The Surface was the Closing Night film for the Milwaukee Film Festival.

As we mentioned in September, last year our Fox Point branch served as the setting for some scenes in The Surface, a feature film starring Sean Astin, who appeared in The Goonies, Rudy, and The Lord of the Rings. On Oct 9, the movie premiered at the Oriental Theatre to close out the Milwaukee Film Festival, and Marketing Communications Manager Kate Knox was in the audience with her husband.

“North Shore Bank was definitely part of the film!” Kate reports. “They included shots outside (with the sign!) and inside the branch, too.”

Kate says the bank and Fox Point Branch Manager Carol Bergen were named in the credits. Branch employees were also mentioned, by first name only.

Customer Jeff Gendelman — at far left, smiling — wrote and produced the movie. At right, star Sean Astin fields questions.

“I was so excited to see the bank and the Fox Point team up on the big screen,” Kate says. “So incredibly cool! The film was beautifully shot and very good. There were numerous Milwaukee and Wisconsin references.”

The shoot came about at the request of longtime Fox Point customer Jeff Gendelman, who wrote and produced The Surface. Gendelman was of course at the premiere, along with Astin and other stars of the film.

“The audience included many people from the crew who are all locally based,” Kate says. “Jeff Gendelman’s Wisconsin/Milwaukee-area pride was obvious, and he was very gracious with all the local businesses that were featured in the film. He made sure the business names were in the shots and in the credits. Seeing the film left me feeling very proud.”

The Surface will begin an exclusive run at select Marcus Cinemas in Wisconsin next Friday, Oct 31. Locations, dates, times, and tickets will be available next week at marcustheatres.com. A national release in select cities will begin winter/spring 2015. You can find more information about the movie and watch the trailer at thesurfacemovie.com.

Photos by Kate Knox.