[This story has been updated to correct an error. Actor William H. Macy portrays the late Jack Buck, the legendary sports broadcaster, in the movie.]
DAYTONA BEACH — A local couple are “co-executive producers” of an upcoming Hollywood movie titled “Soul on Fire” starring William H. Macy and John Corbett.
“Our names are in the tiny credits at the end,” said Chris Bowler, the president and co-owner of Daytona Beverages, referring to the behind-the-scenes role he and his wife, Maja Sander Bowler, had in the making of the movie.
“Soul on Fire” is a true life faith-based movie about Bowler’s childhood friend, John O’Leary, who suffered burns on his entire body from a garage explosion at age 9. O’Leary not only survived, but went on to forge a successful career as a best-selling author and motivational speaker.
When is ‘Soul on Fire’ coming out and who are the stars?
The movie hits theaters nationwide on Oct. 10. Locally, it will be shown at the Regal Pavilion at The Pavilion at Port Orange and at Epic Theatres of Palm Coast in Flagler County.
Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor John Corbett portray’s O’Leary’s late father Denny in “Soul on Fire.” Corbett’s acting credits include the television series “Northern Exposure” and “Sex in the City” and the “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” movies.
Two-time Emmy and four-time Screen Actors Guild award winning actor William H. Macy plays Jack Buck, the Hall of Fame sports broadcaster who visited O’Leary multiple times when he was hospitalized for his burns and encouraged him throughout his recovery. Macy’s acting credits include the movies “Fargo” and “Jurassic Park III” and television series “Shameless.”
The movie also stars Joel Courtney, who portrays O’Leary as a young man, Stephanie Szostok who portrays O’Leary’s mom, Masey McLain, who portrays O’Leary’s wife Beth, and DeVon Franklin, who portrays “Nurse Roy.”
What’s ‘Soul on Fire’ about?
The movie is a film adaptation of O’Leary’s best-selling 2016 book “On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life.” The book tells the story of how O’Leary, who was not expected to make it through the night after suffering burns on 100% of his body, made it through five months of healing in the hospital, “bolstered by several extraordinary people in his life,” followed by years of “excruciating rehabilitation that followed as he struggled to regain mobility and control of his body.”
O’Leary, 48, went on to graduate from both high school and college. He began his career as owner of a home rehabilitation business in St. Louis where he and Bowler’s younger brother Michael fixed up rundown homes for resale. They did it successfully for over nine years despite O’Leary losing all his fingers down to the first knuckle from the accidental house fire when he was 9. The movie trailer for “Soul on Fire” includes a scene depicting one of their early house rehab efforts.
O’Leary went on to work for the hospital that treated him for his burns as a child before launching his current career as a motivational speaker and author. He also now hosts a podcast called “Live Inspired.”
In addition to telling his story, the book “On Fire” offers insights that O’Leary says “changed him for the better” which he now shares with audiences across the country as a motivational speaker. Over the years, he has given more than 2,700 talks.
Bowler and O’Leary have been friends since kindergarten
Bowler met O’Leary when they were in kindergarten together at the St. Clement of Rome Catholic School in Des Perres, Missouri, a town just outside of St. Louis.
When O’Leary returned to school following his accident, Bowler said he spent recess in the classroom every day to keep O’Leary company because his friend was unable to play outside that first year.
In sixth grade, the two played on the same youth soccer team for their school. Bowler was one of the best men in O’Leary’s wedding and his younger brother Michael worked for O’Leary when the two started a home rehabbing business (which is portrayed in the movie).
To this day, Bowler and O’Leary remain close and talk by phone at least once a week. They also attend sports events whenever they can, typically games involving either MLB baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals or NHL hockey’s St. Louis Blues.
O’Leary spoke with The Daytona Beach News-Journal by phone about the movie and the Bowlers’ involvement in it.
“Chris and I are best buddies,” he explained. “I played the same sports he did. I partied at the same places he did. I worked in the same spots that he did. We worked out at a farm together for two summers.”
O’Leary once gave a talk in Daytona Beach
O’Leary’s speaking engagements included a talk in 2015 at Daytona Beverages where he addressed employees of both the local Budweiser distributorship as well as the Daytona Beach distribution plant for Coca-Cola Beverages Florida.
“(Daytona Beverages Chairman and co-owner) Kevin Bowler, Chris’s dad, is (also) a dear friend of mine,” said O’Leary. “These are people I did life with for the most formative part of my life: my childhood. So to be invited into that space, to be introduced on a professional stage by a friend that you look up to, to have the honor of speaking to them for an hour about life, man, and then to be hugged by not only all of his guys afterwards, but by the Bowlers themselves, it speaks to their heart for others.
“Some organizations bring me in to increase top line revenue, bottom line profitability, or their safety record, engagements. Chris and Kevin brought me in only to tell their people that they love ’em. I think that’s so remarkable. That was the goal of the event. To make sure these people knew that their work mattered, that they were loved.”
How did the Bowlers become involved in ‘Soul on Fire?’
Bowler and his wife Maja became co-executive producers in “Soul on Fire” after agreeing to become investors in the movie after learning it was short of the money needed to keep the project going.
Also agreeing to invest was another childhood friend, Tim Mitchell and his younger brother Greg of Suncoast Beverage Sales in Fort Myers. Suncoast Beverage Sales is a family-run Budweiser distributorship as is Daytona Beverages.
O’Leary said the investment that Chris and Maja Bowler and Mitchell brothers made was “a significant moment because it allowed us to greenlight the project, move this thing forward, hire actors like William H. Macy and John Corbett and begin producing this beautiful film that’s going to get rolled out internationally in theaters around the world.”
Bowler added, “It was fun to make an art project. I give a lot of credit to Miss Maja who when she said yes she goes, ‘Hey, some people buy paintings. Do you believe in producing a great piece of art?'”
The couple turned down an opportunity to be in the film
Bowler said O’Leary tried to persuade him and his wife to attend the filming of the movie, including participating in the scene depicting O’Leary’s wedding to his wife Beth.
The scene was shot at the church in St. Louis where the wedding took place and included many of O’Leary’s family and friends.
Bowler said he and Maja declined the invitation because they couldn’t afford to take time off from their respective jobs. “We have to work in order to be able to do these things,” he said. “I got yelled at by my friend on the phone, unfortunately, because we didn’t make it for any of the shooting.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Here’s how a Daytona couple got involved in the making of the upcoming film ‘Soul on Fire’
Reporting by Clayton Park, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
