In short
Writer-director Adam Meeks discusses his regional Ohio tour for Union County, a drama about people offered a smart, demanding way out of drug addiction, and what he learned from independent theaters and audiences.
Guests
Adam Meeks (writer/director of Union County). Also mentioned: Will Poulter (actor in the film), Annette Dio (actor in the film), Martha Gregory (producer). Production team: Rebecca Mooney (producer), Katie Gilchrist (mixer).
Key claims
Ohio has thriving independent theater communities; independent films shouldn’t be limited to New York/Los Angeles; audiences across the country deserve stories from “between the coasts.”
Notable examples
The tour stops at The Gateway, The Neon, The Night Light, The Esquire, and The Cleveland Cinematheque; Akron had four back-to-back sold-out showings with Q&As.
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Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOAdam Meeks on Independent Cinemas in Ohio
0:21 to 3:08
Adam Meeks shares his experiences touring independent theaters in Ohio with his film.
“Hey, my name is Adam Meeks, and I'm the writer and director of Union County, and this is The Treat.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Welcome to The Treat. I'm Elvis Mitchell. The film Union County takes us to Ohio to glimpse a passionate and compassionate drama on the lives of people being offered a smart, demanding way out of drug addiction. Its writer-director Adam Meeks recently toured with his film through Ohio, where Union County is set. Here's what he found. Hey, my name is Adam Meeks, and I'm the writer and director of Union County, and this is The Treat.
0:35Something that really inspired me just in these last few days is a handful of thriving, independent theaters in Ohio.
0:52We just took the film on a sort of regional tour across Ohio, which is the state where the film is set. and I was fortunate enough to have Will Poulter with me and Annette Dio, who's also an actor in the film, and Martha Gregory, one of our producers. And we hit the road and went kind of city by city to a different theater every night. And we went to The Gateway, The Neon, The Night Light, The Esquire, and The Cleveland Cinematheque.
1:27I was just so inspired by these theaters these theater-going communities the people who run these theaters and their passion both for a certain kind of independent cinema and also for creating and maintaining a kind of thriving independent film community and theater-going audience
1:53a lot of these independent films when they're released they're sometimes only released in New York and Los Angeles and in Akron Ohio we had four back-to-back sold-out showings in one night and got to have you know Q &A's at all of them and Ohio is a special place and these are all cities that are able to kind of like have communities that prioritize independent cinema but it's also not exceptional. It's all around the country.
2:23I believe so much in making films for the entirety of this country and stories that represent lives lived between the coasts and respect the audiences and tell stories that respect these audiences and sort of the lives lived in between the places that usually maybe dominate the cultural conversations. Cleveland, city of light, city of magic.
2:53Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me. Adam Meeks, writer-director of the film Union County, on an inspiring and cinema-filled trip to independent movie theaters in Ohio. Rebecca Mooney produces and Katie Gilchrist mixes the treat. I'm Elvis Mitchell.
3:38The Lord can make you turn. The Lord can make you overflow. The Lord can make you burn. Burn on, big river, burn on Burn on, big river, burn on
From the publisher
In the film 'Union County,' director Adam Meeks takes an unflinching and empathetic look at the opioid crisis in rural Ohio. Meeks and his star Will Poulter did a grassroots tour of independent theaters in that state around the film’s release. For his treat, Meeks makes an impassioned plea for independent cinema that doesn’t fly over the states between the coasts.