Norton man appearing in independent movie filmed in Northeast Ohio
Scott Davis was all-in for his latest acting role.
The Norton resident plays the grandfather in a locally filmed and produced independent movie, his meatiest role to date. He’s in about half the film and his home and 3-acre lot became one of several area shooting locations.
His wife, Maureen Davis, even fed the cast and crew and helped design sets.
After all that, “The Other Side of Darkness” Director Adam Deierling and Producer Vinny Sisson burned down his house — something that doesn’t bother Davis a bit.
There’s a good reason for his calm acceptance — mainly that the raging inferno seen in a film trailer was only a visual effect, and no Davises were harmed in the filming.
The acting bug
Davis, a retired U.S. Postal Service mail career, has wanted to act as long as he can remember, and is eagerly awaiting the Feb. 2 premier of “Darkness.” The film’s first showing will be at the Highland Square Theatre in Akron, where he’s hoping for a sold-out audience.
It’s been a long time in the works.
“I‘ve just liked to act since I was 11,” Davis said in a recent interview at his still-intact Norton home.
He met Maureen Nutter, at the same age, and they’re now preparing for their 40th wedding anniversary. She has done some performing of her own over the years, with plays and voiceovers, and currently works as a real estate agent.
Scott Davis plays the grandfather of the main character, a teenage girl searching for extended family. Along the way, she becomes aware of a plot to take down the U.S. power grid.
Davis said it is his biggest role to date, and it’s an important one in the film, said director Andy Deierling, a Canton native.
“He’s probably in about half of the movie,” Deierling said Thursday. “I was very happy with his performance.”
A mailman actor
Davis said he gained early performing experience by reciting scripture as a teenager.
“I memorized the Sermon on the Mount when I was 15,” he said.
Speaking to an audience helped him get over some of his live-performance jitters, and he further developed his acting skills in high school. Maureen sometimes acted with him, and they grew closer with the shared experience.
Davis’ acting dreams were put on the back burner as marriage and four children intervened, and he took on a second career that paid the bills and occasionally allowed him to perform.
He acted in some plays at Weathervane in the early ‘90s and more with the Actors’ Summit Theater later that decade. He’s been in recent advertisements, including a training video for a Cleveland hospital system and an Ohio Lottery ad.
But juggling work, family responsibilities and foster parenting with his desire to act was difficult, Davis said. At one point a few years ago he needed four hours off from his job for an all-expenses-paid gig in Los Angeles, but couldn’t get approval for the time off.
That experience still roils him, and he began to plan for his acting life after the post office, reaching a decision to retire after 32 years.
“He used to tell people, ‘I’m an actor who works as a mailman,’” Maureen Davis said.
Scott Davis said retirement gave him the opportunity to commit to projects without worrying about conflicts with a day job.
“I would look at these [roles] and was saddened when I couldn’t get what I really wanted to do,” he said.
Down on the farm
Davis auditioned for “Darkness” on the front porch of his Norton home on a Sunday after church.
The director and producer liked what they saw.
“We started filming [a] couple of weeks before we cast him,” Deierling said. “Scott came in two days before we were going to shoot his first scene.”
The decision to cast Davis proved beneficial beyond Davis’ role, Deierling and Sisson said. They filmed parts of the movie in different locations in the area — Stark, Trumbull, Columbiana and Portage county locations among them — but needed a farmhouse for much of the movie’s setting.
While talking with Deierling, the topic came up.
“[Adam said] if anyone knows another location [to] shoot, speak up,” Davis said. “I said, ‘Why not here?’”
The crew spent about nine days at the Norton house, filming inside the Davis home and in the woods of their 3-acre property. During the filming, Norton police made a house call to inquire about the activity.
“[They] came up and said, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’” Davis said.
‘The Other Side of Darkness’
Deierling and Sisson are mum on many details of their movie, but they’ve released a couple of trailers that hint at its storyline.
The story began developing about five years ago, Deierling said, as he started brainstorming for a concept he hoped would engage audiences but still be economical to film.
Both men had learned the ins and outs of the movie business from schooling and work in Los Angeles, but they moved back to Ohio for its lower cost of living. When the time came, they reasoned, they would be able to do much of the financing on their own, using local talent.
The question, then, became simple.
“What could we do on a limited budget that would be interesting to people?” Deierling said.
He created a story about a teen on a road trip who becomes entangled in a plot against the U.S. power grid. She locates her grandfather, but what happens after that will remain a mystery until the premiere.
“I don’t think it goes the way people will expect it to go,” Deierling said.
Both Deierling and Sisson are Ohio natives (Canton and Garrettsville, respectively) and the actors are all Ohioans or originally from the state.
“That is one thing we wanted to push,” Deierling said. “Using local places and people.”
Burning down the house
Davis said he had to do a bit of post-filming work with a lip-sync on one scene, but hasn’t seen the final product.
“I want to be as surprised as anyone else,” he said.
He does know that Deierling and Sisson burned his home down, one of 50 visual effects in the film.
He said he’s hoping the role will land him acting spots in the future. He may be retired from the post office, but he plans to keep acting as long as he can.
Davis said a teacher, Kathleen McGarvey, inspired him early on to act, but he can’t pin down why it has remained with him through the years. He tells the story of a local musician friend who had the opportunity to perform with Todd Rundgren. His friend enjoyed the experience, but it was the music that mattered most.
“He said something simple, yet profound,” Davis said. “‘I just like to do it.’”
Davis appreciates the recognition and any compliments that may arise from his role in “Darkness,” but said his children won’t let it get to his head.
“They are supportive,” he said. “[But] they keep me humble.”
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.
Film premiere
The premiere of ‘The Other Side of Darkness’ will be Feb. 2 at the Highland Square Theatre, 826 W. Market St in Akron. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with screening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.
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