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NWI PROFILE:
Paul Celestin

By Stephanie Vega

A region native is taking to the big screen with an independent film shot entirely in Northwest Indiana. Paul Celestin has served as writer, director and producer for a film called "Victims of Circumstance", a film ready to be released in our area early next year. "The film is about an assassin for hire who works for Homeland Security," Celestin says, setting the stage. "He's a career criminal who's having a crisis of conscience in regards to some of the things he's had to do. He's forced into therapy sessions to deal with his post traumatic stress disorder and has to choose between the man he is and the man he wants to become."

This character driven drama, which is dark, gritty and has a little bit of action, features many familiar backdrops as scenes for the film were shot across Lake County. "We shot several scenes at Northwoods in St. John, including a martial arts sequence," said Celestin. "We also shot two scenes in Highland at Poppy's Café on Indianapolis Blvd, as well as multiple scenes at the church office of First United Methodist Church in Crown Point. We also used houses in Hammond and Highland and we filmed at Main Square Park in Highland."

The film has been in the works for about a year and for Celestin it was a labor of love. "I've been writing for years but this is my first independent film," he said. "When I first started, it was going to be a short story. Then I started bouncing ideas around and before long I had a project I didn't know what to do with. Then, Mike Trentz (my partner in production company J.I.Lange) helped make it happen. He checked out the script and breathed new life into the project."

And with that the two hit the ground running but of course had to jump over many hurdles along the way. "He had never produced, I had never made one," said Celestin in regards to film making. "We had a lot of late night brainstorming sessions and between the two of us there were tons of sleepless nights, there still are. There were obstacles we encountered that at first made me stop and go 'Oh no, we're dead' but somehow we were able to overcome every single one."

"We managed to overcome roadblocks which included everyday life, as the cast and crew all had day jobs and most had families. "I'm a purchasing agent for a food manufacturer out of Illinois," explained Celestin. "I'm married to an adorable school teacher and we have three kids under the age of 10. This was truly a passion project."

Filming for the movie, which was shot entirely in HD, has wrapped and is currently in the editing process. The movie is scheduled to be released at the end of January and Celestin and the gang are looking at having a one day premiere at a theater in Northwest Indiana. "On that same day, everything will go live for purchase as a digital download or DVD," he said.

But for now, you can keep up to date on how things are going with the film through blog updates on their movie website; www.vocfilm.com. The website is updated three times a week and you'll be able to get a sneak peek at behind the scenes action as well as YouTube videos, promos and new content. "If you follow the blog, you get the first look as it becomes available," said Celestin. "You'll also be able to see our promotional teaser video as well as a music video we are filming."

The music video will be of an original song composed by Celestin's brother Robby (Time Peace, Final Say and RCB) that will be featured in the movie as well. "The music video will feature performance shots from Robby as well as scenes from the movie," Celestin said. "It's all really exciting."

Celestin, who was born and raised in East Chicago and currently lives in Highland, is excited to share this movie with his community and friends and hopes the film will be a success. "As an artist, I'm hoping to open the film to a large fan base that just loves it," he said. "The producer in me is hoping to recoup our investment and get in a position where we can easily fund a follow up project. And the end of the day, I still have a lot of stories to tell."