Tim McGrath felt a sick, familiar feeling when news of the terror attacks in Paris began spreading on Nov. 13. It’s the same one he feels every time news of a mass shooting ripples across the media.
“At this point I’ve come to my own kind of operation system as far as how to handle re-living it each time,” said McGrath, 28, who was in Theater 8 of the Century 16 movie theater during the
Most of the carnage, which killed 12 people and wounded more than 70 during the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises,” occurred in Theater 9, but bullets and smoke passed through the wall and injured some in Theater 8 as well.
Part of McGrath’s coping system involves his work as an actor, writer and producer. The Chicago native and current Los Angeles resident has launched a to raise $10,000 for a short film called “Theater 8,” which details the aftermath of the event he witnessed with his cousin and several friends.
“The impetus for this project has been to share what it’s like on the other side of it, because I get people reaching out constantly every time there is another shooting to check if I’m OK,” McGrath said over the phone last week. “Having been in the building and come out the other side people ask, ‘What do we do with this?’ I’m pretty introverted myself, so the balance of that and wanting to tell a necessary story is what really pushed me to make this.”
With 22 days to go until its Dec. 18 deadline (as of this writing), the film has raised about 20 percent of its funding. But according to producer Brandon Urbina, it will get made regardless of whether it reaches its Kickstarter goal or not.
“As a society, films made about real life events and tragedies are especially important. The vast majority of true stories are written and directed by outsiders,” Urbina said via e-mail. “With Tim, a survivor is writing and directing the film himself. That is unique.”
McGrath and Urbina did not provide details about how the film will portray the event or its aftermath, or how it will be different than others that deal with mass shootings, like Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” (based on the Columbine shootings).
But the “insider’s take” is focused on survivors, not the shooter, and McGrath said it will tell a side of the story that he feels the media has ignored.
“My goal with this is to get that part of it out there,” said McGrath, who has already confirmed actor Stacey Dash (“Clueless”) as part of the cast. “If I can do it in short form or long form, what’s most important is getting it out there.”
“Theater 8” is a shorter version of McGrath’s a feature-length take on the Aurora shooting that he said is still making the rounds in Hollywood.
“One of the Columbine survivors I worked with (at the Aurora Strong Resilience Center) said you kind of have to grieve that time you went into the theater, and that old way of thinking,” he said. “That’s really where this focus is going to be: to see how the brain changes once you experience something like that, and how do you get to a point where you’re comfortable in society again?”
“Obviously a lot of focus is on the details of the night and the shooting itself, and I think that’s not entirely helpful because everyone is unfortunately familiar with how these things happen, and how they’re shocking and tragic. I think what’s more important is how we move forward.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or @johnwenzel
