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Community Corner

Fenton Man is Associate Producer on 'Meltdown' Action Thriller

Eric Szczepanski, a member of Fenton High School's Class of 2006, would like to see a film come to Fenton someday, he says.

Fenton grad Eric Szczepanski has had some neat experiences during his career in the film industry, including an introduction to Henry Winkler and helping film a music video of Nikki Minaj and BOB in Detroit.

His first feature film, ‘Meltdown,’ in which Szczepanski was associate producer, has been released on DVD.

Meltdown, an action thriller, is by Cinema Vision Pictures LLC in association with ITN Distribution. Written and directed by Christopher J. Martin, it’s described as an action thriller film about a federal agent who goes deep undercover to bring down a crime syndicate. When the agent’s cover is blown and he gets burned by the FBI, his only hope is a female agent who’s willing to break all of the rules. Outnumbered and outgunned, they're in a deadly fight to the finish.

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Szczepanski said part of his job for Meltdown was assisting the executive producers in overseeing post-production, distribution research, filling out music cue-sheets, social media, marketing and promotion. He also composed and scored the theme for the Cinema Vision Pictures logo.

“It was a great experience to play a role in the making of Meltdown, I really enjoyed working with executive producers Scott Carmona and Shannan Weston,” he said. “I learned a lot from them what it takes to produce a feature film.”

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It was a “very Michigan crew” and they used a lot of Michigan talent in Meltdown, Szczepanski said.

Meltdown was filmed in Bay City, with stars Joe Estevez (Uncle of Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen), Robert Z’Dar, Christopher J. Martin, Andrea Tice, Rob DuPont, Maurice Kelly, and Bay City’s Vern Zaucha (retired Bay City Firefighter) and was produced by Bay City area entrepreneurs Carmona and Weston. 

“We had a great crew made up of the talented and skilled workforce here in Michigan and many of the cast and extras in the film were residents from the Great Lakes Bay Region,” said Carmona, executive producer and co-president of Cinema Vision Pictures, in a press statement.

“Filmed on location, residents will enjoy the many sights of the city featured throughout the movie including the scenic view of the Bay City waterfront that can only be described as Pure Michigan,” said Weston, executive producer and co-president of Cinema Vision Pictures.

Other notable scenes in the movie featured The Bay County Building, the old Kuhlman electric plant, St. Laurent Brothers, Pulaski Hall, and the Espresso Express Coffee House as well as many other local businesses, shops, and streets.

Szczepanski enjoyed working as associate producer very much. His dream job is becoming a music supervisor, obtaining publication rights to use music in films.

“It would be great to see a film come to Fenton sometime,” he said.

And that introduction to Henry Winkler? it came when Winkler was starring in a Reverse One Mortgage commercial Szczepanski was helping with.

"Wehn he came on set, he actually went up and introduced himself to the entire crew," Szczepanski said. "He's got to be one of the nicest actors you'll ever meet."

About Szczepanski

His high school music teacher, Andrew Perkins, inspired him to work in music for film, Szczepanski said. A member of Fenton High School’s marching band, his instrument was the trumpet. He also played keyboard in his high school Jazz Band. In addition, he was music coordinator for FHS’ Theatre program, assisting with sound engineering for the Theatre Department.

Szczepanski earned his bachelor’s degree from Ferris State University, in music business and film studies. While attending Ferris I was an active member of the Ferris' Music Industry Management Association, general manager of Bulldog Radio (Ferris Student Radio) and co-founded the "Turn up the Good" concert, held annually at Ferris. He’s a former intern in the Michigan Film Office under former film commissioner Carrie Jones (a former Fenton resident). Szczepanski is a cousin of current Michigan film commissioner Margaret O'Riley.   

In addition, he’s an active parishioner of St. John Catholic Church in Fenton and a set-up team volunteer for the annual St. John Applefest.   

Where to find Meltdown

Meltdown is available on DVD at Family Video and online at Family Video, Blockbuster, Barns and Noble, and Amazon.

  • Official Twitter Page: @CVPictures
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