The stars of a new independent film include Harmony Bar (now Cellar Door), Washington Park Beach, Uptown Social, McGiniss Pub and The Lighthouse, among other Michigan City landmarks. 

“Bulls,” is a buddy movie set in Michigan City, about brothers who enter a darts competition to save their bar. It’s available to stream Friday, January 9 and to watch in a handful of theaters. The low-budget film, directed by Michigan City native Dan Meyer, features many first-time actors but also established ones such as Michael Shannon (“Boardwalk Empire, “The State of Water”), Matt Trudeau (“General Hospital”) and T.J. Jagodowski (“Stranger than Fiction,” “The Ice Harvest.”) 

It’s the first directing job for Dan Meyer, who wrote the script some 20 years ago. 

After graduating from high school in Michigan City, Meyer, who says he’s been interested in acting since he was a kid, went to Indiana University, and then headed to Chicago, where he took an acting class and met Shannon (a co-producer of “Bulls”) at an audition. 

From there Meyer went to New York and LA, where he snagged a few acting jobs and eventually turned to script writing. 

When Meyer dusted off his script a few years ago, he was having a drink at McGiniss Pub in Michigan City when the owner suggested he film at the bar (it’s no longer in business). Meyer, who hadn’t spent much time back in his hometown since leaving as a young man, said he was pleasantly surprised by Michigan City’s pride parade and the spirit of the Uptown Arts District. (There’s a gay storyline in the film.) It occurred to him that the whole film could be shot in Michigan City at a fraction of the cost of, say, Chicago or New York. And so he went home and rewrote the script.

The movie was shot on an “ultra-low budget,” Meyer says, with lots of community support, folks giving “$5,000 here; $10,000 there.” Business owners donated their spaces for filming without charge, such as the old Harmony Bar (now Cellar Door) and Uptown Social. Local musicians provided original music for the film. 

Meyer caught another big break in filming when the Championship Darts Corporation’s “Cross Border Challenge” decided to bring a major tournament to Uptown Social in Michigan City in 2024. The sold-out tournament provided an authentic backdrop for scenes in the movie. “They played the tournament on our set,” Meyer says. 

An IndieGoGo campaign got the production started with $10,000. Neither Meyer nor a co-producer, Kelsey Bunner, took salaries for the movie, but they’re hoping their efforts will pay off if the film does well here and abroad. Meyer was thrilled to get “Bulls” represented by a major distributor, Vertical Entertainment. 

“It was never about the money,” Meyer says. “I just wanted to make the movie. It’s changed my life. It’s so hard to even get a movie done. Not only did we get it done; the majority of people [in the film] hadn’t acted before, and it’s set in Michigan City.” Meyer calls that a win. 

One of the movie’s leads had little acting experience. Meir Steinberg, a security guard and the steel mill, walked into an open casting call at Marquette and impressed Meyer. Steinberg now has an agent and several acting gigs in the works. 

Next up, Meyer is directing a documentary about one of the top dart players in the U.S. who developed a disease that prevents him from holding a dart. Meyer has also written a new script he hopes to start production on in late summer or early fall in Chicago with the “Bulls” team.

“Bulls” is available to stream (pre-order here) and will be shown in a handful of theaters, including in Brooklyn and Ft. Worth (not Chicago or Michigan City, unfortunately).