Central Kentucky moviegoers can consider themselves lucky: On Tuesday, they can see a film that won't go nationwide for several months.
Written and produced by Kentucky production company Lucky Day Studios and shot in the Bluegrass State, Unrequited follows the downward spiral of Ben Jacobs (Michael Welch, The Twilight Saga movies), a troubled young man, as he struggles to cope with his frustrating (to say the least) relationships with the ones he loves, particularly ex-girlfriend Jessica (Sarah Habel). As the title suggests, she doesn't return the feeling.
After being named runner-up on Steven Spielberg's fleeting 2007 Fox reality show On the Lot, which pitted 50 amateur directors against one another, Winchester director Jason Epperson makes a debut with Lucky Day Studios, helming Unrequited. It is the studio's first feature film.
Writer and producer Jeff Day is "very pleased" with how things worked out, especially the performance of the cast.
"Welch is a beast of an actor," Day said, "and Sarah is just as phenomenal. ... We really had some great acting."
Lucky Day and its distributor, Arc Light, are waiting to hear from several film festivals and are working on the overseas marketing before trying to move Unrequited to U.S. theaters, Day said.
"Arc Light, our distributor, is busy selling in territories overseas," Day said. "Our film has sold in Russia, Italy, France, Romania and Eastern Europe. We're really pleased with the overseas reception.
"As for U.S. distribution, we're aiming for that in the fall. We want to wait until the Toronto Film Festival in September, which is where these films get picked up."
He said it also was selected for the AceFest film festival in New York in August.















