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Independent Film Shot in La Crosse Hopes to Make it to the Big Time
10/6/05
By Sandra Harris, WPR
 | As the poster above indicates, Midian is being touted as the first major motion picture filmed in the southwestern city of La Crosse. The film's producer and director, Reuben Steindorf, recruited several hundred locals to appear in the movie. He also injected a lot of computer-generated special effects to make his modestly-budgeted project to look more like a multi-million dollar venture. |
Sandra Harris prepared this report…
running time 4:25
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| The plot centers on the fictional city of Midian, described by Steindorf as "La Crosse on steroids". Civic leaders aim to create a "perfect city". They work to find out who disagrees with their policies of curfews, zero noise pollution, high taxes -- and eliminate them. The leaders' efforts ultimately cause a schism within the community. Steindorf warns that the movie is not for children, given some of the violence. |
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 Director/Producer Reuben Steindorf and troupe. | Midian arrives at a time when Hollywood is suffering from lower-than-average box office returns, a development critics say comes from standard, formulaic fare in the industry. Independent film-makers have often scored from this trend, resulting in dark horse triumphs such as Clerks (1994), and The Blair Witch Project (1999). Steindorf and his associates hope they can achieve the same success with Midian, and plan to shop it around at more than 150 film festivals next year. For now, they'll start off with the Carmike Valley Square Theaters in La Crosse, which has agreed to have three showings on October 15th. |
Production and promotional photos courtesy of Reuben Steindorf, Copyright 2005 Alien Glaive Films/Vision Realm Entertainment. |  |
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