Macon-made Movie to be Honored in Hollywood

Starina Johnson on the set of "Stuck!" Photo by Maryann Bates

Macon, GA -- A locally made movie starring Karen Black and Mink Stole, and produced by locals Tony Long, Jr., and Elliott and Beth Dunwody, will be honored in Hollywood, California, by the celebrated American Cinematheque on Wednesday, February 3, at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre.

The film, a black and white noir prison drama called “Stuck!” was directed by independent filmmaker Steve Balderson and shot in Macon during April and May of 2009. “Stuck!” is the centerpiece of the 5th Macon Film Festival and will also screen at the Cox Capitol Theatre on Friday, February 19.

Along with Black and Stole, “Stuck!” co-stars Susan Traylor (“A River Runs Through It”), Jane Wiedlin (of the Go-Go’s), and dozens of Macon actors including September Carter, Tom Morris, Virgil Adams, Judge Bill Self, Kimbrough Dunwody Donner, and Mary Wilder.

“This is a huge honor,” says producer Tony Long, Jr., “to be privileged with a premiere at the Egyptian Theatre. What a way to start off the New Year! I'm so overwhelmed with excitement.”

The Egyptian Theatre opened in 1922, and was the venue for the first-ever Hollywood premiere (“Robin Hood”). Recent Cinematheque honors have gone to Samuel L. Jackson, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts.

“Stuck!” had its World Premiere at the prestigious Raindance Film Festival in London, England, in October 2009, and made the list on Icon Magazine’s TOP 10 Films of the year.

Critic MJ Simpson, in the UK, writes, “‘Stuck!’ [is] an unexpectedly powerful, skillfully managed slice of women-in-prison drama that never teeters into camp.”

“I’m thrilled by the advance reviews and I can’t wait to present the film at the American Cinematheque,” said director Steve Balderson. “Plus, a lot of people from Macon are coming to Hollywood with me and it’s going to be a riot,” he pauses to laugh, “No pun intended!”

For more information, see www.stucknoir.com.