Josh Heaps is a PhD dropout, ex-publicist, perennial assistant who has also made a movie. His debut feature, City Wide Fever, is out April 17 through Factory 25.
My grandpa’s favorite films were Casablanca, Patton, Lawrence of Arabia and How Green Was My Valley. We’d stay up until two in the morning, watching those movies – among others – and drinking root beer floats. I must’ve seen the third Indiana Jones 25 times. It was always cool when Harrison fucked the blonde Nazi in Venice.
We would see movies throughout New York City, mostly at my grandpa’s apartment on the East River. Lincoln Plaza was another go-to – remember that spot? Its shell still exists. That great sign, the escalator down into the lobby. It’s dead now … my grandpa is dead, too.
In high school, I cared more about music than anything else. I was big into hardcore (still am). Punk aggressive angry stuff. I’d go to and play basement shows all over. The New Jersey suburb I grew up in had a venue called the Meatlocker (a literal meat locker beneath a French restaurant). Graffiti everywhere. All ages. Everyone would smoke and drink. There was no security or adult supervision. My friends and I would go every weekend. We’d record our own music, too; make tours, book bands. This was big for me, realizing I didn’t need permission or money to do something. Back in my day, we called this DIY.
I went to college in Austin. Went to less shows, played less music. I saw a lot of movies, mostly just contemporary art house and genre stuff. I lived abroad for a while after university, then started my doctorate. It’s not that I cared about academia, school was just an extension of my indecisive adolescence. I refused to find a real job (still do). A graduate program that paid me to do whatever I want? Sounded good …
I actually began my PhD as a literature major. But picking a specific area of study was daunting. Then I met Rick, a cinema studies professor. I remember our first meeting. He mentioned Mother, the Bong Joon-ho movie, and I let him know I’d seen it (with my grandpa, actually, in 2009). Rick was impressed that I knew it from the Aronofsky of the same name. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I felt smart and figured I may as well study film.
Covid hit around then, too. I watched several movies a day for however many years. Spent all my time reading film history and theory. I liked movies (genre in particular – weirdo sleazy shit), but as importantly, I liked having direction. I can see a world in which I devoted myself to another artistic discipline. But I made my choice then, and I don’t regret it now.
Graduate school turned out to be a bit of a drag. Writing (moreso thinking about writing) was hard. So I put out all my feelers, got a job in film publicity in NYC, and dropped out of my PhD. Turns out marketing wasn’t really my bag, either. Also, no one gave a shit about my expansive knowledge of cinema! I was once again directionless. No more essays to write … Why not make a movie?
Early summer 2023, the Film Society put on an Argento retrospective – and the Maestro himself was to attend. I loved Dario’s work and went to a number of these screenings. After Tenebrae, a friend and I smoked weed in the park. I then walked down 5th Avenue, very high, wondering: “What if I discovered a new, basically unknown giallo director? How cool would that be?” This was the seed for City Wide Fever.
The next morning, I went to the Nitehawk in Brooklyn to see a 35 mm print of Dog Day Afternoon. Afterward, wandering through bougie Park Slope, I came across an older woman giving away a bunch of books. One of them was on director Pupi Avati, the lesser known Italian director behind the masterwork The House with Laughing Windows. “What a crazy coincidence,” I thought … Clearly, this was God telling me to realize the film I had conceived the previous night.
A lot of other stuff happened: I met my buddy Ethan Johnson, a camera whiz who I convinced to shoot my movie. I saved around $40,000 living with my parents. I also realized that no one was going to help me. “Who gives a fuck, I’ll just do it myself.” I’d never been on a film set before, but how hard could it be? I wrote a basic little treatment, found some actors on Backstage, dressed my apartment, and we tackled what ended up being the deleted scene 3 of City Wide Fever. It was a lot of fun.
Ethan and I basically kept doing this for the next year and a half. I blew through my savings. I lost the lead actor, because I couldn’t afford her anymore. I found a new one (Dilly, the Italian chick). I sort of wrote a script, but also didn’t (can you tell?). I met Guy Maddin and bamboozled him into EP’ing the movie. I also met Chenzy, who produced the film and helped carry us through the remainder of the shoot and post.
Once we had a decent chunk of the movie, we began going out to folks (industry connections, friends, etc.) to give us money. Ethan and I then spent forever editing in his room, figuring out how to make two actors work as one lead. One of the nice things about working within the giallo genre is that nothing really has to make sense. It’s about a vibe, a feeling. I think we captured that pretty well.
What else? We finished the movie in January 2025. Applied to a number of festivals. The first we got into only offered to play the film virtually. I turned them down, sure that we’d get into all the others. We basically didn’t. Who cares? I DIY’d a tour of the film. Played my homie Rebekah’s fest. Got distribution through Factory 25. Easy peasy. Thank God I’m punk and resourceful. City Wide Fever is a good movie. It’s not for everyone, but there’s an audience somewhere. I believe the right people will find it.
Oh! I’d be remiss not to mention Mike Bilandic. Great filmmaker. Years ago, I watched his movie Hellaware and thought: “I could do this.” I then met Mike, and he urged me on. He even plays a small role as “Porn Shop Weirdo.” Shout out Mike …
One more thing. My friend Ben (Janus OG) calls my movie “City Wide Beaver.” It’s a play on the slang word for “vagina.” Whenever I think of this alternative title (and I think of it often), I wish I had the balls to make this movie crazier, wilder, more experimental.
Guess I’ll have to make another.
The above essay also appears in Factory 25’s Blu-ray booklet of City Wide Fever and is published here with permission; all images courtesy Josh Heaps.
