RoundAbout Madison - Movie Madison 6-00

'Madison' in final stages of filming

Various Madison locations used
in making hydroplane movie

By Don Ward
Editor
MADISON, Ind. (June 2000) – With the Madison Regatta returning for another year, many in the community are eagerly awaiting the anticipated release of the movie "Madison," filmed here during last year's event using vintage race boats and many "extras" cheering them on.
The movie, produced by Madison Miracle Productions, tells the dramatized but true story of Miss Madison driver Jim McCormick's underdog victory in the 1971 Gold Cup race on the Ohio River. Actor Jim Caviezel plays the late McCormick and child star Jake Lloyd of Star Wars fame plays his son, Mike, through whom the story is told. Several vintage hydroplane race boats were hauled into Madison from Seattle and New York to help re-stage the dramatic race on the Ohio River.
Now the movie is in the final stages of editing in California, with only the sound and music to be added. Film clips and trailers have already attracted interest among several Hollywood movie companies, according to director Bill Bindley.
"We are finishing the editing of the movie, and everything looks really good," Bindley said last week by telephone from the cutting room of his Los Angeles office.
Bindley, 38, an Indianapolis native, wrote the script with his brother, Scott. He has met with officials from producer George Lucas' Skywalker Sound Co. in San Francisco to do the sound for the movie and has talked with Jerry Goldsmith to write the score. Goldsmith's work was featured in the Indiana-based movies "Hoosiers" and "Rudy."
"He has seen the movie and was very impressed," Bindley said.
Bindley said his production company already has had one offer by a "major studio" to distribute the film but that he is waiting for possible offers from other interested parties. Once the deal is made, Bindley wants the movie to premiere at Madison's Ohio Theatre as part of "a huge party" that would involve several showings. He also wants to show the movie in his native Indianapolis.
Although the movie should be ready for release this winter, Bindley said he expects that to happen sometime next spring or summer because "nobody wants to release an upbeat summertime movie in the winter."
Using a temporary soundtrack, Bindley said the movie played well recently before a Chicago audience that included the three primary investors behind the project. "It had people crying in the theater," he said.
The studio will ultimately decide when to release the film and where it will premiere.
Greg Malone, an Indianapolis-based film industry consultant who organized the logistics for the Madison project, said a long turnaround time between filming and release is normal in the industry. He added that the size of the company that ultimately distributes the film will dictate what cities it play in and the size of the advertising budget to promote it.
Caviezel's fame, meanwhile, has risen dramatically in Hollywood with the recent release and critical acclaim for his movie, "Frequency." Caviezel recently was signed for the lead in "The Count of Monte Cristo.
"The producers are happy that Jim Caviezel's film, "Frequency," is doing well at the box office, so that should help that when this film is released, since he won't be as much of an unknown quantity," Malone said.
Tony Steinhardt, a former Miss Madison team member in 1971 who served as an advisor on the project, showed a 28-minute trailer from the movie during a pre-Regatta press party June 20 at the Broadway Hotel and Tavern in Madison. He is directing marketing efforts for this year's Madison Regatta.
"I think the film looks great," Steinhardt said, "and it should really do a lot for the city of Madison when it comes out."
Duane Herin, a local Regatta memorabilia collector who played a Miss Madison crew member in the film, said, "It would be nice to have a premiere here in Madison. Many of the extras are already talking about organizing a big party for the occasion."
Some of the bills that accumulated locally during the filming of the movie still haven't been paid. But Malone, who is also owed money, said, "Everything looks good, and I'm optimistic everyone will get paid."
Bindley says he will spend the summer finishing the "Madison" project but already has been offered three new scripts. He is considering a movie on Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox that would be filmed in Washington, D.C. He may also return to his native Indianapolis to film a movie about the American Basketball Association based on a script that he and Scott co-wrote.
Bindley has written the scripts for all his movies to date and considers "Madison" his best work.
"I'm proud of the film and can't wait to get back to Madison to show it," he said. "We had great cooperation from the town and everyone worked very hard to get it done."
• Notes: The movie "Madison" produced at least two real marriages last summer. Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Association commissioner Ken Muscatel met casting director Kathy Binns of Cincinnati, and the couple wed last month.
Also, actor Jake Lloyd's uncle, David Flowers, met and married a Madison woman and now lives in Madison and works for Rotary Lift. He worked in the art department during filming.