Local director’s “Steel Spirit” brings film to big screen.
Week of April 12,  2002

By ERIC FINE, for the Press, (609) 272-7247


Like the main character of his film “Seel Spirit”, Steven Pershing qualifies as a working-class hero. Pershing is a self-taught jack-of-all-trades, with a resume  that includes computers, construction work and now filmmaking.

The Egg Harbor Township resident shot his action/adventure about a fictitious bounty hunter in 1998 and 1999.

Pershing cast himself as Dallas McQuaid, who tracked down 46 of America’s Most Wanted before trading in the dangerous line of  work for the anonymity of selling cars.

Pershing,30, is no stranger to the quiet desperation to which McQuaid has exiled himself. For one forgettable day, he donned a rubber suit, climbed into a 40-foot tank, and shoveled human  waste products on the grounds of the Atlantic City International Airport. The  job didn’t last long.

That’s why I really started considering maybe actually going for the dream, says Pershing, a computer technician with the Federal Aviation Administration in Atlantic City. I did that one day, and I  actually quit halfway through the day and started making my plans to make a move as far as getting into the entertainment field.

In 1994, he accepted a position at the Atlantic City Race Course, where he gained experience in the field of television production. He held the position until 1999, when he took time off to finish shooting “Steel Spirit”.

The 90-minute feature begins with McQuaid losing his job at a car dealership. Afterward, he walks into an Atlantic City bar and sees his picture on television, and listens to a newscaster announce that he is the subject of a $5 million bounty. He soon finds out that everybody is betting against his survival-including the bookmakers in Las Vegas.

Pershing says he tried to bring together the best qualities of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the script will remind film buffs of The Guantlet and Midnight Run, as well. The script also recalls the paranoia in Kafka’s, The Trial -- McQuaid has no idea who bankrolled the contract.

Shot on 8mm HI-8 video with a Sony home-video camera, “Steel Spirit” cost roughly $15,000 to make.

The cast and crew feature approximately 50 area folks, including a number of Pershing’s long time friends.

Mostly, these are friends of mine I’ve had since we played Atari, he says on the phone.

The film made its debut in November 2001 during a private screening at the Showboat Casino-Hotel in Atlantic City.

It opens Friday, April 12 and the Tilton 9 Theater in Northfield,  where it will run through Thursday, April 18, 2002.

In addition to his starring  role, Pershing produced and directed the film and wrote the screenplay.

I put this thing together and did the editing in a way that  if you get up and go to the bathroom, you’re gonna miss something, Pershing  says. I kept (the action) very fast-paced.

The dark, grainy imagery is  a byproduct of Pershing’s limited budget. Yet the filmmaker believes this quality serves to enhance the film. If I would have used a better video camera, it would have looked like television and I didn’t want that,he  says.

Showtime is 9:30 p.m. daily.  The theater is located in the Tilton  Shopping Center, 331 Tilton Road, Northfield.

Call (609) 646-3147 or online at www.steelspirit.com for more information.