Documentary featuring Indy mayor is new venture for local businessman

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Mayor Greg Ballard will soon see his name on a movie marquee.

An hour-long documentary, shot and edited by an Indianapolis man, is set to premier June 19 at the Landmark Keystone Arts Cinema.

It's a project taken on by former record store owner Alan Berry, colorful in his own right, after surviving a bullet from a gunman who held up his record store in March 2011.

Berry's idea was born from the incident in 2011, after he fought two gunman who were attempting to rob him.

"After going through that ordeal," Berry said, "you just start to rethink life. Is this really what I want to do for the remaining years I'm going to be here? I said no."

Berry, a Warren High School graduate, has experience filming and producing commercials for his record store business, along with producing a documentary on The Chester Brown Band. He saved enough money from the sale of Naptown Music, to launch his film company, ACB Films.

Using a crew of four friends, he spent close to 15 hours Feb. 14 following the mayor, documenting what his day entailed. Berry's crew shot nearly 30 hours of tape, and Berry himself spent close to three and a half months editing the raw footage into the 62-minute documentary he titled "Behind the Sash: A Day in the Life of Mayor Ballard."

He has entered it in the Heartland Film Festival.

Berry said he was surprised by how many stops the mayor had to make that day to get his message out. He was also surprised at how much Mountain Dew the mayor consumes in a day and how finicky the mayor can be when it comes to food.

Overall, Berry admitted he was pleasantly surprised by Ballard.

"I thought most politicians were in it for themselves. Mayor Ballard really wants to help the
people of Indianapolis," Berry said.

His next project is following mixed martial arts athlete Shawn McCorkle. He is hoping his company will turn a profit.

You can watch a portion of Berry's documentary on his Facebook page, ACB Films .