No Restraint for Minneapolis Filmmaker

Restraining Hollywood's new feature film premieres at Riverview Theater

Restraining Hollywood's new film, In Harms Way, is described as a "gritty, crime drama/action thriller."

Image credit: Courtesy Restraining Hollywood

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Most of the time when we think about where feature films are made and produced, New York and Los Angeles come to mind. Minnesota probably doesn't even register as a movie-making hot spot (unless, of course, the Coen brothers happen to be in town).

Don't tell Brandon Van Vliet that.

Van Vliet and his independent film production company Restraining Hollywood have been creating feature films, shorts and music videos out of its Minneapolis/St. Paul headquarters since 2004. On Thursday, they will premiere their sixth feature film, "In Harm's Way," at the Riverview Theater.

Described as a "gritty, crime drama/action thriller," "In Harm's Way" follows nine main characters whose lives connect and overlap in an underworld of drugs, crime and cops as two drug dealers, Ian and Tory, find themselves with dangerous gangsters after them.

Van Vliet's friend Mike Borka, who co-wrote, executive produced and starred as Ian in "In Harm's Way," first brought the script to Van Vliet in July 2008. After he and Borka worked on the script for a few years, they shot "In Harm's Way" during June and July 2010 with a cast and crew of more than 150 people. While the film's exterior shots were done in Chicago, they also filmed in Twin Cities locations like Sound Bar and Chino Latino.

While funding can often be a problem for movies without big Hollywood backers, Van Vliet says "In Harm's Way" is the product of private investors, "people who loved the script and believed in what we're doing," including contributions from actors in the film.

But back to the beginning. How did Restraining Hollywood come into being?

"I was a DJ at a nightclub getting really burnt out on the nightclub lifestyle when a friend said, 'You should do film,'" Van Vliet says.

By 2004, he was the owner and co-founder of a new independent film production company, releasing Restraining Hollywood's first film "Up North," a campy horror story set in northern Minnesota, later that year. The company has gone on to make everything from the dramatic thriller "Hunting Buddies" to the zombie musical comedy "Potpourri," which premiered last month at the Riverview.

Van Vliet has directed, produced, acted and written for Restraining Hollywood's projects over the years, and while he doesn't have a frame of reference for what movie-making is like in L.A. or New York, he says Minnesota can be a great place to film.

"It's cool here. You'll get a lot of people behind you," he says. "It's a harder market here, but there's undying support."

In terms of the the wider Minnesota independent film community, Van Vliet says, "It's starting to gain more and more attention. It was really big in the 90s, died off in the early millennium, but it feels like it's picking back up."

As for Restraining Hollywood's future, Van Vliet says plans are still being made for what exactly 2012 will hold, but they're in talks about more feature films and will continue will their web series "One Night Stand."

"We'll ease back into it, but we'll definitely be shooting and getting back on set in 2012," he says.

+ The world premiere of Restraining Hollywood's newest film "In Harm's Way" will be held at the Riverview Theater on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door. You can also catch "In Harm's Way" at the Loring Theater on Dec. 29 in a double screening with Restraining Hollywood's zombie film "Potpourri." Learn more at inharmswayfilm.com.