From the “Chalk” board to the big screen

September 14, 2009 • written by Amber Taylor  
Filed under Entertainment, Features

Lights dim and flicker, the crowd shuffles to find seats and begins to quiet. A group of over 20 people, dressed in their finest, watch as the once empty Tivoli theater starts to fill. In the middle of this group, stands a boy in his faded Converse, shifting nervously with a huge grin on his face.

For Patrick Coyne, senior, this is the moment he has been waiting for: the premiere of the student-made  movie Chalk.

“I was acting lead in the movie, and there were about four leads.  [Chalk] was about high school and the problems surrounding it,” Coyne said. “I played a freshman with a drug problem. It was a little cliché, but it was really cool.”

Chalk, written and directed by Joe Weil, Ladue High School senior, premiered at the Tivoli theatre in the Delmar Loop, Aug. 9. The film had over 400 guests show up to support the cast and crew, who dedicated eight months of their time to filming the movie.

“In the days leading up to the premiere I was super excited. I was just like ‘Oh you know, it’s no big deal.’ But then the night of the premier, I was so much more nervous than I thought I’d be,” Coyne said. “I can usually keep my cool and I don’t get jittery or anything. But that night I kind of had a stomach ache and was nervous and kind of shaky. But then the movie theater like filled up, and I was like ‘Wow, maybe this will be a hit.’”

Coyne became involved in Chalk after his friend told him about Psycho Films Company, the company which produced Chalk and Frame by Frame, a feature-length film which also premiered at the Tivoli Theatre.

“My friend was in a band with one of the members of Psycho Film Company. And he went and saw the first feature length film: Frame by Frame,” Coyne said. “Well, my friend said the acting was okay, but he knew it could be better. So, he gave Joe my name because he knows I’m really into acting, and I was called a week later.”

Before Chalk, Coyne also starred in a seven-minute film for the 48 Hour Film Project titled Mail Routes. Coyne played an office worker who quit his monotonous job of delivering mail and had constant flashbacks to his life before leaving his job.

However, Coyne’s plans for working in movies does not end there. Coyne has already written screenplays for two of his own films; the first, a zombie flick titled UPRI[Z]ING. He plans to start filming next fall while attending Columbia College of Chicago. Coyne plans to continue working with film because he has already seen how rewarding it is to follow his dreams.

“Working on Chalk was as close as I could get to being in a real movie while staying in Missouri. We would get there at nine in the morning and would shoot until five, and what really made [the experience] was the cast and crew,” Coyne said. “We were all really laid back and casual yet efficient. We were able to have a lot of fun but still get a lot done. It wasn’t like ‘Oh we’re working.’ We would talk, we would laugh, we would joke. It didn’t feel like I was going to work. It was fun making the movie and doing what I enjoy.”

Although Chalk is no longer showing at the Tivoli, students can still see Chalk by contacting Coyne or buying a copy  of the DVD from pyschofilms.org.