Flick filmed in city

This summer Thunder Bay will witness SWAT teams, helicopters and roadblocks scattered across the city, but a terrorist attack or major disaster will not fuel this action.

Rodney Dwira – the man behind the motion picture Bay City – is bringing his next project to the streets of Thunder Bay and it’s a film with the weight of a budget behind it.

The movie 10-57 is a feature film that explores the thin line between love and obsession within a realistic police drama, said Dwira, who will produce and direct the picture. The title refers to the police code for a missing person and revolves around a standoff. A police officer loses his job and a family member and is consumed with post-traumatic stress.

"He lost his partner and he wants her back," said Dwira. "Someone going through that and in that state of mind, feels like he lost everything, how far will he go to get what he wants? You’re going to have to watch 10-57 to find out."

The movie is a dream Dwira’s been working on for more than three years

"It’s been a long road," he said. "It’s been a lot of sleepless nights. You can ask my pillow how many times I’ve cried."

With Bay City being Dwira’s first film out of Confederation College’s film production program, it was made on a non-existent budget. While he said he’d always be proud of the film, 10-57 is in a whole other ballpark.

His first step was to get film production program co-ordinator Eric Weller on board as his first assistant director.

"I knew in order to take this film to the level we are trying to take it, I need a man like that on my side," Dwira said. "I said, ‘Eric, this is the one. We need you. Are you ready to go to war with me and Eric didn’t hesitate.’"

Also setting this new film apart is the funding. Weller said they received less than $1 million in funding from government agencies and personal and private investments.

"We’re really happy and it’s a lot more than we had when we did Bay City and not only that but we got a little bit of money to play with this time," said Dwira.

The budget will allow for professional actors and professional effects and Dwira said the filming will include helicopters circling the city and roads blocked off.

"We need debris. We need the smoke ambience," he said. "If it ain’t raining, we’ve got to make it rain somehow."

Some of the crew already lined up to work on 10-57 includes Confederation film grads who have left the city and worked on blockbusters like 2012 and The Watchmen, but there Dwira said they’re in need of the community’s help to make this movie happen.

From construction crews to art designers and actors for the smaller roles, Dwira said anyone interested in getting involved can contact him through the Facebook group 10-57The Movie or through his website.