Hill Harper (He Got Game) stars in Sterling Macer, Jr.’s Park Day, an updated African-American variation on American Graffiti set in a sleepy Missouri town. The Park Day of the title is a weekend-long annual event commemorating a 1906 public lynching that caused Springfield, Missouri, then a vibrant, thriving black community, to disintegrate overnight. Brock Peters (To Kill A Mockingbird) plays an ancient voodoo man locals believe cursed the town after the lynching.

Macer, a 30-year-old actor directing his first feature, unfolds his story over a 24-hour-period during which three young people come to terms with their future. Says the director, who grew up in Springfield, the film’s about "kids trying to figure out how they want to live their lives and who they want to be on a lazy summer day. What’s different is their need to overcome the general disinclination to reach for more that permeates their community."

Macer’s directed for the stage and made one short film, The Mack Daddy Chronicles, but is best known for his acting stints on series like "Homefront" and "Harts of the West." "I’d stand behind the camera watching the d.p. and director even on my days off," he says. "That was my film school." Macer intended to make Park in 16mm on a shoestring until Ted Melfi, an L.A. a.d. who knew Springfield from his college years at local Southwest Missouri State, joined with the film’s other producers to raise financing to shoot in 35mm color.

Park Day shot over 32 days last July and August. Marcus Shelby of the jazz group Black Note is composing Park’s score and the filmmakers are working with a small San Francisco record label to design a soundtrack. Expect a finished film this summer; all rights are available.

Cast: Hill Harper, Brock Peters, Monica Calhoun, Lande Scott, Ron Canada, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Darius McCrary, Autumn Jackson. Crew: Producers, Ted Melfi, Sterling Macer, Jr., Cathleen Alexander, Alan Arrivee, Jefferson Donald; Screenwriter/Director, Macer; Cinematographer, Stephen A. Blake; Production Designer, Alan Arrivee; Editor, Bob Claridge; Composer, Mark Shelby. Contact: Ted Melfi, Clandestine Entertainment, 6922 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 700, Hollywood, CA 90028. Tel: (213) 461-6700, Fax: (213) 461-6767, website: www.moviepartners.com.

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