Collegian

Bianca, played by Sara Garcia, in the garden. [Click to enlarge]

On March 26 the Lorain Palace Theatre premiered J. Carlos Gonzalez's first movie, "That  Day," (http://www.thatdaymovie.com/). The project, filmed entirely in Lorain County, began nine months ago and cost $15,000 to produce.

It was 6:30 p.m. on a cold, spring evening.  The theater lobby was full and a line of movie viewers formed along the front of the building.  Admission was free and the snacks were selling fast.

Planned to be shown at 7 p.m. ,a slight projector error caused a half hour delay.  When the movie began at 7:30 p.m. 1,200 of the 1,400 seats in the theater were filled.

"I hope that we have enough seats," said Helena Gonzalez, executive producer and J. C. Gonzalez's wife, when realizing how many people were still yet to be seated.

At 8:50 p.m. when the movie ended the movie viewers filed out of the theater after a long applause.

"I thought the movie was compelling, touching and was really well put together," said movie viewer Kara Afrates and she adds,  "I thought that the characters were very real and I felt the script was especially well written."

The principal photography was filmed in 15 days said J. C. Gonzalez.  He and his wife purchased a top-of-The-line computer to edit the movie. 

J.C. Gonzalez wrote, produced, directed and filmed most of the movie himself with the help of more than 30 people, all working for free. The music was a mixture of the  talents of Beth Bramhall and the band   G3.  G3 (http://www.g3band.com/) is a local band of brothers composed of John, Anthony, Nathanael Gilkes.

It is original music written prior to the movie said J. Gilkes, "Carlos asked if we were interested in putting music in his soundtrack.  I came and played some stuff and he was really impressed with it and we decided to put it in the film."

Almost the entire cast had never acted in a movie before.  Senior Executive Producer Antonio Barrios, who also played the father Emilio, discovered Sara Garcia, who played Blanca, and Miriam Rosa, who played the mother Josefina. "It was slightly terrifying," said Garcia and added,

"It was a great experience."

"I wasn't nervous," said Keith Brown Sr., who played Frank, and added "Initially I thought I would have to memorize all of my lines.  I had the script next to me, we shoot, I mess up or someone else mess up and we re-shoot."

WJW-TV's Meteorologist Andre Bernier made an appearance as himself.  Bernier's role set the scene for the apex of the movie. 

It took two months time, but the results of Bernier's scene are thanks to 20th Century Fox and Weather Central said J. C. Gonzalez.

The story of "That Day" envisioned by J. C. Gonzalez was built around a tea cup dated Jan. 29, 1901.      The movie explores the relationships between the siblings and comes to the realization that "the best gift is forgiveness.

What many people did not get to see was that the end credits displayed a positive life changing event taking place after the events of "That Day."

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