Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
2005-06-23
Section: Metro
Edition: Arlington
Page: B1

At age 7, Polaris Banks' film career consisted of short movies he made for his mom using action figures. Now Banks' and his best friends' resumes feature short and full-length movies, many of which have been shown on the big screen. The friends, who graduated in May from Martin High School, formed a film club their senior year but have written, acted in and directed movies with one another since grade school. They said they plan to attend college this fall to study acting or filmmaking.

"When I was younger, I would look at the other kids playing with their toys and imagine little stories," said Banks, 18. "I didn't realize that is what moviemakers did until I got older."

Banks has made most of his movies with Chris Frasier, 17, and Nicki Cathro and Marty Moreno, both 18. In the seventh grade, Frasier and Banks wrote a script for what would years later become a two-hour film that they would star in and produce.

Bullet Catchers, a comedy about four immortals looking to redeem their wasted lives, was shown to about 200 people at the Movie Tavern in south Arlington last month, Banks said.

He said the stunts, which include the characters kicking out windows and throwing furniture at one another, were thrilling to shoot. In one scene, Banks is hit in the head with an iron. In another, he and Frasier fight with swords on a rooftop in Sundance Square.

"We broke some rules making this movie. We'd climb on roofs, film and run away before we were caught," Banks said. "The stunts are more real than people expect. A lot of the movie is really dangerous, but that is why we are interested in doing it."

The group has made 10 films so far under its self-operated production company, Innovative Productions. The films are shot with digital camcorders and edited with professional editing software on home computers.

"We're not just trying to make movies to satisfy ourselves because we are bored. We're trying to make high-quality films that tell a story and that people will enjoy," Banks said.

Moreno, who said he plans to study acting at McLennan Community College in Waco this fall, provides comic relief in many of the movies. In Headlights at Dawn, he plays a thrill-seeking teen-ager who embarks on a road trip to Oklahoma with his friends to fight summer boredom. Moreno ad-libbed many lines and made up humorous songs about his adventure.

"My mom always told people I would be a comedian," Moreno said. "They say laughter helps you live longer. If I do a show and make people laugh, I walk off stage and say, 'Wow, I just added seconds to those peoples' lives.' "

The friends come up with most of their ideas while playing pool at Cathro's home. Cathro has learned through the projects that she loves being behind the camera more than acting.

In May at the Movie Tavern, Cathro screened the first movie she directed. Serial Romance is about a cop who frames a serial killer to hide the truth about a murder that her husband committed.

Frasier, who has shot most of the films, said he hopes to become a cinematographer with a signature style. Frasier directed Tough Break, a short film about a rich teen-ager who aspires to become a pool hustler, and Last Kill, a movie about a contract killer who wants to quit the business but is blackmailed into killing again.

The friends are working on their next project, an adaptation of a play Banks wrote his junior year, before they start college in the fall. The Lost Five Commandments is about an angel who, dissatisfied with the perfection of heaven, goes to Earth to experience the trials of humanity.

Banks, who will attend the University of North Texas this fall with Cathro and Frasier, said he plans to make movies even if he winds up working outside of film.

"In movies, you don't just create the characters. You create a whole new world," Banks said. "I like sharing that with people."

IN THE KNOW

Moviemakers

To order an Innovative Productions DVD, call Polaris Banks at (817) 572-1677. Nine titles are available, as well as a two-disc set that contains six short films by Banks and friends. The DVDs cost $6 to $12 each.

Susan Schrock, (817) 548-547 sschrock@star-telegram.com

Teen filmmakers, from left, Marty Moreno, Nicki Cathro, Polaris Banks and Chris Frasier say they got many of their film ideas while playing pool.

STAR-TELEGRAM/R. JEENA JACOB