The Lockport locks serve as a crime scene during the upcoming movie, "The American Side," The movie's producers are raising money to market the film in order to grant it a wider opening in 2016. (SCOTT LEFFLER / ENP STAFF)

BY +Scott Leffler 
scott.leffler@eastniagarapost.com

---

An independent film shot partially in Lockport in 2013 is looking for an influx of cash to make a bigger splash when it's released next year.

Producers of "The American Side" are aiming to raise $65,000 by Dec. 10 via a Kickstarter campaign in order to push for a wider opening for the film. Despite the film's star power -- it boasts Matthew Broderick, Robert Forster, Robert Vaught, Janeane Garofalo and Camilla Belle amongst its cast -- it faces an uphill battle for wide distribution due to its independent status.

The project's Kickstarter page emphasizes that the $65,000 they're looking to raise is geared solely towards marketing the film to earn it an opening on more screens in more cities.

Ever stumble across a great film on cable or Netflix and wonder why you’d never heard of it? Too often the answer is simply ‘money’. Major studios control what we see at the movies, even putting out so-called ‘indie’ films that are simply produced by a studio subsidiary. Studios have the resources to promote these films, making them more attractive to theater owners and further limiting the number of screens available for truly independent work. -- "The American Side" Kickstarter campaign

As with all Kickstarters, there are rewards for donation levels from social media shoutouts to t-shirts, digital downloads and the opportunity to see the premiere.

The premise of the movie involves a missing notebook stolen from the hotel room of Nikola Tesla following his death in 1943. The notebook is said to have held ideas for a free-energy system, a death ray and other science-fiction sounding ideas. In the movie, one of the pages is found, leading to a tale of murder and intrigue -- all set in Western New York.

The movie was filmed primarily in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, but a small portion was filmed at the Flight of Five in Lockport on Aug. 19, 2013 including appearances by a pair of Lockport Police Department patrol cars, an SUV and three officers — Lt. Sal Licata, Det. Kevin Schrader and Officer Aaron Belling.

Originally slated to be released in 2014, it is now scheduled for a spring 2016 release. How many screens it's released on is up to the donors.

Watch the Kickstarter video below and visit the Kickstarter page for more details.

---

East Niagara Post is the official media sponsor of Hockey Day in Lockport.