Indie film 'Mary First Words' on hold

Progress on Steve Turner's seven-figure-budget indie feature film, "Mary First Words," has stopped, on what Turner calls "financial hold" for the time being.

But Turner is still at work, creating a lower-budget feature called "Miller's Tale" under the aegis of his company, Schrader Turner Films LLC. Turner says he hopes to get the film into national film festivals, like Sundance, and perhaps land a deal for DVD distribution.

Turner and crew will wrap up shooting on the indie thriller this weekend before beginning the post-production process. Turner used all local crew, and the film's four primary actors -- Bart Elfrink, J.W. McCrary, Drivin' Rain bassist Skully Shemwell and Todd Shaw -- are all local as well.

So far the film "is looking really good. This is much better than anyone had thought," Turner said.

The film follows the story of Miller Jiles and his neighbor, David Borg. Borg and Jiles strike up an odd friendship immediately after Jiles' wife dies, but Borg finds out Jiles is not who he thinks he is.

"Basically what follows is things happen and they progressively get worse," Miller said. "As the evening progresses, bad things start to happen."