Story from the  Saturday, May 22, 2004    Edition of the Chronicle Telegram

Lorain native takes shot at silver screen

Melissa Ramaley
The Chronicle-Telegram
Add a Twilight Zone twist and a splash of youthful vigor to a crisp-costumed period love story, and what do you get?
Lorain native Chris Casper hopes it will be Hollywood’s next big thing.
Casper — Christopher for his screen credits — is gearing up to direct his first independent film, “10 Steps,” for his master’s thesis at the University of Southern California.
The 12-minute short was written in the spring, and now Casper is entering his pre-production search for cast, crew and funding. He said he hopes the film will be his first step to the big time.
“When I was in a film class at Lorain Catholic, I got to see these great old movies. I mean, ‘Citizen Kane,’ ‘Vertigo,’ and I was just amazed. I hope some kid 100 years from now are putting in one of my movies and being blown away like that.”
Casper said he was surprised the USC film school accepted his master’s thesis proposal. Of 25 applicants, only 11 were selected to begin production on their scripts. Casper said the film will be shot over the summer. The editing process will continue throughout the fall, winter and spring and the final version will be screened in a student film festival in May 2005.
Casper earned a dual degree in communications and history at John Carroll University after graduating from Lorain Catholic High School. He said his love for history sparked the idea for graduate school and his first big-screen venture.
“10 Steps” is set in West Virginia the early 1800s, a time Casper said was all about love and honor. The film’s title is a reference to the 10 paces taken before a duel. The script is a classic love triangle in which two men enter a duel to win the love of a woman torn between marrying for love or marrying for money.
The audience will be left rooting for true love, Casper hopes, but that won’t happen.
But Casper plans a few twists he thinks will catch the audience off guard. Not everything will be as it appears, he said.
“I love films that leave you with a sense of hope and optimism, even in the face of despair,” he said. “I like when a film gives you Goosebumps at the end, and twists that really get you.”
The biggest obstacle he faces now is money, and he is still looking for producers to contribute to his $23,000 budget.
“Fortunately, one thing about Los Angeles, it’s a generous town for filmmakers,” he said. “Students can get grants for film from Kodak, equipment rental houses give students discounts … even down to feeding the crew. Sometimes a local deli will donate sandwiches or something. There are just a lot of really good people.”
Eventually, Casper hopes to use his Hollywood experience to build the film scene in Cleveland.
“It’s just a rich, vibrant area,” he said. “It’s just if people want to shoot in Cleveland, there’s no support system. It’s a vicious cycle in a way: There are no facilities to shoot in so there’s no one to work them and there won’t be any facilities built until there are people there who need them.
“I like it in L.A. and I like what I’m doing but I want to go home,” Casper said. “It would be great to be back close to my family and friends, and finally show what a great place Cleveland is.”