For those of you within driving distance, I wanted to let you know about several showings of our film, Death By Fruitcake, based upon the Antiques mystery series by “Barbara Allan” (my wife Barb and I). I directed and wrote (with Barb looking over my shoulder).

On May 9 we will have a Quad Cities premiere in Davenport, Iowa, at the Last Picture House with Paula Sands (Vivian Borne) and Rob Merritt (Chief Tony Cassato) in attendance and participating in a Q and A session after the screening. I will be there as well, as will co-producers Chad T. Bishop and Barbara Collins. So will other cast and crew members.

Here is how/where you can get tickets.

The Last Picture House is a terrific boutique theater masterminded by the Quiet Place team, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. This part of the world is very lucky to have this venue to enjoy film (including, from time to time, mine). And the generosity of these successful hometown filmmakers is much appreciated. (In my opinion, Heretic is their best yet.)

M.A.C., Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and Phil Dingeldein

Last November, we had two hometown screenings at the Palms Theater in Muscatine. These were very well-attended, but we had some audio problems that should not be an issue at the Last Picture House event. That said, Iowa’s Fridley movie chain has been most supportive, not just of our efforts but Iowa filmmakers in general. They are in particular supportive of the Iowa Motion Picture Association’s awards (I am a three-time past president of that association).

Producer Chad Bishop and I have selected clips for the five categories we’ve been nominated in for the Iowa Motion Picture Awards — Best Actress (Paula Sands), Best Actor (Rob Merritt), Best Supporting Actress (Alisabeth Von Presley), Best Direction (M.A.C.) and best Live Action Feature (Death by Fruitcake, of course).

These nominations each represent a shot at an award (there are two levels, Excellence and Achievement). The clips Chad and I selected will be shown with the other nominees at the Iowa Motion Picture Awards on Saturday May 31 at the Palms in Waukee (near Des Moines).

Also, as nominees, we’ve been selected by the IMPA to have Death by Fruitcake screened twice at the Fleur Theater in Des Moines — Friday 23 at 4:30 pm, and again on Wednesday 28 at 8 pm. Barb and I will be there for the Wed. 8 pm screening, and I’ll intro it and have a Q and A after — a few other cast and crew members will likely participate in the Q and A. Tickets are available here (for both performances).

In the meantime, we’re talking with several distributors in hopes of getting our film on one or more streaming service for the holiday season. This means the Davenport and Des Moines screenings may be the last opportunity to see Death By Fruitcake in a theatrical setting.

If you’d like to get a very early start on seasonal entertainment, our previous picture, Blue Christmas, is available now on Tubi, right here (free!)

Here’s a teaser trailer for Death By Fruitcake that our producer/editor/director of photography Chad Bishop put together.

And in case you missed it, the full-length trailer (and photos and more) can be seen at our IMDB page.

A gentle reminder that the complete True Noir: The Assassination of Mayor Cermak is available at Truenoir.co. Rob Burnett and Mike Bawden (and their Imagination Connoisseurs) have done right by Heller (and they started with my script for the ten-episode audio play).

M.A.C.

Tags: Antiques Series, Appearances, Death by Fruitcake, Death by Fruitcake Movie, Trash 'n' Treasures