Anticipation for Crime Fiction, a film made by members of Fire Escape Films, continues to build as its screening approaches. Crime Fiction’s plot involves a struggling writer who murders his girlfriend and then writes a novel about a writer who murders his girlfriend. The largest project to ever come out of Fire Escape, the film has attracted media attention from Time Out Chicago, Screen Magazine, and most recently a Chicagoist.com interview with director Will Slocombe, producer Graham Ballou, both U of C students, and producer and alumnus Marc DeMoss.

Members of the production team are excited about the recent coverage they have received. For a small production especially, anything that gets the word out about the film is a good thing, organizers said.

“It’s really amazing to see stories about our film pop up every now and then, and the press certainly helps us establish our reputation and negotiate with other industry professionals,” Ballou said in an e-mail interview.

Ballou had a positive update on the production team’s progress. “Everyone in this city has been extremely helpful,” Ballou said. “We’ve worked out licensing, post-production, and legal work with very few hiccups, and I expect an equally smooth ride between now and festival screenings.”

The team is less than a week away from completing the picture, after which they will send the film to I-cubed, a post-production house in Chicago, for color correction and mastering. All that remains after that is to submit the film to “every festival under the sun,” said director Will Slocombe, and then try to get distribution.

The film should be finished around mid-March, and the team plans on submitting it to festivals throughout the summer as well as screening it at Doc Films in spring quarter.

Crime Fiction was written by Jonathan Eliot, and the cast includes Amy Sloan, Christian Stolte, Jonathan Eliot, Yasen Peyankov, and Katrina Lenk from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and Dan Bakkedahl from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The theatrical trailer and more information about Crime Fiction can be found on the film’s website, crimefictionpictures.com.