November 2004 – or many of us, filmmaking brings to mind million dollar budgets, gorgeous starlets and the iconic Hollywood sign high up in the Los Angeles hills.

But for the actors, writers, directors and producers at Ludicrous Productions, a small production company that splits its time between Boston and Los Angeles, there’s something special about making movies right here in Central Massachusetts.

The Warila family of Lancaster, whose ten year old daughter Natalie stars in Ludicrous’ latest venture, Freedom Park, still glow when they talk about the night the production company lit up their lives with big-time movie making.

“They brought in all this lighting — it kind of looked like they were filming Star Wars,” Natalie’s father, Bruce Warila says about the night Hollywood descended on his family’s home. It was a chilly fall evening and the producers needed a place to film an outdoor scene. So they set up shop on the family’s back lawn and then constructed a science lab in the basement of their home.

Freedom Park, which stars several local actors and was shot entirely on location in Massachusetts, is proving itself the little indie movie that could. A follow-up to Ludicrous’s award-winning Rutland USA, the film had a national premiere at the World Cinema Naples Film Festival in Naples, Florida where it won the Independent Spirit Award. Locally, the movie opened to an initial one-week run in seven theatres, including Showcase Cinemas’ Worcester North and Clinton’s Strand Theatre.

Due to its overwhelming opening weekend success, three extra weeks were added to its run at Worcester North, as well as a string of show times at an eighth theatre — Millbury’s Blackstone Valley Cinemas. At press time, the film’s run had been expanded to theaters in Rhode Island.

The movie stars Matt McDonald as Stephen and Charlton native Tim Fields as David, two down-on-their-luck gamblers who wind up $50,000 in debt to Las Vegas crime boss Tommy the Goat. The two flee from Las Vegas to their fictional hometown of Freedom Park, Massachusetts, where they attempt to raise the money by starting up a gambling ring on youth baseball. The film also stars Rutland-native Andrea Ajemian, one of the movie’s producers, as Stephen’s love interest and Worcester-native Brendon Boyd as Johnny, a Little League star.

A light-hearted family comedy, the film has garnered high praise from critics, including Richard Duckett of the Telegram and Gazette, who called it an “enjoyable family film that adults as well as children will be able to get something out of.” Likewise, the Boston Phoenix called the indie film “top notch.”

As evidenced by its success at the box office, Freedom Park has likewise been embraced by the community, with local actors honored and thrilled to be a part of that success. “These people came into our lives, they were at our house, and we got to know them and enjoy their company,” says Bruce Warila of the filmmaking process. “It was such a fun thing to do.”

In a League of Her Own

Producer/ Actor Andrea Ajemian on filmmaking

By Brian O’Malley

Meet Andrea Ajemian. Ajemian is one of the driving forces behind Freedom Park. As actor/producer, Ajemian collaborated with writer/director Jon Artigo and executive producer/producer Victor J. Melfa on the film.

Getting an indie film shown on the big screen is no small feat, and for Ajemian it represents a career milestone. “Every filmmaker dreams of having their movie in theaters, but few make it happen without millions of dollars. Opening in seven theaters in Massachusetts was incredible, and the most exciting thing is the future opportunities for this film,” she says.

Ajemian was first involved in drama productions as a student at Wachusett Regional High School in Worcester. After graduating from Elmira College in New York, she moved to Los Angeles to further pursue her career in acting.

When asked why she began working behind the camera, she says, “I was auditioning for independent films and I began thinking to myself, what do these people have that I don’t have? ‘Nothing’ was my answer. In fact, I thought to myself, ‘I’m more organized, more energetic and just as creative as most of these people I’m auditioning for.’”

Enter Jon Artigo. Artigo had already been in the business for several years with his company Ludicrous Productions, writing and creating short films. He taught Ajemian the necessary tools for shooting and editing film. The two then collaborated together on Rutland, USA, a 2001 release that was also filmed entirely in Central Mass.

“I realized I was a good actress, but could be a great producer,” Ajemian says. “I also realized that Steven Spielberg was not going to come knocking on my door with a starring role in his next film. I had to create opportunities for myself to showcase my talent.”

Melfa first contacted Ajemian and Artigo while holding auditions for Freedom Park. Melfa had heard about Rutland USA and wanted to get involved in making films. His willingness to pledge financial support to the project proved invaluable to the making of the film.

“Obviously, his financial involvement took Freedom Park to a new level for us. We were actually able to have a budget, a micro-budget by Hollywood terms, yet enough to get us state-of-the-art digital equipment to shoot our film on, the needed sound equipment and more,” Ajemian says.

Ajemian, Artigo and Melfa have started a production company together, 3 Souls Films. They are actively promoting Freedom Park and hope to find distribution for the film. Finding a distributor is the real reward in independent filmmaking. Ajemian was very tight-lipped when pressed for details on this matter.

“I can say that we do have representation on the project in Hollywood and that the film is in the right hands already. We have received great feedback from major Hollywood executives who think that the film is perfect for a family cable network, as well as for possible national theatrical distribution,” she says.

The film has also been accepted into this month’s Marco Island Film Festival in Florida. The soundtrack was also recently released, featuring local bands Jediah and Red Menace.

All the while, Ajemian and her partners at 3 Souls Films continue to look to the future. They have a project in development called El Tiante, based on a book written about the life of former Red Sox Hall of Famer, Luis Tiant.

“Prior to going into production on El Tiante we are considering doing another film in the million dollar range,” said Ajemian. “Again, a lot depends on what happens with Freedom Park. Who knows? There could be a sequel!”

Field of Dreams

An interview with Freedom Park star Tim Fields

By Tony Scavone

Editor’s Note: Tim Fields, one of the co-stars of Freedom Park, was born and raised in Charlton and graduated from Merrimack College with a B.S. in Business Management. On a whim in college, he auditioned and was cast in A Midsummer Night’s Dream which led to four more leading roles. Tim auditioned for Freedom Park after reading an article about a casting call in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette.

PULSE interviewer Tony Scavone caught up with Fields, who starred as David Mitchell in the award-winning movie, to get a behind-the-scenes interview with one of Freedom Park’s best known stars.

Tony Scavone: How exactly did you get into acting?

Tim Fields: I started messing around when I was in prep school at Worcester Academy in 1999. I was forced to take a fifth class and it was either theater or calculus or something crazy like that. Definitely a no-brainer. My teacher at the time, Dianne Canterbury, told my parents on two different occasions that I should consider majoring in theater at college. I went to prep school to play basketball and I had definitely never done any drama before so my parents and I had a few laughs over that. At the same time, I did have fun screwing around in acting class so maybe it stayed in the back of my head. After my sophomore year at Merrimack College, I shattered a bone in my left foot playing hoops and I had to have a screw put in my left foot so that was the end of hoops and I needed something else to do.

TS: Did you do any acting when you were in college?

TF: Well, it started with a school fair where these college organizations were outside at tables trying to sign people up for different activities. Sitting at the drama club’s table was a girl from my English class at the time who asked me to work on the fall production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a stagehand. For some reason I told her I would audition not really knowing what I was getting myself into. Turns out I landed the lead role, won best actor for the fall production, and it led me to star in four others and received two other best actor nods. Who knew? (laughs)

TS: After college did you know you were going to try to continue acting?

TF: Definitely not. I ended up getting my MA teaching license in May of 2003 and followed it up by taking a teaching position at my old high school, Shepherd Hill Regional High School in Dudley even though I got my degree in Business Management.

TS: How the hell do you go from being a 23-year-old high school teacher to landing the lead role in an independent movie that’s playing in and around New England in major theaters?

TF: During the summer, I ended up reading an article in the Telegram & Gazette about a casting call for a feature film produced by an L.A. company (Ludicrous Productions), starring Rutland native Andrea Ajemian, and they were going to shoot the entire movie in Massachusetts. Ludicrous Productions had shot a film out here in 2001; an indie feature comedy cult hit called Rutland USA. So, I went to the audition at the VFW near the Worcester Airport, was in and out in 10 minutes, got a call a month later saying they wanted me to quit my job. I read the script and loved it. Baseball, New England, The Rem Dog, Luis Tiant, Lyndon Byers, kids — I thought it was perfect.

TS: So the film is an obvious success, what’s next?

TF: Well, I starred in another movie this past January, an edgy indie called Midnight, I moved to LA, and then I auditioned for a lead role with Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings) which went really well. I made some great connections with a few casting directors, went to Toronto for 3 weeks and worked on the film The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio, with Woody Harrelson, Trevor Morgan, and Julianne Moore. In early November, I am heading to Florida with some FP cast and crew for the Marco Island Film Festival. So things are definitely moving in the right direction — it’s a marathon, not a sprint so only time will tell, but making movies is pretty kick ass, so being a starving actor is absolutely worth it.