Orion Township mom writes and produces film

By Dustin Blitchok The Oakland Press ORION TOWNSHIP (AP) -- Local writer and actress Carol McClure said her short film "The Best Laid Plans" is the culmination of her love of writing. "I love writing -- making a screenplay happen is very exciting," she said. Scenes for the suspense drama, based on a 17-page script McClure wrote in April and received Screen Actors Guild approval for, have been filmed at locations such as Muldoon's tavern in Rochester Hills and McClure's home in the Oakland Ridge subdivision in Orion Township. The fictional plot of the short film draws from "a little bit of my life (and) my friends' lives," McClure said, and is about betrayal between friends. "Everything in this movie that is planned ends up coming completely full circle," she said. "It's a very busy screenplay for a short." McClure is both the writer and producer of the film. Filming of "The Best Laid Plans" is expected to wrap by the end of the year, and post-production should be completed by spring, McClure said. The short film's director said the cast and crew of "The Best Laid Plans" have "made a lot happen with a little." Director Johnny Flynn said the film's shoot "has gone phenomenally, a lot better than I ever imagined." Flynn, 30, of Sterling Heights, said he began as an actor, "and I took a stab at directing a few years ago with some acting buddies, and I loved it so much I went to film school at Specs Howard, and I've been going ever since." The film's shows there's still movie-making activity in Michigan even after cutbacks to the state's tax credits for film productions, Flynn said. "The reason why we've been able to do it with such a low budget is because of our close personal friends, who are also highly talented cast and crew," Flynn said. The director described the short film as "a love triangle with lots of twists." Once "The Best Laid Plans" is complete, McClure said she plans to submit the 20-minute-long film to festivals such as the Bluewater Film Festival in Port Huron and the Ferndale Film Festival for consideration. McClure said she's a former freelance contributor to Michigan Movie Magazine, and has done filming and modeling in the past. "I decided that when my kids were older, that I'd go back into the film industry," the mother of two said. McClure plays the character "Nina" in her short film. The female lead character, "Claudia," is played by Nancy Parker and "Maurice," the male lead character, is played by Mark Boyd. Many of the film's crew members are alumni of the Specs Howard School of Media Arts in Southfield, McClure said. "We're all kind of learning together," McClure said of the experience. Published: Wed, Dec 26, 2012