Ohio native behind new film starring Perlman, Jones

The 25 years that Ohio native Scott Wiper spent making movies for large production companies in Hollywood were enough for him to become disenchanted with the enterprise.

Through his experience of writing and directing such films as “The Condemned” (2007) with WWE star Steve Austin, Wiper came to believe that special effects and supercharged action scenes often came at the expense of character development and storytelling.

But he didn’t let his disillusionment get the best of him. Wiper — who was born in Cleveland before moving with his family to Upper Arlington and later to Granville — worked with his frequent collaborator, actor Vinnie Jones, to found an independent production company called 4G Vision with the mission of making “genre films with heart, soul and character-driven roles,” he said.

And now, that partnership has resulted in the production company’s first feature film, “The Big Ugly,” which debuts Friday at more than 70 theaters and drive-ins across the United States and the United Kingdom, including the South Drive-in on the South Side of Columbus.

Wiper, who wrote, directed and produced the film, described it as “a film noir smashed with a modern day Western.”

Jones stars in the 106-minute movie as Neelyn, an enforcer for British crime boss Harris (Malcom Mcdowell). The two arrive in West Virginia to close a money-laundering deal with local oil baron Preston (Ron Perlman), but things go bad when Neelyn’s girlfriend Fiona (Lenora Crichlow) disappears and he suspects that Preston’s villainous son (Brandon Sklenar) is to blame.

“I’ve never been so proud of something I’ve worked on for years,” said Wiper, 50, who now lives in Cleveland with

his girlfriend after selling his Los Angeles home in 2017. “It has all the themes that matter to me — there’s pain, there’s loss, there’s family, there’s honor.”

The spark for the film came as Wiper returned to Ohio about six years ago to care for his ailing parents and learned of an oil dispute.

While on his deathbed in 2015, Wiper’s father confided in his son about a family-owned piece of oil-rich Appalachian land. According to Wiper, his father went to court to prevent the land from being fracked, winning fees that he donated to a land conservancy.

Though he originally was going to set “The Big Ugly” in Texas, Wiper instead leaned into this Appalachian roots while working on the film with Jones, who served as a co-producer.

Wiper said he wanted to film “The Big Ugly” in Ohio, but wasn’t able to receive tax incentives in time. Instead, it was shot in 25 days in 2018 in Kentucky with a $6 million budget, featuring a 150-member crew and cast from Ohio and Kentucky.

“No matter where I’ve gone in life, I’m an Ohioan,” Wiper said. “I wanted to make a movie back in Ohio.” elagatta@dispatch.com @Ericlagatta