DEAR CITY'S JEFF STILLWELL BEGINS FIRST FEATURE FILM >>>
Did I go to Wendy's twice yesterday?
Comedian Jim Gaffigan jokes that lofty contemplations like the one above eventually creep into his brain during church services. If make that noble pilgrimage every Sunday, you probably from time to time can relate to Gaffigan's spiritual ennui.
Even as a youngster, Jeff Stillwell could sense restlessness in his fellow parishioners. "It was one of those churches where everyone seems pretty bored," he recalls. But while others passed the hour by mentally balancing their checkbooks or doodling on donation envelopes in the pews, Stillwell's imagination soared.
"I always wondered, ‘What is going on behind the scenes at this church? Why would people keep coming back to this place?'"
Out of these simple questions comes his first feature-length screenplay, Henryk (pronounced "hen-REEK"). Stillwell (also acting as director and co-producer with Alex Flenniken) describes the story as neo-noir. And Henryk includes an essential character from that gritty genre: the cop-as-antihero, in this case named Julian Grey. Set in Hoquiam, what begins as an investigation into the disappearance of his friend's fiancé unravels into a most unholy battle against the satanic cult lording over this seemingly quiet coastal town.
Barely a month into production, Stillwell has already put together an odd little teaser for the movie. It immediately draws you in by juxtaposing a golly-gee-whiz-sunshine Christian hymn with a man wearing a goat's head prowling around suburbia. Either it's autumn, or David Lynch's shadow has descended over the Northwest. I think both.
Though he shares his musical talents as the one-man band Dear City, Olympia resident Stillwell has also dabbled as a film actor, earlier this year starring with Ashley Cozine (A Perfect Life) in the Tacoma short Dessert and Suicide. Now he feels ready for that quantum leap forward into calling the shots on a feature film set.
"I've really prepared for this project, Henryk, by being an actor ... just because I've spent so many hours on set, and I've figured out how it works and where time gets wasted and things like that," Stillwell says.
Keep tabs on the film's progress by visiting www.henrykmovie.weebly.com.