Small-town barber cuts it on the big screen
Tuesday, May. 6, 2008 @ 1:29 am
UNR alumni make movie on hometown barbershop
Art Williamson knew almost everything about Chris Ford, although Ford didn’t know much about his longtime barber. So to fix this problem Ford, a University of Nevada, Reno grad, started making things up.
“I almost felt bad,” Ford said. “He’d always asked about me, but I’d never asked about him. So creating a story, for me, was a small way of letting go of the guilt for having never really took the time to get to know him.”
In 1998, Ford started to write his film “The Village Barbershop.” In 2004, he asked friend and fellow UNR graduate Jason Newmark to co-produce while Ford directed it.
The two finished the movie early this year, and it has been circulating West Coast film festivals and picked up Official Selection awards at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Sonoma Valley Film Festival, the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, Calif. and the Santa Cruz Film Festival. It also won the Audience Award Best Feature at Cinequest.
The movie is set in Reno and tells the story of Art Leroldi (played by John Ratzenberger, who played the postal worker on “Cheers”), a grumpy old barber whose business partner just died. He is forced to hire Gloria Macintyre (Shelly Cole, “Gilmore Girls”), a young pregnant woman just dumped by her boyfriend. Although Art is against hiring Gloria at first, the two form a bond and help each other get past their respective obstacles in life, Newmark said.
“It’s not an action movie or a horror movie, it’s just a good story,” Ford said.
The real Village Barbershop is located on California Street across from Reno High School. Ford grew up and went to school a block away from the barbershop. When he went to college, he continued to get his hair cut from Williamson. He still gets haircuts at old-fashioned shops though he doesn’t live in Reno.
“He is kind of addicted to barbershops,” Newmark said.
Ford and Newmark met in college through their fraternity, Sigma Nu. Their friend Pat Martinez said the two shared an interest in film, which helped them become and stay friends. The two graduated in 1992 and Ford went into advertising while Newmark became a film editor.
Ford said he started to write the film after he heard one of his co-workers say he was going to write a script himself. Then in 2004, Ford was having coffee with director Ed Burns. Burns convinced him that it wasn’t that hard for a first-time director to make their first feature. Ford said he then went to Newmark for help with the movie.
“Chris wrote the screenplay and he needed someone experienced to work with,” Martinez said. “Both were very ambitious and creative. They both had the vision to do this and drive to jump through the hoops.”
Williamson was able to see the movie in San Jose. He said he didn’t have much in common with the character Art, except they both like to get a hotdog and a beer for $1.99 at Cal-Neva. Ford admits the two characters aren’t similar and were never meant to be. He said Art in the movie is a mix of different people he knows.
Newmark said he’s happy with the film despite its low budget. He said they want to screen the film in Reno when it is finished with all of the festivals, but they don’t have any concrete plans yet.
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