Cowards Do It Slow

A micro budget indie feature film set in Chicago,
COWARDS DO IT SLOW follows the drunken stumblings of an aspiring country singer, Maury Rhodes, as he tries to take his career to the next level. Standing in his way, he finds his bandmates beginning to grow apart as they start to form families and commitments outside of the band, while he continues grasping at the night life and the follies that come with it.

The film takes place over a month long residency in a Chicago bar and venue and as the days and weeks proceed the singer finds himself trapped in bad habits of his own making and slowly dragging him down to a disastrous finish.

COWARDS DO IT SLOW marks the first feature film for co-directors/writers/producers Sean Loftus and Michael Scahill, whom both met eachother while working at The Burlington Bar in Chicago, which serves as the venue and main location of the film. Their love of the American films of the 1970s like the work of Cassavetes, Altman and Forman sparked their original idea for COWARDS DO IT SLOW. The two completed writing, production and post-production of the 80 minute feature over the course of 2 and a half years on a shoestring budget of roughly $2000.

Michael Padraic Scahill, who conceived of the original story, also wrote and arranged 4 original songs as the character Maury Rhoades. The "garage-country" songs featured throughout the film serve as an aural reflection of the emotional state of his character and showcase the talent of local working Chicago musicians. Scahill also composed the film's score, co-edited during post-production and serves as the film's lead.

In the end COWARDS DO IT SLOW tries to pay homage to a great era of American filmmaking in it's aesthetic, emotional authenticity and tone. A character study not afraid to let human moments linger and peer into the darker sides of the creative spirit.