Indie movie features 13-year-old Okemos student as violin prodigy
March 23 2009 06:43 AM Filed in: Member
Submissions
KATHLEEN LAVEY • MARCH 20, 2009 • FROM LANSING STATE
JOURNAL
The movie is called "Hopeful Notes," set mostly in a 1950s hospital in Siberia. The set is in Grand Rapids, mostly in a building that once housed the city's art museum. And the star is 13-year-old Ian Poland, a seventh-grader at Okemos' Chippewa Middle School who wrapped three crazy weeks on the set of the independent film late Wednesday.
"I like acting, but I never thought I'd get this deep into it, that I'd actually get into a movie," Ian said.
The movie, directed by Italian Valerio Vanoli, has a $500,000 budget and a tentative release date during the holiday season. If post-production hasn't wrapped by then, it likely will be delayed until Christmas 2010. Ian landed the role of Mischa, a leukemia-stricken Russian violin prodigy, who uses his talents to seek treatment for himself and other sick kids. Acting skills were important, but so was musicianship.
Ian's violin teacher, Sunny
Cirlin, plays with the Grand Rapids Symphony
Orchestra. She got an e-mail that producers were
having a hard time finding a kid who could do
both. Ian immediately sprang to mind. "Ian is a
delightfully respectful young man who has a lot
of talents and a lot of interests," she said.
"He's a swimmer, he's into theater, he's into
chess, and he's exploring all of his options."
He has been studying violin with Cirlin for
eight years.
She approached his parents, Rod and Therese Poland, with the idea of Ian auditioning. They agreed to allow it - even though the shoot would disrupt the entire family's schedule. "They are very dedicated and very supportive parents. They only want what's best for both of their children," Cirlin said.
Ian's sister, Heather, 7, also plays violin and will appear next month as one of Whoville's smallest residents in "Seussical the Musical" at Okemos High School.
Ian was one of two finalists for the part of Mischa, then got a phone message that the other boy had been chosen. A week later, another call came: The boy who had been selected wasn't working out. Was he still available? After a quick trip to the orthodontist to remove his all-too-modern braces, Ian started work on Feb. 27. Ten-hour days for him and the other kids in the cast were split between moviemaking and studying. When the kids weren't shooting scenes, they were with a tutor, often still in costume and makeup designed to make them appear gravely ill.
Ian practiced the violin hard, learning original music for crucial scenes. It likely will be dubbed by professional musicians when the movie is completed, but it was important that his playing look convincing. Some scenes, such as a food fight and a scene where the young hospital patients paint, were simply fun.
"My favorite scene has to be the painting scene," he said. In it, two cast mates wind up sword-fighting with loaded paintbrushes.
"That had to be one of the best scenes in the movie," he said.
Ian will bank most of his paycheck from the movie, but plans to buy an iPod touch. But even at 13, he counts the opportunity to dabble in film as more important than the pay. "I really liked the closeness of the cast," he said. "I really liked getting my braces taken off, and just how this experience was so great. It was a great learning experience for me and the other cast members."
The movie is called "Hopeful Notes," set mostly in a 1950s hospital in Siberia. The set is in Grand Rapids, mostly in a building that once housed the city's art museum. And the star is 13-year-old Ian Poland, a seventh-grader at Okemos' Chippewa Middle School who wrapped three crazy weeks on the set of the independent film late Wednesday.
"I like acting, but I never thought I'd get this deep into it, that I'd actually get into a movie," Ian said.
The movie, directed by Italian Valerio Vanoli, has a $500,000 budget and a tentative release date during the holiday season. If post-production hasn't wrapped by then, it likely will be delayed until Christmas 2010. Ian landed the role of Mischa, a leukemia-stricken Russian violin prodigy, who uses his talents to seek treatment for himself and other sick kids. Acting skills were important, but so was musicianship.
She approached his parents, Rod and Therese Poland, with the idea of Ian auditioning. They agreed to allow it - even though the shoot would disrupt the entire family's schedule. "They are very dedicated and very supportive parents. They only want what's best for both of their children," Cirlin said.
Ian's sister, Heather, 7, also plays violin and will appear next month as one of Whoville's smallest residents in "Seussical the Musical" at Okemos High School.
Ian was one of two finalists for the part of Mischa, then got a phone message that the other boy had been chosen. A week later, another call came: The boy who had been selected wasn't working out. Was he still available? After a quick trip to the orthodontist to remove his all-too-modern braces, Ian started work on Feb. 27. Ten-hour days for him and the other kids in the cast were split between moviemaking and studying. When the kids weren't shooting scenes, they were with a tutor, often still in costume and makeup designed to make them appear gravely ill.
Ian practiced the violin hard, learning original music for crucial scenes. It likely will be dubbed by professional musicians when the movie is completed, but it was important that his playing look convincing. Some scenes, such as a food fight and a scene where the young hospital patients paint, were simply fun.
"My favorite scene has to be the painting scene," he said. In it, two cast mates wind up sword-fighting with loaded paintbrushes.
"That had to be one of the best scenes in the movie," he said.
Ian will bank most of his paycheck from the movie, but plans to buy an iPod touch. But even at 13, he counts the opportunity to dabble in film as more important than the pay. "I really liked the closeness of the cast," he said. "I really liked getting my braces taken off, and just how this experience was so great. It was a great learning experience for me and the other cast members."
