Cinema Columbus Film Festival to Screen DOWN TO THE FELT as Opening Night Film

Presented by CAPA, the Cinema Columbus Film Festival will screen Down to the Felt, directed by Columbus filmmaker Jon Osbeck, as its opening night presentation Wednesday, April 30 at 7 pm in the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.). 

Written by a trio of Columbus residents – Osbeck, Dino Tripodis and Ralph Scott – and filmed on location in Columbus, Down to the Felt tells the story of a down-on-his-luck compulsive gambler who has second thoughts after hiring a hitman to kill him. 

Tickets to Down to the Felt are $11 and can be purchased in-person at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), online at www.CinemaColumbus.com, or by phone at (614) 469-0939. Pre-purchasing is recommended, but if inventory allows, tickets may also be purchased at the door.

“It is an incredible honor for Down to the Felt to be selected as the opening event for the 2025 Cinema Columbus Film Festival. As a filmmaker with deep roots in Columbus, this opportunity to showcase our work to my hometown community is both humbling and exhilarating,” Osbeck said. “The city can take great pride in knowing that this film is not only set in Columbus but was made here, with the majority of our cast and crew hailing from Columbus. We can't wait to share this story, crafted with local talent and passion, with the festival’s diverse and enthusiastic audience, and look forward to celebrating the art of storytelling together in Columbus.”

Paul Murphy, a charming, underdog gambler, is on a bad roll. In one day, he’s gambled away the down payment on a house, been kicked out by his girlfriend, and lost his job, forcing him to move back into his childhood home with his mother. But after a chance meeting with David Solomon, a troubled and conflicted Jewish hitman who has a death wish of his own, a deadly plan is set into motion which could change Paul’s dysfunctional take on luck.

Paul gets two weeks to take it “down to the felt,” to go all in, before David kills him so his mom can collect on Paul’s insurance policy. It’s Paul’s final two minutes in his game of life. But when Paul starts winning, and meets the alluring and mysterious Erica Chambers, who knows her way around a poker table, life becomes a race against time for Paul to call off the hitman and stop the deadly hand been dealt.

Moviegoers are invited to stay after the screening for a Q&A with Osbeck and actors from the film.

“I always tell people in Columbus that more films are made in their backyard than they can ever imagine – ‘Hollywood’ is always closer than one might think. On top of being a beautifully shot, tightly paced, and expertly plotted film, Down to the Felt exists as a love letter both to Columbus as a city, and to the extended local film community of talented artisans who live and work in our creative region. It’s an honor to present the Columbus premiere of Jon Osbeck’s incredible film to our audiences,” Cinema Columbus Festival Director Brett Reiter said.

Tickets are also currently on sale for the festival’s closing night, a screening of 1984 concert/documentary “STOP MAKING SENSE: A Film by Jonathan Demme and Talking Heads,” with a special guest appearance by Jerry Harrison, at 7 pm Sunday, May 4 at the Southern Theatre.

The full schedule for the 2025 Cinema Columbus Film Festival will be announced in March. The festival will present more than 20 screenings involving approximately 50 feature and short films at seven locations, including the Drexel Theatre, Gateway Film Center, Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse, Grandview Theater & Drafthouse, McConnell Arts Center, the Wexner Center for the Arts, and the Southern Theatre.

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