Quicksand, a feature-length film partially shot in Grand Rapids, will play in West Michigan this month.
From Sept. 8–14, Sperry's Moviehouse in Holland will screen the "bromantic comedy," in addition to a showing at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.
The showtimes are part of a statewide ten-theater tour promoting the film's Sept. 19 streaming release on Apple TV.
"We love to see Michigan cinemas supporting Michigan movies," said director and writer JohnPaul Morris.
In 2016, a 26-year-old Morris began working on a screenplay about two college grads and co-best men who lose their groom's wedding ring only days before the big day.
"It wasn't just a reflection on my 20s but the culmination of them," Morris said in his director's statement.
For the filmmaker, tight-knit relationships with "share-the-same-bed" types of friends defined his second decade of life.
"I don’t know how many men in their early 20s openly discussed a desire to be married, but I did, and my friends did," Morris said. "Those discussions stick with me. They really fueled the story."
In September 2019, three years after Morris started writing the "survival guide" to young adulthood, he and his production company, Practical, started shooting.
Born and raised in Traverse City, Morris chose to base production in Michigan, with best friends Ray (Tanner Presswood) and Paul (Simon Elias) driving between peninsulas in search of themselves and the wedding ring.
The story begins and ends in Grand Rapids — the co-best mens' hometown — featuring Fulton Street and US-131's S-curve.
"It's urban but not too big to be uncomfortable," Morris said about the state's second-largest city. "There's also a great film community in West Michigan and it's great to be able to film in 'home base.'"
For larger, production-heavy scenes, however, Morris often swapped Beer City with the Cherry Capital of the World, masking his hometown as Grand Rapids.
The well-traveled Michigander might also recognize Upper Peninsula landmarks in certain scenes, including the waterfalls at Tahquamenon State Park.
By the end of the month, the cast and crew wrapped production, delivering the footage from Morris's first screenplay to an 18-month post-production schedule.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
"That was a wild year," Morris said. "We took it as we could manage."
But when the final cut of Quicksand made its way to the festival circuit, it won the Eau Clair International Film Festival and picked up Best Screenplay at the Grand Rapids Film Festival, among other official selections.
"I thank the Lord that my team’s first film was a comedy," Morris said in his director's statement. "There’s a special terror that comes when you hear a joke 400 times in the editing room and then get to hear it in a theater for the first time."
Now, the award-winning, Michigan-made film will soon be available to a wider audience.
"I think it's easy to discount the ability of independent films; even we've been guilty of that," Morris said. "It's been wild and it happened fast."
