Max Peril debut promises Southern mockumentary fun from filmmaker Frank Ladner

Independent Mississippi movie maker Frank Ladner premieres his latest film, Max Peril, on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. The event takes place at the impressive Brownstone Center for the Arts on the campus of Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Miss.

In the tradition of his award-winning 2012 film, Hickory Never Bleeds, Ladner casts local talent to play the roles in his independent Southern mockumentary film and sets the scenes in and around his community. Some familiar faces return including Ladner, his wife Janna, Mark Forte, Mary Etta Moody, James “Sonny” Howard, Sherri Marengo and Bobby Smith, along with several new actors.

Max Peril tells the story of Riley Young, an aspiring filmmaker who has promised himself to complete a movie by his thirtieth birthday. Now 29 years old, he commits to finishing his latest project. Within Young’s story exists the story he is filming, that of a shadowy figure with big tales of undercover operations. Here’s Ladner’s official synopsis: In an effort to finish a film before turning thirty, and in hopes of winning his county’s first annual film festival, Riley Young documents and re-creates the increasingly far-fetched stories of a retired secret agent using only local talent, a VHS camcorder, and every low-budget filmmaking trick he knows.

The official trailer shares hints of the adventure to come.

Ladner’s approach to storytelling results in winning films, as acknowledged by his 2013 Tupelo Film Festival award in the Feature Film category for Hickory Never Bleeds. As he prepares to share Max Peril with audiences for the first time, Ladner announced that the film has been accepted into the 2015 FestivalSouth Competition set for June 6-20.

Here’s Parental Guidance information from the filmmaker:

No profanity, gore, or adult situations.
Stylized comedic action.
Some gun use.
Minor euphemisms ("dang", "crap", "heck".)
Brief testicular humor.
Brief near-kissing scene.

Tickets to the premiere are priced at $5.00 and must be purchased at the door. Proceeds benefit the PRCC Film Production Class. Look for The Ethel Holden Brownstone Center for the Arts on the PRCC campus located on Highway 11 just north of Highway 26 in Poplarville.

Originally appeared 04/25/2015 at http://www.examiner.com/article/max-peril-debut-promises-southern-mockumentary-fun-from-filmmaker-frank-ladner