The red carpet premiere of ‘Delco: The Movie’ was delightfully Delco

The premiere of Delco: The Movie at the Media Theatre Friday night was as Delco as watching a Birds game at the Original Clam Tavern, as Delco as seeing a tractor trailer get stuck under the 420 bridge, and as Delco as an Easter flower sale outside of Lou Turks Gentleman’s Club.

Guests walked the red carpet (OK, it was more like a large area rug) dressed in everything from tuxedos and sequined ballgowns to tuxedo T-shirts and Eagles jerseys. People donned shirts and hats that said “Delco,” “Delco by marriage,” and “Delco vs. Everyone,” and the long line to get into the theater was rivaled only by the long line at the bar inside of it.

And despite a crowd that sometimes spilled into the road, the 101 trolley kept running right down the middle of State Street through it all.

After a successful crowdfunding campaign and nearly two years of production, Delco: The Movie, an independent film about three teens in 2004 who decide to live a day “the Delco Way” debuted to a packed house that was ready to devour it like a Wawa hoagie on top of a trash can (which is a scene in the movie, and, of course, in real life).

The theater was filled with the film’s cast and crew, their families, business sponsors, VIPs, and those who donated $500 or more to the movie’s crowdfunding campaign. Three public showings of the movie this weekend sold out, but two more were added at 7 p.m. Sunday and 6 p.m. Monday, for which tickets are still available.

Making their way down the red carpet like it was a paved trail at Ridley Creek State Park were writer, director, and editor Chris Pierdomenico, a Delco native and graduate of Sun Valley High in Aston, and producer Leah Cevoli, a fellow Sun Valley High grad.

“It’s overwhelming. I’m just so happy people care about this,” Pierdomenico said. “These are my characters and I wrote the story but I hope this is everybody’s story.”

The film’s local trio of leading actors — Steve Harding, Jeff Pfeiffer, and Jenna Kuerzi — also worked the red carpet, as did notable names in the cast including Brian O’Halloran, best known for his role as Dante Hicks in the Clerks franchise; Philly native Brian Anthony Wilson, who played Detective Vernon Holley on The Wire; and Brian Dunkleman, who cohosted the first season of American Idol.

“It’s pretty much almost sold out here which is a huge testament to people who love independent film but also to people who love supporting local filmmakers,” O’Halloran said.

Other notable guests included retired Philadelphia Union forward Sébastien Le Toux and U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon.

For Pierdomenico, 39, getting to make and see his movie on the big screen is “the fulfillment of a lifetime dream.”

He was inspired to become a filmmaker in high school, when he watched Kevin Smith’s 1994 independent comedy, Clerks, which was made for just $27,575.

For his senior project in 2004, Pierdomenico wrote a script about three Delco teens, persuaded his friends to be in it, and premiered it at his high school.

Now a TV and video production teacher at Oxford Area High School in Chester County, Pierdomenico has made a handful of films, like the 2020 short Jesus V. Satan: Rise of the Zombies, but he never forgot his first movie and has continually reworked the script over the last 20 years.

The current version leans much more into Delco as a character and asks the question: “What’s the worse fate, hell or Delco?”

It follows three straight-laced high school teens who decide to live a day the “Delco way,” which Pierdomenico defines as “jump first, ask questions later.” Pierdomenico cast some of his former teachers at Sun Valley to play themselves and he involved some of his former students as crew members.

The movie was filmed over 11 days in Delco at local notable spots like Wawa, Tom Jones Family Restaurant, and the Brookhaven Police Department.

One of the biggest scenes was shot at the Springfield Presbyterian Church. People who donated $37 to the film’s crowdfunding campaign got to appear as extras in the scene with O’Halloran, Wilson, and Dunkleman.

The movie was made for around $90,000, with $59,000 coming from the crowdfunding campaign and the rest from Delco businesses who sponsored it to get their name or product in the film.

The single biggest sponsor of Delco: The Movie was Matt Wallach, a minority owner of the Philadelphia Union who received an executive producer credit.

Wallach arrived at the premiere in a massive white stretch SUV limousine with about a dozen other people.

“Growing up in Delaware County it was just a place to live. We didn’t think it was such a big deal, but over time Delco became a verb, an adjective, and a noun,” Wallach said. “[The movie is] just a super fun project with a really enthusiastic team and after meeting them I thought ‘This thing could actually be good,’ and I want to be associated with things that are good and I want to be associated with things that are Delco.”

Like another local filmmaker is known to do, Pierdomenico gave himself a small cameo in his movie. And during the closing credits, he hints at what might happen next in his Delco cinematic universe.

From start to finish the film is full of heart, humor, and heaps of Delco references. It touches on themes both local and universal, making it a coming-of-age story even non-Delconians can relate to.

Pierdomenico hopes to release the movie for home viewing in the future, but doesn’t have a date yet.

“The goal is for it to be seen by as many people as possible either by streaming or physical,” he said. “If I have to print it on a bunch of VHS tapes I will, but hopefully it will be something a little more modern.”

Just as Clerks showed Pierdomenico his dream of making his own movie was possible, his film will undoubtedly inspire others to jump first, ask questions later, and tell their own Delco story, too.