By Margaret A. McGurk
Enquirer staff writer

When Artworks debuts on the Showtime cable channel Monday night, writer-director Jim Amatulli won't be worrying about what critics may have to say.

"We did it, and it's out there, and it will be OK," said the North Avondale resident who hired dozens of local professionals to shoot the $1.6 million project in Cincinnati in 2002.

The movie stars Virginia Madsen (The Rainmaker) and Rick Rossovich (Roxanne) as a pair of 40ish lovers tempted to cash in on their access to wealthy art collectors. It co-stars Reading native Daniel von Bargen (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).

With a berth on Showtime, plus future appearances slated in theaters and on DVD, the movie has achieved a hard-won commercial success that few independent moviemakers ever see.

"It's next to impossible. You've got to have so much passion because you run into brick walls everywhere you go," said Los Angeles-based actor and indie filmmaker Brent Huff, who befriended Amatulli last year when both directors were traveling the film festival circuit. "If his film had Cate Blanchett and Tom Cruise in it, it would be an easy sell. But it's always a tough sell, no matter how good the movie is."

Amatulli said his favorite memories of the 16 festivals he attended were the post-screening sessions when the audience quizzes filmmakers.

"There are things to argue about when you walk out of this film."

The movie centers on a moral question that he summarized this way: "If there is something you really want, if it's something that would make your life complete, but you need to step out of where you are to get it ... How far would you go to get it?

"I like character-driven stories. I like people dealing with challenges, and that is what this story is."

Although Amatulli produced commercials and training films for 25 years, he said he found he had lessons to learn from feature filmmaking, including "how complex the business side is."

For that reason he was happy to be invited to this summer's Sundance producer's conference, aimed at boosting business savvy among independents.

He said he came back enthusiastic about his next project, a suspenseful drama about a cemetery caretaker. "Usually, I don't get enthusiastic. I'm a realist."

'Artworks' facts

• The movie carries a rating of TV-14. It is not yet rated by the Motion Picture Association of America for theatrical release, but writer-director Jim Amatulli said that due to some strong language and brief nudity, it will probably be rated PG-13.

• The film will appear on theater screens in several cities, including Cincinnati, beginning in September.

• A DVD edition will be released after Jan. 1.

• A trailer for the movie is online at www.artistviewent.com/thriller

artworks/index.htm. ("I don't know why they list it as a thriller, because it's not," Amatulli said.)

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E-mail mmcgurk@enquirer.com