Mickey Spillane’s CAP CITY will be screened as part of the Iowa Motion Picture Association’s Film Festival on Saturday May 30 at 2:15 at the Fleur Cinema and Café (4545 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA).

Barb and I will be there to welcome you and chat a bit after.

That evening the Iowa Motion Picture Awards will be presented at the Palms Theatres & IMAX in Waukee, Iowa, 200 NE Westgate Drive, Waukee, IA 50263. 5:30 is Red Carpet and registration. The event begins at 7 p.m.

Cap City has been nominated for best screenplay (by me and director David Wexler) and best feature.

If you are within feasible driving distance (factoring in today’s gas prices!), and are interested in my work and/or Mickey Spillane’s, please consider coming to the screening. The Fleur is one of the best movie houses in Iowa or for that matter the Midwest.

The story behind David Wexler’s film is, in my view anyway, unique.

David has an impressive career as a filmmaker – check this IMDB link if you want proof.

David was impressed with the Hard Case Crime line of novels, and came upon the novella “A Bullet for Satisfaction” by Mickey Spillane and me.

How did that novella come about? I had looked for something in Mickey’s files of unpublished material, to put something more overtly crime-oriented in with his last finished novel, The Last Stand, which was adventure (not crime) oriented, and was somewhat shorter than usual for Mickey.

The novella was unfinished but substantial and reaction to it upon publication was good – it seemed like vintage Spillane, which was the hoped for result.

David thought the novella, in compact form, put together many classic elements of noir in one place. He wanted to make a film of it. I said fine, but only if I could write the screenplay. The deal came together in an eyeblink.

I wrote the script and David tweaked it and went about seeking funding. Reaction was excellent but nobody bit. Several actresses with name recognition liked the script, but wanted a rewrite in which the lead, a Homicide detective, was female. Could I do that? David asked. Would I do that?

As the co-creator of Ms. Tree, how could I not?

The gender switch actually improved the script, and we got very close with finding backers, but ultimately no cigar.

After almost three years of effort, David called and said he had to throw in the towel. Having just completed Blue Christmas for $10,000 by keeping the shoot short, using one set and not paying certain people (like the writer/director).

I said, “I think I could rewrite this to take place in one penthouse hotel suite where the murder occurs.” That would enable a credible micro-budget version of Cap City.

David gave me the green light to rewrite the script in that fashion, and he loved the new version. He reserved the right to rewrite as needed depending on the location. That seemed fine by me.

And that’s exactly what he did.

He called me to arrange for me to fly to New York for the Brooklyn shoot. But the two weeks he’d scheduled were the same two weeks I’d be shooting Death by Fruitcake.

So that’s how I came to have two movies shooting at the same time…just in case you didn’t think I was a real filmmaker.

Here’s the trailer:

M.A.C.

Tags: Appearances, Cap City, Mickey Spillane, Spillane