Twitter @tinkermovie @nick_staxs77 Instagram: @staxsoriginal
Most people have big dreams and goals that most of the time seam out of reach and rarely do these dreams come true. But, in the case of a local aspiring film director and cook/restaurant owner from Greenville, SC this dream has become a reality. It all started in 2013 when Sonny Marler, the Director, and Tom Bhramayana from Baton Rouge, the Producer, approached Executive Producer, Nick Stathakis and the Stathakis family with a business proposal to make a feature film. This was not intended to be your run of the mill independent film, but a full length feature movie with high theatrical production value, which already had actor commitments from a couple of Sonny Marler’s close Hollywood buddies, Clayne Crawford from Fox’s Lethal Weapon and Christian Kane from TNT’s Leverage and The Librarians. There was no official script but there was a foundation for a unique and compelling story. The production team leveraged what they had and built a large proactive social media fan base on Facebook and Twitter.
Synopsis: A reclusive farmer, Grady Lee Jr, finds his late father’s hidden journal that contains the research and plans for a Nikola Tesla based magnetic machine, called Jack, that could change the world. While obsessing over his work, he unexpectedly becomes custodian over his gifted 6 year old nephew, Kai. Kai’s arrival interrupts Grady’s work but could be the answer Grady needs to complete Jack, but most importantly find happiness.
Filming of Tinker initially started in Birmingham AL. In 2014 the team brought Tinker to Greenville, SC to launch their Kickstarter Fundraising Gala at Zen’s, owned by local Jeff Renow. The Gala featured a live performance by famous artist Jared Emerson, with top guests including cycling legend George Hincapie. The 30 day campaign was a success raising $101,860. The cast and crew descended on Greenville staying in local hotels, dining at local restaurants, and shooting in popular areas and local businesses such as Falls Park on the Reedy, and local business Creative Ironworks owned by Ryan Callaway. Even Bo Stegall had his hand in the action, literally, as Christian Kane’s hair stylist.
Recently, Tinker has pounced onto the festival circuit, and irrelevant of its low budget, the “Official Selection” Laurels are piling up. The producers have been approached by multiple distributors, but as first time film makers the teams feels a strong festival run will help with negotiations on the domestic and international stage.
We are blown away with the feedback, from our private screening test audiences and festival directors. Tinker is a special film, created with the heart of amazing people. It’s a story for all audiences and people are being touched. Just completing a movie is worthy of recognition, but to have this amount of love from our film making piers is humbling.
If you want to see Tinker, plan a trip to the Macon Film Festival in Macon, GA July 20-23, 2017
