A locally produced feature film starring Gary Busey and Jimmy Tatro - as well as several northern Michigan actors and locations - will premiere at the State Theatre on May 1.

Camp Manna is a comedy that filmed for 18 days at the two YMCA Hayo-Went-Ha Camps on Arbutus and Torch lakes. Actors and crew lived at the camps for the length of the shoot. In addition to Busey and Tatro, Suttons Bay native Luke Klein has a starring role in the film. Over 150 local companies, crew, and extras worked on the production, described as "a stylistic throwback to the summer camp films of the 80’s and 90’s." The film tells the story of a Christian camp turned upside-down by the arrival of a wayward new kid, Ian Fletcher (Klein). As an angsty “nonbeliever,” Ian is shipped off to the camp where he must compete in (and survive) a Biblically-themed Olympiad known as the God Games.

Camp Manna will screen at 8:15pm on May 1 at the State Theatre. Filmmakers and actors will be in attendance. Tickets are free and available at the State Theatre box office. Those in attendance who pre-buy the film from iTunes will be entered to win prizes and actual props from the film.

Eric Machiela, co-writer and co-director of the film, says the free screening is a thank-you gesture to Traverse City. “We were welcomed with open arms during Traverse City’s busiest season, July and August," he says. "(With) the amount of support we got from local crew, local radio stations, food and beverage vendors, and the hundred or so extras that came out to participate in the production, we can think of no better way to say thank you to Traverse City than hosting our remiere in the beautiful State Theatre.”