WASILLA -- Chery Manning was only 19 and about to marry when a drunk driver killed her fiancé and caused her such extensive brain damage that when she awoke from a coma a week later she had the mental capacity of a toddler.
"It took years of practice to retrain my brain," said the 40-year-old co-owner of Valley Trophy, who also works as a local chiropractor's assistant.
"I am still not 100 percent back to normal."
Manning found out later that the man who plowed his truck into the three-wheeler she and her fiancé were riding near Phoenix had a history of drinking and driving, yet spent only one year in jail for aggravated assault and manslaughter for the accident.
It was then that she became active with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to help stiffen DUI punishments in Arizona.
It is also what now motivates her to spend much of her spare energy and thousands of her own money on helping produce a local "dark comedy" focused on the perils of alcoholism.
Although still only a dream until about $300,000 is secured to fund the independent film, the ambition is for "Proper Binge" to feature local actors, writers, producers, directors, cameramen and other crew who all believe in the film's main message against irresponsible drinking.
Manning, who had dreams of hitting it big in Hollywood when she was a teen, serves as executive producer.
"Every one of us has some sort of personal connection to alcoholism and knows first-hand how it can negatively affect your family and friends," said Wasilla resident Dean Q. Mitchell, one of the film's writers and directors who used to work for Valley radio.
Mitchell -- who admits to being a heavy drinker in high school and in his early 20s -- has been collaborating for the past two years with fellow writer/director and Valley resident Michael Burns on the project through their "Quake Brothers" company 1964 Motion Pictures.
For Burns, who first cut his teeth on video production while a student at Burchell High School in Wasilla 10 years ago, this will be his second feature-length film based in the Valley.
His first, "Breath of Fresh Air," chronicles in documentary style the struggles of local skateboarders to gain respect and support for the creation of the Valley's first skateboard park in Wasilla in 1998.
The documentary was released in 2008 but has yet to be picked up in independent film circles.
LOCAL LOCATIONS
Using the historic Motherlode Lodge at Hatcher Pass and various other vacant Valley locations to shoot "Proper Binge," the venture seems to have everything it needs to get started -- except the funds needed to complete the project.
Burns said he and Mitchell already have spent about $75,000 of their own money on it and have collected $15,000 from individuals and supportive businesses. They just need to convince other residents and companies to contribute to a project they believe could be a hit even without well-known actors.
"If you think about it, the last couple of films to win Academy Awards for Best Picture were independent films that didn't have big stars -- 'The Hurt Locker' and 'Slumdog Millionaire,' " Burns said.
So Burns, Manning, Mitchell and various other crew members will be holding a fundraising event and film trailer viewing in the Wasilla Alaska Club's theater at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
The plan is to raise enough funds in the next several months to enable them to begin filming in the Valley next June. Then it will take another five months to perfect it before it's ready to be submitted to major independent film festivals in the hopes it's picked up by Sundance or another major outlet.
Donations between $100 and $999 earn mentions in the film's credits; $1,000 to $2,900 will let them earn donors "investor" status and be the first to recoup their money when the film begins bringing in the bucks; and donations of at least $3,000 represent 1 percent of the film's budget and will secure a larger return on investment -- assuming the film makes money.
"Proper Binge" has pre-qualified with the Alaska Film Office to collect one-third of the film's budget in the form of transferable tax credits when the film is completed, Burns said. He added they also are trying to obtain nonprofit status for the film so that it will attract large corporate and organization support.
"The intent is to get investors 200 percent of their investment back in their pocket," he said.
LOCAL ACTORS
Wasilla residents Owen Nardini and Jeremy Blake, who have landed lead roles in the film, are just happy to have an outlet for their creative energies and believe the film will be a success.
"I really like the story line and how it pushes that alcohol isn't the best way to go, said Nardini, a junior at Colony High School who responded to a casting call in the summer of 2009. "I had a family member who struggled with alcoholism."
Nardini, who is one-sixteenth Aleut but mostly of European heritage, plays the part of Alex. Alex is an Alaska Native who helps the lead character Buzz overcome his addiction while videotaping his journey to make amends to those he's harmed with his alcoholism.
Burns said he hopes the film will help shed a more positive light on Alaska Natives than past portrayals by making Nardini's character the hero.
Blake, who graduated from UAA with a degree in psychology last year and now works as an operations manager for a home heating fuel company in the Valley, said he's proud to be involved with such a worthwhile endeavor.
"It's kind of like the movie 'Hangover,' but in that movie nobody got hurt. This is more on the real side of excessive drinking and its real-life ramifications," said Blake, who plays the part of Steve -- a snobby jerk. "I like my character because I grew up with people like that. It shows you that the loud and obnoxious 'friends' are not as popular as they seem."
Manning said she hopes the film's basic message will resonate through audiences for many years.
"I want people to know drinking gets you nowhere and fast," Manning said. "This, for me, is my effort to hopefully show people what they look like when they're drinking and that there are people who care and that there is always a way out."
The film's trailer can be viewed online at www.properbinge.com.
Contact K.T. McKee at 352-6711.
By K.T. McKEE
kmckee@adn.com