Indiana film available nationwide

Indianapolis independent film “The Mini” is anything but small.

The movie tells the story of Fran Molon, a humble futon salesman is looking to break into the competitive mattress business. Unfortunately, this Indianapolis industry is dominated by Molon’s high school bully-turned-casanova co-worker, Rick.

Molon’s only chance to break into the business, become assistant manager and live out his dreams lies in beating his nasty colleague in the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon.
Let the training begin.

“The Mini,” though unaffiliated with the official Mini-Marathon, continues to run across the country and break records.

Indianapolis native Ron Beck wrote and directed the mini-movie, which was shot completely in and around his hometown.

“Filming in Indianapolis was crucial to the film’s success,” Beck said. “We shot in over 70 locations, which is really unheard of for an independent film with such a small budget, and Indiana residents always stepped up to offer their time, their businesses and their homes.”

Beck also maintained the hometown feel by recruiting IU interns to work on the project. Assistant producer and recent IU graduate Kevin Bar was one of them.

“‘The Mini’ has a wacky feel,” Bar said. “It’s a funny family film that was fun to work with.”

Bar got involved with “The Mini” through IU’s telecommunications program. After he produced a documentary that featured the IU women’s soccer team, a professor recognized his craftsmanship and recommended him to work on “The Mini.”

“Coming off my last semester at IU and getting to work with Ron Beck — it just looked like a fantastic opportunity to pursue,” Bar said.

Bar now is working for MTV, a job his work on “The Mini” helped land.

“When you think of interns, you usually think of people getting coffee, but we were really thrown in there,” Bar said. “It was frightening but cool.”

Twenty IU interns were recruited for the project, from either faculty at the telecommunications department or through an intensive application process.

The interns worked 16-hour days, designing specific frames for the movie, shooting and assisting with some editing work. Bar also worked on some of the pre- and post-production marketing for the film.

One of the lessons Bar learned from “The Mini” had to do with the film’s $25,000 budget.

“Students need to know that you don’t need a big Hollywood budget to produce a successful film,” he said.

Producer Marty Allain agreed, saying the film was “produced on credit cards, determination and a passion for filmmaking.”

“The Mini” has traveled beyond the borders of Indiana to receive national acclaim.
It has won several film festival awards around the country, including Best of Fest at Temecula Valley International Film Festival in California, Best Comedy at Bluegrass Independent Film Festival in Kentucky, Best Narrative Feature at Foursite Film Festival in Utah and the Audience Choice Award at the Da Vinci Film Festival in Oregon.  

High praise also came from John Landis, director of “Animal House,” “Trading Places,” “The Blues Brothers” and “Coming to America,” who called the film “a very funny, heartwarming comedy.”

“The Mini” continues to travel, however. Maverick Inc. has picked up the movie for national distribution. It is currently available in most Blockbuster stores and can be purchased online from Blockbuster, Best Buy and Amazon. It can also be queued up on Netflix.

“We are proud to be one of a small group of films made by Indiana filmmakers and shot solely at Indianapolis area locations to be available on the shelves at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video stores across the country,” Beck said. “The hundreds of
Hoosiers who helped with the film as actors, location owners, volunteer crew and extras should be proud that their hard work will be seen by so many.”