THE CHIGAGO-BASED CULT HORROR “INCALL” HAS BEEN FORCED TO CANCEL IT’S SCREENING AT THE PATIO THEATER, MAKING IT THE SECOND INDIE CANCELLED AT THE PATIO IN A MONTH; BUT IS IT THE LAST?

Chicago, IL, Jan. 21, 2015 – Executive producer Steven Deibert and writer, producer, director, and actor, Brock Riebe, have announced that the Jan. 31st Special Screening of their Indie Cult Horror “INCALL” (think Henry: Portrait of a serial Killer meets Brokeback Mountain), was forced to cancel at The Patio Theater.

Incall is a cleverly crafted story about Kasey (played by Riebe), a young man “down on his luck” who, through a bizarre set of circumstances, begins murdering his massage clients with the assistance of a young cat burglar (played by Ben Muller).

This cancellation comes after numerous problems caused by The Patio Theater and its management company, The Portage Theater Group (who also manage The Portage Theater). Those problems included significant and repeated misrepresentations concerning equipment, abusive and inappropriate emails from The Portage Theater Group management, mismanagement of ticket sales, and continued failures to respond to basic requests or show up for essential meetings with Incall personnel.

Mr. Riebe commented, saying: “It is truly unfortunate when people like Demetri Kouvalis (owner of The Patio), and his management company, misrepresent themselves and the services that they will offer, doing damage to films like ours as well as damaging reputations with total disregard for all the work it takes to bring a film like this to fruition…. The Patio Theater is a beautiful venue, which could be a success if it were in the hands of people who valued their own reputations and that of the theater.”

But Incall plans to prove itself very much the-little-indie-that-COULD! They are already planning a new screening at The Landmark Century Theater in Lakeview with a tentative screening date of March 5th! For more information visit their website: www.incallmovie.com.

“Kathryn Upside Down”: Indie Film Suffered Similar Fate with Patio Theater
Like Incall, Allie Loukas’ film “Kathryn Upside Down”, a dramedy about a girl in her twenties who meets her biological father, a plumber, for the first time after the toilet overflows at an upscale garden party, had similar issues with The Patio Theater and its management. She was also forced to cancel her film before its screening.

Ms. Loukas commented: “Demetri and Alex (rep. at Portage Theater Group) are not responsible business owners, their unethical and irresponsible behavior forced me to cancel and reschedule a screening of my film…. They misrepresented their equipment and the state of their facility…. They allowed and encouraged me to go on the news and inform other media outlets of my screening being aware they were incapable of hosting the event. The theater wanted and knew they were getting free media coverage off of my film, and did not follow through with their commitment. I hope this will warn other independent filmmakers to proceed with great caution if they are even considering using the Patio Theater to host their event.”

Ms. Loukas has also moved her screening to the Landmark Century Theater. More info on upcoming screenings can be found at www.kathrynupsidedown.com.

It is important to note that The Patio Theater just reopened December 4th as the result of a successful “Kickstarter” campaign, led by Demetri Kouvalis, which raised over $54,000. When it was announced that the theater would be reopening under Eddie Carranza’s (owner of The Portage Theater who has a record for having his theater’s shut down by the city) team, Ald. (38) Tim Cullerton voiced concerns calling Mr. Carranza’s record “worrisome”.