BHS grad Alan Maki stars in movie: ‘Fly Old Bird: Escape to the Ark’

Alan Maki, a 1968 graduate of Belleville High School and 2000 inductee in the BHS Distinguished Graduate Hall of Fame, stars in his third feature-length movie titled “Fly Old Bird: Escape to the Ark” which was filmed primarily in Tecumseh, Adrian and Onsted, MI.
Alan and his son, Shaun, own Sun and Paw Films, and they even secured exclusive permission for three days of filming at the Ark Encounter, which is a 510-foot-long replica of Noah’s Ark in Williamstown, KY and central to the movie’s plot.
“Fly Old Bird: Escape to the Ark,” a 2-hour-20-minute faith-based film, also stars residents of Tecumseh, Adrian, Onsted, Dundee, and Tipton, as well as Wayne and Washtenaw County actors.
The film’s story involves a feisty widower with pre-dementia symptoms who teams up with a weak-hearted and endearing neighbor to flee from nursing home prospects and take an evasive backroad trip to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky, trading cars and license plates to outwit pursuers along the way.
The movie, directed by Shaun Maki with screenplay written by Alan Maki, has already won Best Script at the CARE Awards Film Festival in West Virginia. The movie is positioned for top nominations and awards at upcoming fall and winter film festivals in Wisconsin, Toronto, and Nashville, and has been signed for worldwide distribution by Bridgestone Multimedia Group Global.
The Dove Foundation reviewers stated in their review: “This is a wonderful movie… You can count on it not being your usual travel adventure… This unlikely friendship becomes a treasure… This inspiring film is solidly acted, features a well-crafted plot, and shiningly shows that God places people in our lives to bring out the best in us.”
The Festival for Drama Film and Writing states, “This is a wonderful, heartfelt story.”
Alan, who has written two nonfiction books for Random House Publishers in New York and two novels for B&H Publishing in Nashville, said, “Getting to work with my son Shaun and my brother-in-law Dennis McComas was a tremendous experience. Without Shaun’s expertise and superb talents, this movie would’ve never been completed, let alone begun. And Dennis turned in an award-winning acting performance.”
The production company’s first two films, “Sidewalk Singer” and “Mr. What,” were distributed by Vision Video and Bridgestone Multimedia Group, having been viewed by millions of people in numerous countries. Both of those films’ World Premieres took place at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts. The filmmakers’ website is www.flyoldbird.com.
“Fly Old Bird: Escape to the Ark” will be showing just 40 minutes from Belleville at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts in Tecumseh, MI with a double Worldwide Premiere screening of the film at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9. Ticket prices are $12 for Adults and $10 for seniors and students.
Several actors, the director, producers and screenwriter will be in attendance for introductions at both showings. Tickets with reserved seats may be purchased in-person at the TCA Box Office, by calling 423-6617, or online at www.thetca.org .