Movie shot entirely in Evansville now available for streaming

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - For most people in Evansville, the Lloyd Expressway is just a way to get around town. For the audience of Pears, it serves as the background of the opening credits.

The movie, created by University of Southern Indiana graduate and filmmaker Ryan McCurdy, was shot entirely in Evansville, and featured a mostly-local cast.

“Pears is this guy who’s been jumping from job to job, and he can’t figure out what he wants to do in life, and he finally falls on being a private eye,” said McCurdy.

The comedy follows Perry “Pears” Matthews on a mission to solve the case of his missing brother-in-law.

McCurdy says the name of the character came from the personality of his actor. Kevin Arnold stars in the film. McCurdy says Arnold is an old friend, and often reminds him of Matthew Perry’s character Chandler Bing from Friends. In a tribute to that, McCurdy switched around the late Perry’s name, landing on Perry Matthews.

McCurdy says a lot of his writing centered around actors he knew from his time living in Evansville. He lived in the city for six years after graduating from USI, moving to Atlanta in 2018. But when it came time to make his first full-length feature film, he came back to the River City.

“I knew a lot of people here in Evansville, a lot of talented people, who would benefit from doing this movie, and I also knew a lot of locations,” McCurdy said.

Those locations include the riverfront, High Score Saloon, Main Phase One, Bayard Park, the Reitz Home and more.

“I think that Evansville has got a really unique look,” McCurdy said. “It’s kind of cool that 10 minutes from Evansville you can be in farm land or you can be in the city. I think people overlook all the cool nooks and crannies that Evansville has to offer.”

McCurdy says nearly every actor has ties to the Tri-State, making the shooting locations familiar ones, and allowing the movie to stay on budget. McCurdy and his wife self-funded the project, operating on a budget of just $3,000.

“We shot for roughly two weeks,” he said. “Everyday we were shooting anywhere from roughly six hours to about 12 hours.”

And the movie shot in Evansville made its debut here too, premiering at the Victory International Film Festival last fall.

“We ended up packing the whole theatre, which was crazy,” McCurdy said. “I couldn’t believe how many people were there to see the movie.”

And now the movie can be for everyone. McCurdy says Pears is available on Amazon Prime Video. He says it should soon be available on Tubi as well.

“It is crass, hilarious, goofy, silly and it is also engaging and fun,” McCurdy said when describing the film, which debuted in September.

As for his next project, McCurdy says he’s writing a script, and wouldn’t rule out a return to Evansville when it comes time to shoot the project.

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