was a contest in Canada, that was one of the biggest in North America at the time, where I finished 20th out of over 900 scripts.”
James was nearly optioned on three occasions, but unfortunately, things fell through every time.
“I was four days away from the contract signing when the last one fell apart. That's when I started to think I may have to do all of this myself,” he said.
So James spent a year writing the best micro-budget script he could come up with and “Girl in the Refrigerator” was born. The Dark Comedy film was shot in the Des Plaines/Mount Prospect area using local talent.
“I was a big fan of our leading man Jimmy “Kāsh” Bevetti when he was the on-air talent at a radio station in Arlington Heights years ago. He had all of this original, funny material and I couldn't understand why he wasn't more well known. So I kept his name on file and looked him up when the script was ready. He's one of the only actors we allowed to ad-lib.”
Local actors Maria Brenda, Jaclyn Francine, Gus Klett, Tyler Ross and Shirin Caiola round out the main cast.
The film about a theater manager who accidentally kills his girlfriend and then attempts to remove her body from his busy apartment complex was shot and edited for under 20K.
“Pretty much any exterior shot we did was guerrilla filmmaking at its finest,” states Ziolkowski. “I grew up a half block from River Road, so I made sure the Des Plaines River sign got some screen time.”
“Girl in the Refrigerator” was already selected by the Indie Gathering Film Festival and played to an enthusiastic crowd in Cleveland this past August. It's being described as Alfred Hitchcock meets Seinfeld.
“Girl in the Refrigerator” makes its Chicago area premiere at Elk Grove Classic Cinemas at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The film is rated R.
Tickets are currently available on the Elk Grove Classic Cinemas website or at the Box Office.