Movie Magic in Newton

Newton got dusted with a little bit of Hollywood movie magic this weekend thanks to Michael Berg. Actors and crew members were gathered around the Razor’s Edge barbershop, 101 W. Second St. S., to film “S3rial” a short film that Berg wrote, directed and produced.

The film, which Berg bills as an Alfred Hitchcock style thriller, tells the story of a dramatic confrontation between two characters, a barber who’s a serial killer and a beat cop who’s determined to bring him down. When Berg was scouting for locations earlier this summer he stumbled across the Razor’s Edge barbershop, and he quickly realized the location would be perfect for the climactic scene in the film where the cop and his quarry cross paths for the first time.

“It took us about four months to find this location,” Berg said.

For Berg, making the film represents a labor of love. During the day he’s an IT specialist for Wells Fargo in Des Moines, but at night he’s busy writing and rewriting his screenplays for the past seven years. Berg has been trying to get S3rial filmed for the last two years, and after being unable to find anyone to direct and produce the film, he decided to do it himself.

“This is my passion, it’s something I do when I have the time,” Berg said. “I’ve always wanted to make films, and now’s the opportunity.”

It takes more than just a vision to make a movie, and Berg has been fundraising for a few months through social media and raised $2,000. He is self-financing the remaining cost of the project, estimated at $8,000, in order to bring his film into production.

He’s hoping to push it through final production by spring of next year, and he’d like to debut it at one of the big film festivals.

“A festival run is about as much as we can expect,” Berg said. “With independent projects, it’s a compromise between quality and budget.”

As the action unfolded Sunday afternoon barber Royce Sparks was riveted. Sparks, who works part-time at the Razor’s Edge, was on hand to provide technical assistance to the film. A critical scene called for a straight razor shave, and Sparks was happy to help. He’s been to Disneyland and Universal Studios, but Sparks said it doesn’t compare to the experience of working on an actual film set.

“It’s impressive to see how they work, scene after scene,” Sparks said.

When fellow barber Shawn Wade first recruited Sparks to help out, he remembers thinking, “What the hell have you gotten us into now?” but after spending some time on set, he’s all in.

“Whatever they ask me to do, I’m going to do,” Sparks said.

Berg is hopeful that interest in his film will push other local filmmakers to start working on their own scripts. He’d like to see the state bring back tax credit incentives to encourage more filmmakers to shoot in Iowa, using the state of Georgia as a model.

“There’s a lot of talented people here in Iowa,” Berg said. “I think Iowa could’ve been the next Atlanta if our initial tax credit didn’t dissipate so early on.”

Contact David Dolmage at
641-792-3121 ext. 6532
or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com