Local Developer's Film About Gentrifying Upper Darby Soon To Premiere, Stars Jeremy Piven

A story about the familiar Philadelphia conflict of history versus development is about to hit the silver screen, and with a script from a member of the area's development community to boot.

The film Last Call, starring Jeremy Piven as a developer torn between the roots of his hometown and the economic demands of his profession, is set to premiere in select theaters and as an on-demand rental on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Rockwell Development Group President Greg Lingo co-developed the story with two childhood friends and co-wrote the script with director Paolo Pilladi, another native of the area.

Lingo, whose company is based in Media, grew up in Upper Darby, which borders West Philadelphia. The majority of the film was shot in the Northern New Jersey town of Bayonne, but it is set in a fictionalized version of Upper Darby called Darby Heights. The film also stars Jamie Kennedy and Saturday Night Live alumna Cheri Oteri, both of whom grew up in Upper Darby, and multiple Academy Award nominee Bruce Dern.

Piven's character, whom Lingo described to the Inquirer as an amalgam of memories and people he met through his life rather than one based on himself, is an up-and-coming developer drawn back to his hometown and faced with the choice of either reviving his family's struggling bar or demolishing it in favor of a new development.

Rockwell Development largely focuses on suburban residential properties, including custom-built homes, in the Greater Philadelphia region. Lingo mostly financed the production of Last Call himself, the Inquirer reports.