MV Players to screen the Ohio premiere of ‘Road Meat’

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley Players theater group will screen the Ohio premiere of the film “Road Meat” at 7 p.m. Friday at the Lemon Grove, on the second floor of the Knox Building, 110 W. Federal St., downtown (enter through The Federal restaurant and bar).

Admission is $10, with proceeds benefiting the MV Players, which presents free theatrical productions in the area, including Shakespeare in the Park performances every summer at Morley Pavilion.

“Road Meat,” a slasher-comedy, was shot in 1988 in Columbus and Youngstown by Brad Black and Bill Bragg of Columbus. The filmmakers used area talent for the cast, including Kim Akins, who is now the director of MV Players.

Unable to obtain wider distribution for the movie, the filmmakers shelved the film, and it faded into obscurity for 28 years.

Then in 2016, Mark Freedo, a New York film curator, found a press kit for the film in a warehouse. He was interested in contacting the producers, but was thwarted because he had no contact information.

A break came last year when Freedo, while scrolling through Instagram, saw a photo of a man with a bookcase in the background. On the bookcase was the press kit for “Road Meat.” Freedo contacted the man in the photo, who gave him Bragg’s contact information. Freedo then negotiated with Bragg for the rights to release the film.

In October, the film premiered in Brooklyn to a sold-out house and a standing ovation. Bragg, leading lady Vicky Welsh and Akins conducted a question-and-answer session afterward.

Tickets for the Friday screening can be purchased through Eventbrite or at the door. The fundraising event will feature raffles, silent auctions, 50-50 raffles and memorabilia sales. The director and lead actors of the film will attend and conduct a question-and-answer session after the screening.

“Road Meat” will be released on Blu-Ray in April, with a commentary track and interviews with the cast and crew included as extras.