For the second time in as many years, the City of Ravenna will be used a backdrop in a feature film, as local film writer/producer Jason Richardson will screen “The Last Shop on Walnut” at the Ravenna 7 Movie theatre on May 28 at 6 p.m.
“The fact that I am familiar with the town and the county helped when we were shooting, as someone local that knows and respects the town and people in it,” Richardson told The Weekly Villager. “It goes a long way. From my perspective, it was nice to be in the city that I was around. It felt cool to be able to do that.”
After the screening, there will be an afterparty and a chance to meet the cast and crew with an opportunity for a Q&A session.
The City of Ravenna was previously used as a backdrop for the feature film “Divorcing the Mob” in February 2025, and was used as the filming site for another feature film. This time, it was by a local writer/producer in Richardson.
It marks the first time that Richardson, a 1993 Crestwood graduate, is releasing a feature film for public viewing. He filmed his movie at two storefronts near the Ravenna 7 Movie Theatre for 18 days in May 2025 and also shot scenes at Kent State University for a few days.
Once filming was complete, Richardson’s crew returned to Ravenna to shoot additional scenes in the parking lot of the Ravenna 7 Movie Theatre.
Richardson’s film tells a story of the owner of a lamp store who lives in an apartment above the store and is confronted with change as his neighborhood experiences gentrification. He must deal with the arrival of an unexpected stranger and a date with a former love interest. The film stars Peter Lawson Jones as the protagonist with Marvin Statler and Kym Whitely who is featured as his former love interest.
Richardson acknowledged that when he originally wrote the script, he did not have the City of Ravenna in mind as the backdrop for the film, but it became a feasible option as he was looking for a filming location that was accessible and presented very few distractions.
He praised the city for being accommodating of his filming schedule, as at certain points he worked with the Police and Fire Departments to close the roads where the two storefronts were located.
“It is a drama, so we are not having chase scenes or gunfights in the streets. It was a very low-key film,” said Richardson. “From that perspective, I knew we would not be bothering anybody so we would be able to just film this, be able to keep our head down and not bother anyone, and we were good.
Richardson, a resident of Kent, added that it was rewarding to shoot his feature film in a place he was very familiar with, as he usually did most of his shopping in the city of Ravenna when he was growing up.
According to him, he considered the City of Ravenna to be the hub of Portage County during his childhood.
Although a lot has changed, he noted that the City appears to be blossoming once again with new opportunities.
“It is a city that is changing,” he said. “They are on the rise again and it is neat to be in the middle of all of that. We did keep our set quiet; people knew about it; they saw the set being built inside the shop. It is neat that we were able to support the city and be a part of it and get catering from local establishments, having people come in that were buying different drinks and foods for the crew.”
In addition to filming 90-95% of the movie in the shop and apartment, Richardson also hired several KSU students to come aboard and work as personal assistants.
Richardson, who has based several of his scripts on his own experiences in Northeast Ohio, said that the majority of the cast and crew were from the same area, with Jones being a resident of Shaker Heights and a former Cuyahoga County Commissioner and Whitely of Cleveland.
Richardson said that he relished every moment of filming the movie in his home county.
“I think it is a great benefit and testament to the quality of the cast and crew that are in this area to be able to shoot a full-length feature film and get the results that we have out of that work in our backyard,” he said.
