April 12, 5:01 PMTampa Movie ExaminerJoe Belcastro

Two years ago, an independent film was quietly shooting in Tampa Bay under the title, The Fallen Faithful.  Last Thursday, the people behind the flick decided to come back to Tampa to debut The Fallen Faithful, in the city they thoroughly enjoyed shooting in.  The event in Channelside not only marked the world premiere of the flick, but all proceeds benefited the 1 Voice Foundation.  That once quiet film is now on its way in making quite the impact on many fronts.

In tracking The Fallen Faithful since being on the set two years ago.  I have met so many people involved with the project.  A good portion of them reside in the area.  Although many believed that this was just another indie flick shooting in Tampa.  The culmination of the events this past week has given the local film industry a voice.  All shouting to bring more productions back to Tampa.  Perhaps one of the biggest proponents for this, is the main man behind The Fallen Faithful, P.J. Leonard.  Ironically, he doesn't even live here.

Five years ago, P.J. started Other Side of The River Productions in New Jersey where he was born and still currently lives.  He always wanted to shoot a feature film in the Tampa area.  He loves the city's culture and history.  Finally, he was able to get a million dollars to do The Fallen Faithful.  From there, he secured accomplished talents in Sonny Marinelli, Mark Margolis, and Obba Babtunde.  He plucked out a talented director in Csaba Bereczky and they were off and running.  Literally.  Dealing with crazy time constraints, P.J. and company spent many sleepless nights in Tampa putting together the flick.  Outside of the people from L.A., the rest of the crew and many of the actors were from Tampa.

After viewing the flick, Tampa has talent my friends.

John Dominici, a 14 year old "kid" who resides on Davis Island, has already been a part of one major Hollywood production (Stay) in his young career.  In speaking with him at the event last week and seeing him on screen.  The energetic young man, who constantly has the wheels turning in his head, could have quite the career ahead of him if he chooses to stick with acting.

"I wasn't able to attend the red-carpet for Stay, so this is my first one and it's exciting.  It's great to see everyone again and I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.  It's great that it was shot right here."

Michael A. Gonzalez, who also lives in Tampa, has a role in the flick, and spoke candidly about what this night means to him...

“Bringing in Hollywood is a very tough chore.  This night is all about bringing Hollywood to Tampa.  All of us involved are looking to do it again."

Sonny Marinelli, star of The Fallen Faithful and a class-act across the board, touched upon the great cause their film is supporting.

"The 1 Voice Foundation is one of the reasons we came back to Tampa to screen this movie.  Overall, I'm very happy with tonight's event."

As mentioned in an earlier column, P.J. decided to have this screening as a thank you to the city of Tampa for all their support.  In June, arguably the most important screening in his young production company's tenure, happens in Hollywood.  However, he's already plotting his next film, which he wants to shoot in Tampa.

"Right now we’re going to take a look at the film (Fallen Faithful) and make sure it is ready for its debut in L.A.  Then we’re going to submit to film festivals.  My next movie I definitely want to shoot in Tampa. I’m hoping to secure the financing real soon to make that a reality.  There is just so much talent here."

Director Csaba Bereczky echoed P.J.'s thoughts...

"I would love to come back to Tampa to shoot a film if the story calls for it.  People here are film friendly, we hired everyone locally.  I personally want to thank all of them.  All were extremely supportive."

Read more from Joe at at the Examiner.com