Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Local talent making film right up Jackson's alley

Jackson native Fred Stoverink once pursued a career as an electrical engineer, but now he lives in California as a full-time actor appearing in commercials, sitcoms and dramas.

He "kind of fell into" his acting career, Stoverink said, after a neighbor submitted Stoverink's name for a commercial and booked the audition.

At the time, Stoverink was pursuing voice-overs, but soon realized the field is very hard to break into, he said, more so than any other field of acting.

Stoverink labeled his first acting opportunity as a lucky break, after acquiring the small co-star role of Andy Dwyer's (Chris Pratt) brother on television sitcom Parks and Recreation, on NBC in 2011.

He played Dwyer's best man on the episode "April and Andy's Fancy Party," was clean-shaven and had no idea what he was doing, he said.

"I got on a nice TV show for my first job, on my very first audition," Stoverink said.

Stoverink grew up in Jackson and has lived in Los Angeles for 16 years, but has been acting for only eight of those years, he said. He attended University of Missouri, relocated to St. Louis for a few years and then made the final move to California.

After his Parks and Recreation appearance, Storverink said he began putting more effort into his career and is now fortunate enough to be considered "full-time for four years."

He has managed to complete two national commercials per year, on average, Stoverink said, including a recent back-to-school advertisement for Walmart and one for Chase Bank. The latter required him to dress up like a fairy princess for his fictitious daughter on her birthday, which was "hysterical."

"I've done a couple guest stars on TV and some co-star," he said. "They're both great jobs."

His latest endeavor, "Ody," came about after realizing the need to make a movie "just for fun."

"I didn't really feel like I was in a place to write a feature, which is 90-plus pages," Stoverink said. "But I thought, 'Well, I'd really like to make a short film, produce it myself, learn that process, star in it and just do the whole thing."

He wanted the film's set to be a place that's more interesting, instead of a place where everybody has already filmed, Stoverink said.

"I love L.A., but it has been filmed to death," he said. "I thought Jackson was the place to do it."

It then came to his mind, he said, to retell Homer's Odyssey -- in the bowling alley in Jackson.

Stoverink sees "The Odyssey" as a huge, epic poem, so he gathered the "highlights" and adapted them to Jackson Lanes, he said.

"Instead of Odysseus, we have Ody. Instead of his wife Penelope, we have Penny. I just wanted to make something fun," Stoverink said.

"Ody" is all about one man's quest to get back to his home lane, he said, who gets interrupted trying to get back. The character gets into trouble and "all kinds of crazy things" happen to him in a short span of 10 to 12 minutes, he said.

The character Ody is the owner of Ithaca Roofing and Siding, a fictitious business Stoverink said has been serving Jackson since 1973.

In the film, Ody must get back to lane 12, which is the best lane in the place, Stoverink said, "because it's the closest to the food, the bar and the door."

It also has the best advertising potential, because it's the first lane seen when entering the venue, he said.

"I'm used to writing scripts where I come up with everything originally," he said. "But when you're adapting something and trying to be true, you have to find really creative ways to make a nod to every important part of the story that you can."

But what's the best part about lane 12, according to Stoverink?

"When you're bowling, you don't want to get distracted on your right. I have a wall here. This is the best lane to have," he said. "My scores are going to be higher."

The short film will mainly be shot at Jackson Lanes, he said, aside from a small portion to be filmed in Los Angeles.

"We're going on an adventure all the way around the building," he said. "We're all over the alley."

The film will be shot using anamorphic lenses, meaning "super widescreen," Stoverink explained, like a classic movie.

"And we need extras," he said. "We have a need for 20 people who want to be in the movie."

Expected release date for the short film is January 2019. Additional information can be found at odythemovie.com.

Noteworthy

Film art by Jonathan Marks BarravecchiaSubmitted photo

Jonathan Marks Barravecchia -- artist who has worked for Marvel -- created the illustration for Stoverink's "Ody," and this weekend you have a chance to meet Jackson native Roy Thomas, former Editor-In-Chief of Marvel Comics and co-creator of Wolverine and several other comic book characters. Thomas will be at the Cape Girardeau County History Center in Jackson for a reception open to the public from 7 to 9 p.m. today, according to submitted information.

The reception will honor Thomas and Michael Archer, former Southeast Missouri State University graduate intern who created the exhibit, "When History and Comics Collide."

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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