The Cinema Columbus Film Festival is an annual event that showcases independent films from all over, giving Columbus filmmakers an opportunity to share their work. One of the films screening in this year’s festival is a film by university alumnus Jon Osbeck.
Osbeck has lived in Columbus almost his entire life and started acting in middle school. At this young age, he only did “commercials and little spots here and there,” but these small acting gigs are what got him his spot in the film industry.
Osbeck took a break from acting while attending The Ohio State University, until a friend called and asked him to act in a short film. Osbeck agreed and has been acting professionally since his mid-20s.
After his first few years of professional acting, Osbeck started working in video production as a freelancer. He produced his first short film as a writer and director circa 1999 and his first feature film as a writer and director in 2010.
In 2015, Osbeck attended Capital for an interdisciplinary studies program with a major in film and journalism. Although he didn’t do any film-related extracurriculars at the university, he continued to work as a freelance writer, director and producer as he attended the university part time.
After more than 26 years in the video production business, Osbeck is now a senior video producer for a global corporation where he writes scripts, edits, copy edits and does videography.
Osbeck’s new film, “Down to the Felt,” is an action, comedy and thriller about a gambler who makes a risky bargain with a hitman. The film was shot in Columbus by an all-Ohio crew, most of the members being from Columbus. Osbeck began writing the script in 2021, and as he began meeting with production companies to pick up the script, several producers told him to produce it independently.
While the independent film route offers more creative freedom, it also brings many challenges.
According to Osbeck, “Columbus is not known for film,” which means it is harder to produce a film in Columbus than in bigger cities like New York City and Los Angeles because that is not Columbus’s main industry. Independent filmmakers in small markets, however, have a major advantage on the economic side of production.
“The movie we shot last year would have been three times the budget if we had shot it in L.A.,” Osbeck said. “Down to the Felt” was funded largely by Columbus residents.
While funding a film in Columbus is easier than in a big city, finding a distributor is not. Osbeck has a sales agent who sells the film. The American Film Market happens every year, and luckily, Osbeck and his sales agent were able to get meetings with distributors there. Osbeck believes this is because of all the hard work that the cast and crew did on “Down to the Felt.” He is extremely proud of the film.
Osbeck believes it is important to recognize that films don’t need to be made in big cities.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to put Columbus on the map as a legitimate filmmaking city,” he said.
“Down to the Felt” screens April 30 at 7:00 p.m. at The Southern Theatre. It is the opening night event of the Cinema Columbus Film Festival.
