By Julie Snyder
C & G Staff Writer

ST. CLAIR SHORES — Tudge’s Pub is well-known by many regulars as a quiet, neighborhood bar where everybody knows your name.

In the past month, a lot of regional attention has been given to the small bar on Greater Mack following the showing of the short film “Vintage Pour,” one of dozens of entries submitted in The 48 Hour Film Project.

Tudge’s Pub waitress Tina Cutlip said filmmakers learned of the family-owned St. Clair Shores tavern after driving around the area, looking for an older bar with charm.

“We didn’t know that they were going to actually film here until the night before,” said Cutlip, who has been a waitress at Tudge’s for 1 1/2 years. “I had to think of something to wear really quick.”

The 48 Hour Film Project is the largest timed film competition in the country. For the past nine years, competitions are held in cities around the globe.

From 7 p.m. July 25 through 7 p.m. July 26, professional and amateur filmmakers had to create a story, find a location for shooting, and complete editing and sound. More than 130,000 filmmakers in 80 cities participated this year.

Filming at Tudge’s Pub went from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. July 25.

“Our regulars were extras. They were bar regulars,” laughed Cutlip, who also was cast as a bar patron in the film. “We just had to act like we were partying and having a good time. That wasn’t too hard.”

“Vintage Pour” was debuted at the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak on July 29 with nearly 25 other film entries. The remaining films were screened on July 30. It is about a male bartender’s fascination with a regular female customer. When the woman tells the man she plans to leave the state for New York City to become a painter, he becomes grief stricken.

“They made it so at the end you don’t know what happened at the end,” said Cutlip, whose voice can be heard speaking to a friend at the end of the suspenseful film. “It was really good.”

After the screenings are done across the country and internationally, the top 14 films will be chosen to compete in the Cannes International Film Festival in 2010.

Tudge’s Pub owner Mark Andary said it was a surreal experience being involved in filmmaking.

“It was great to be a part of it,” said Andary, who now runs his family’s 20-plus-year-old business. “The way they filmed and shot some of the scenes … It was neat to watch. You just don’t know what all goes into making a film. And this was a small, low-budget film. I can’t imagine how much is involved in one of those big blockbuster films.”

The names of the producers and the directors are unknown, but Andary and Cutlip plan to keep a close eye on the status of “Vintage Pour” to see if their tiny pub will soon become internationally known.

“And the customers really enjoyed it,” Andary said, adding that the movie opens with a long shot of the front Trudge’s Pub building sign. “Everyone enjoyed being a part of it and seeing it. It was certainly a lot of fun.”

For more information about The 48 Hour Film Project, go to www.48hourfilm.com/detroit.