Movie makes local premiere

Steven Spielberg was invited.

Orlando Bloom got an invitation.

And now all of Cadillac is invited too. Most likely the celebrities won't show up for the movie premier of "Internet Detectives, Net Bandits," but the writer-director and its stars, all students from Cadillac, like to dream big. They have organized and are hosting a red carpet premiere of their new movie 7 p.m. Saturday in the Community Schools auditorium.

The driving force behind this production, student Eric Wotila, just turned 15. His lead characters are junior high and high school students. Cast extras are also from Cadillac and film locations are mostly local.

Although Eric Wotila has been making movies since he was 10, this is his first feature-length production.

"When I was 9 and 10," he recalled, "we were trying to do a big film. The first was really cheesy and we made it in our basement. This was before I had access to any editing."

To produce a full-length movie, Eric needed experience and the right equipment. He gained valuable experience by producing several short films and by becoming a certified CCTV crew member.

Last year he began producing and writing a 30-minute show for local access television called "Tech-Insider." When he bought his new iMac computer he was almost ready. With the purchase of professional editing software - the same used to edit the film "Cold Mountain," he pointed out - he was equipped for the longer project.

"I didn't know entirely if I could pull it off," he said. "But I decided to go for it."

Cindy Wotila recalled when her son first told her about his idea to make a movie.

"He told me he wanted to make a movie of this book he had read. I thought OK, how involved can this be? I never see where his projects are going until it's too late," she laughed.

More than one year and hundreds and hundreds of hours later, the Wotila family is proud of the results, a project that eventually involved them all. Cindy became the producer and helped to coordinate many details, like feeding and transporting crew and equipment. Kelsey, 12, took over the second camera and Eric's dad acted in a small speaking part.

"I'm pleased with the finished results," Eric said. "Before we finished, we had looked at various scenes out of order. But when you see it with all the transitions and music, it's really amazing how great it looks."

The movie is a mystery adventure about two students assigned to an Internet project. When they receive a call for help from someone they meet online, the detective work begins.

The film is based on a popular series of books written for teens by English author Michael Coleman. When Eric was 13, he e-mailed Coleman and asked him for the movie rights to "Net Bandits," one of the books in his series. Once the publishers agreed, Coleman gave Eric his blessing.

Last winter Eric started writing his script using a two-column format; dialogue on the left, camera instructions on the right.

After the 200 page, 27-scene script was finished, Eric began casting the parts.

He turned to his friends to fill lead roles: students Josie Suhs, Evan Dean and Will Reddy. The villains are played by Craig Johnson and Emily Smith. Former CHS teachers Pam Thompson and Tim Elenbaas also have speaking parts.

The most difficult part of the project, according to Eric, was getting the actors altogether for shoots on the same dates. There were summer camps and vacations to schedule around, plus after-school activities in the fall.

The technical aspect of film making, which for most people with artistic leanings is the most difficult to master, comes surprisingly easy to Eric.

Technology is Eric's best friend.

We he was 12 he formed a company to repair Macintosh computers and created a Web site to advertise his services.

At 13 he started building personal computers to order and writing PC software. By the time Eric was 14 he had expanded his services to include consulting, Web design, video services and custom software design.

A visit to his Web site, www.coresoftcomputers.com, will give you a glimpse of the mind behind the movie.

The cast and crew are hoping people will come and view the results of their hard work.

"I'd be really pleased if people come and enjoy the movie," Eric said. "But I'm hoping and it would be great if maybe some director heard about this and would give me an apprenticeship. I'm hoping to eventually get into big-time video."

Spielberg, are you listening?

Tickets for the movie are available from Eric's Web site or from Cadillac NewsCenter, Horizon Books, Artsie Phartzies, Possibilities for Your Home and the Cadillac Printing Company.