RISING STARS. â??Limboâ?? starring (left to right) Joe Rosati, Mike Winfrey, Ben Warner and Nick Snapp will be shown at Jazzbones this weekend.
“Limbo” may be the name of the movie produced by four Pierce College buddies, but the tracks the movie has the potential of creating are far from being in limbo.
The story centers around a loosely based version of Joe Rosati’s life. He is a 30-sometihng guy who started a nightclub, lost money, went bankrupt and landed up at Pierce College in an acting class.
For Rosati and his character, life was truly all about limbo—being in between the middle of no-where’s-ville. But that’s where the magic came in.
While in the acting class, Rosati met who would become some of his best friends, Mike Winfrey, Ben Warner and Nick Snapp.
The group immediately connected and formed a bond with Rosati regaling his friends about his past experiences, and Winfrey taking diligent notes.
“When I first heard Joe tell me a little of his past, I saw the framework for a great story.” Winfrey said. “There was amazing chemistry between all of us.”
So armed with a small budget and a solid script, they started filming at area businesses including Jazzbones, The Spar, The Harmon and Lacoste Coffee in Lakewood.
Winfrey, the writer behind the movie, said shooting at the businesses brought the community together on film and helped to bring recognition to the establishments.
He and Rosati credit the community for being really supportive.
“We have an awesome community,” Rosati said. “Tacoma is gorgeous.”
The group networked through talent agencies to provide for extras and used the sounds of local bands for the music.
Warner added comedy and creative ideas to the team, and Snapp visualized the ideas and put them on film.
For Winfrey and Snapp, the movie was a breath of fresh air since they both had always had a love of film and dreamed of filmmaking as a career.
The filming took six months to complete and a lot of work in between.
“Limbo” is the first feature length from Winfrey’s production company, New Empire Productions.
Many may look at the life of Rosati and his friends on screen and feel sad for their state of disarray, but they say being in limbo yourself is an opportunity to bring others out of it.
“It happens to everyone,” is the motto of their movie.
For Rosati, “Limbo” is a stepping-stone into producing a lot more movies.
He hopes the movie will act as a catalyst to gain more support of the arts in the city.
“If we are not able to express ourselves as artists then what else is there,” he said. “It injects the lifeblood into the community.”
The movie will debut at Jazzbones Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. and Feb. 3 at 6 p.m., and the movie will be shown at the Swiss on Superbowl Sunday after the game.
The group also put the movie into the running for Seattle International Film Festival.
For more information, visit www.limbo-themovie.com.
