The founder of the OC Crazies did not have to go far for a venue for a benefit screening of the crazy indie comedy film she wrote, produced and directed. It's in the same Santa Ana theater where Cherie Kerr's comedy improv classes and productions are held.
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Local Films Get Their Due at NBFF
We've Got Balls, which was mostly shot at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley and premiered at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival, is about bowlers, employees and assorted wacky characters trying to save a small-town alley from the wrecking ball.
The cast includes: Andrew Dickler (and his long beard), who edited Spooner and was the lead in Douchebag, which were both directed and co-written by Kerr's son Drake Doremus; and Lynne Marie Stewart, who was Pee-wee Herman's Miss Yvonne and came up with Kerr in the Los Angeles improv troupe The Groundlings.
Saturday's 3 and 7 p.m. screenings are at Kerr's De Pietro Performance Center, 809 N. Main St., Santa Ana, where her 92-minute, family friendly feature will play on the newly installed mini-cinema screen. She explains the screen was recently added to the black-box venue that is known for stage plays, small concerts and standup-comedy shows to make the space more versatile.
Funds raised from the $20 donations being asked benefit post-production costs. Kerr says she'll stick around after each screening for audience Q&A's that will include some cast members. Many roles in We've Got Balls were filled by comics, actors and trainees with ties to OC Crazies.
“Since the film was shot entirely on location in Orange County, we hope that people in the OC will come and support us,” Kerr says. “Balls is a quirky, little fun film with a heartwarming message and a good many laughs.”
Call (714) 550-9890 or email Mi*****@ke**************.com to reserve tickets.
You can also call (714) 550-9900 or email Ch****@ke**************.com if you're interested in booking the new screening room.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.