Christian-themed ‘Adrenaline’ wraps filming in Cape Fear

March 13--A smoky pool hall set the scene Wednesday for the final day of principal filming on "Adrenaline," a locally filmed independent movie about an orphaned street racer who must take a hard look at his life when an car accident nearly kills him.

The Christian-themed film may sound familiar to Wilmington residents. It originally went into production in November 2012. While a substantial amount of filming was completed during initial filming, the film remained incomplete for months due to budgetary and scheduling issues. It returned in front of the camera March 1.

Wednesday's scene, filmed at Diamonds Grille & Billiards off Market Street, featured a host of local background actors, who populated the bar alongside the principal cast. The scene will appear early in the film, when the main character, Joseph (local actor Michael Rosander), is living the carefree life of illegal street racing before his accident.

As the film progresses, Joseph is encouraged to recover from his debilitating injuries by an old friend of his father's, played by John Schneider (best known as Bo Duke on "The Dukes of Hazzard"), who agrees to help him join the world of professional drag racing.

Last August, the production launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to help finance the rest of the production costs and resume filming. Ultimately raising just shy of $26,000 against a $45,000 goal, the campaign was a bust. The website requires the goal to be met for any money to be collected.

The film's producers, however, didn't let that stop them from spending last year shopping the film around to potential sponsors, finding backers at both the national (Edelbrock and Summit Racing parts manufacturers) and local (Bojangles and Audi Cape Fear) levels. Local churches also have responded the film's religious message and offered support.

Also factoring into the film's extended delay: the hero's 1967 Barracuda, which suffered a blown engine just days into the original filming. After troubles with insurance, the production reached out to motor companies for donated parts, which director Joseph Simpkins then used to build the car a new engine.

Since arriving back on set, cast and crew have shot additional footage in Wallace, Jacksonville and Wilmington. Locally, the production has used several back roads to film a few street racing scenes.

Returning from the break required Rosander to get back into a character from whom he has been separated for quite some time.

"It has definitely been a challenge trying to go back and look through things that I have already shot," he said. "But we have a phenomenal crew that has been very helpful along the way, so it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be."

With filming nearly completed, besides a few pick-up scenes scheduled for the coming months, executive producer Del Baron said that the next step will be focusing on editing and working on the film's sound and score.

As for a release, Baron said that they expect to finish this film this summer, with a small theatrical run planned eventually. Producers are also looking into holding a big premiere in Wilmington in August or September, complete with a car show and possibly live entertainment from Southern Christian rock band Love Like Gravity, which sings the film's theme song.

But until then, the cast and crew are just celebrating the chance to finally complete the film.

"The finish line is in sight," Rosander said, laughing.

Hunter Ingram: 343-2327

On Twitter: @WilmonFilm

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