Another movie was recently shot in Milwaukee, this one called "Wishtaker," and it stars Mark Metcalf.
Most famous for his role as Douglas C. Neidermeyer in "National Lampoon's Animal House" ("What is that on your chest, mister?"), Metcalf also had a reoccurring role on Seinfeld as "The Maestro."
What was it like working with Jerry Seinfeld?
"It's always great to work with millionaires," says the lighthearted Metcalf. "Jerry is very comfortable and very relaxed. He was a great centerpiece for that show."
In this new film, Metcalf, who now lives in Milwaukee, plays a frustrated executive in the middle of a questionable business deal. After finding a nickel, he contemplates throwing it into a fountain and making a wish to turn his luck. At some point in the film, all of the characters sink a coin in the fountain, hoping to change their unpleasant situations, but a homeless man often removes the coins, interfering with their destinies.
Metcalf altered his destiny three years ago when he and his wife, Libby Wick, and their son, Julius, moved to Milwaukee. Metcalf originally wanted to move to Montana where they already owned a house, but Wick wanted to raise her son in her home town.
"When we left L.A. we wanted to find a place that was more like America and less like L.A.," says Metcalf. "I wanted to move to Montana and my wife wanted to move here, so we compromised and moved where she wanted to go."
In 2000, the couple bought a restaurant/pub in Mequon and renamed it Libby Montana's. Metcalf juggles his time between running the restaurant and acting, both in L.A. and locally. He will appear this fall in Bialystock & Bloom's "Never The Sinner" and First Stage Children Theatre's "Holes." He also plans to work on two independent films.
"Wishtaker" was shot for seven days during the middle of August, and a rough cut will be sent at the end of September to Sundance for possible inclusion in the festival this winter. A premier screening will be held at the Times Cinema in October. Stay tuned to OMC for more information.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
