The Lockport locks serve as a crime scene during the upcoming movie, "The American Side," The movie's producers just concluded a successful findraising campaign 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

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A Kickstarter campaign to increase awareness about a movie filmed mostly in Western New York -- and partly in Lockport -- met it's $85,000 goal.

The campaign saw 582 backers donate a total of $89,525 prior to the midnight deadline, meaning the film's producers will be able to push for a wider release of the film when it comes to theaters in 2016.

Despite its well-known cast, including Matthew Broderick, Robert Forster, Robert Vaught, Janeane Garofalo and Camilla Belle, the film's independent status means without the publicity campaign, major theater networks would be less inclined to show it than that of major movie studios.

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.

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