Sandusky native's short film shown at festivals

SANDUSKY — A Sandusky native's 15-minute suspense film won acceptance at film festivals."AnonMan," a short suspense thriller about an unemployed man who gets an envelope full of cash in the mail, was written, directed, produced and scored by Jonathan Heatt, 41, a Las Vegas resident.The film received its world premiere in October at the Laughlin International Film Festival in Nevada. Everyone in the packed theater applauded it and seemed to enjoy the film, Heatt said. The picture was also accepted by the Canada Shorts film festival, where it nabbed an award of commendation. It can be viewed at opprime.tv/.The chance to earn a spot in a film festival takes a long time, said Heatt, who is a 1994 graduate of Sandusky High School and still has relatives here. It takes awhile for the festival to review a submission and decide to screen it.Heatt shot his movie, which has five speaking roles, in Las Vegas. It's his first professional movie, although he made films while studying filmmaking at Wright State University.All of the actors in the movie have film experience. Heatt's lead, Rusty Meyers, appeared in a variety of films, including "Silverado," "Vegas Vacation" and "Ocean's 11," according to the Internet Movie Database.Heatt said he's almost finished with an "AnonMan" novel and hopes the book and his film short will interest someone in Hollywood into making a full-length movie.Heatt wrote many screenplays and is focused on making short films and writing books. He has three titles available on Amazon: "Teaching Snapping Turtles How to Chew Bubblegum," "Click, Clack" and "The Poems of Unsound Men."Heatt lived in Las Vegas for 11 years, supporting himself with a variety of jobs. He said substitute teaching helped pay for the making of "AnonMan."But he said he plans to move this summer. His possible new locations include Los Angeles, Colorado and back home in Sandusky."I kind of miss Lake Erie and my family," he said.Reach reporter Tom Jackson at jackson@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @jacksontom.Poster for Sandusky native Jonathan Heatt's short suspense thriller, "AnonMan."Jonathan Heatt, holding some of the equipment he used to make his movie, "AnonMan."