Local comedians band together to complete film for friend who died

A version of this article was published on Dayton.com June 21, 2017. Corey’s film was completed January 2021.

Dayton comedy fans may remember Corey Mintz from his many appearances at local venues like Dayton Funny Bone, Wiley’s Comedy Joint and Rocky’s Pizza Ring. But this local comedian also wrote and directed a film featuring a cast of local comics and actors called “Find Eddie” – a movie involving a crime boss, his missing cash and his missing, underachieving stepson, Eddie.

Although the project began in 2013, working around actively touring comedians’ schedules caused some delays, stretching the timeline across three years. During filming, Corey was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. His physicians believed that due to his otherwise good health, as well as the type of cancer detected, he might stand a chance in fighting this disease. He started treatment and then got right back to movie-making.

Unfortunately, he passed away on April 11, 2017. He had finished shooting the film, but editing had not yet taken place.

Corey Mintz grew up in Dayton, Ohio and attended Stebbins High School, graduating in 1996. After high school, he attended Bluffton University, a small college in northwestern Ohio, then went on to become a police officer in Xenia for a short time.

He had lived in a few areas around Dayton including Riverside and Beavercreek while working at various jobs, including retail and running trivia events for an entertainment company. But his true passion was comedy, and his focus was crafting his stand-up routine and performing around Dayton.

Above all, Corey Mintz wanted to feature local talent while hopefully producing a film that would get him noticed — ideally by having “Find Eddie” featured in a film festival. While it was filmed on a shoestring budget, his vision was to have it look and feel like a bigger budget production by having it edited by a professional film editor. While he hoped to find an editor himself and see his project through to the finish line, he lost his battle with cancer before his vision could be fully realized.

During his last days, realizing that he didn’t have much time left, he asked friend and fellow Dayton comedian Brock Shank to complete his film for him and enter it into film festivals.

Although “Find Eddie” is a comedy, Brock Shank takes his promise to Mintz very seriously and is interviewing several film editing companies to find the best fit for Corey’s vision of creating a studio-quality film. Of course, hiring a professional film editing team will be costly. Shank has set up a Go Fund Me page to complete “Find Eddie,” and it’s already off to a great start.

“Corey touched the lives of many people,” Shank said. “Once it was clear Corey would not recover, people stepped up to help his dream be realized. This whole process has been very moving to watch.”

Corey will be remembered not only for his comedy career but also for his warmth, sincerity and kindness. In addition to following his own dream of making a comedy film, Corey inspired those around him to follow their passions, as evidenced in his comment on a friend’s social media post about whether or not to pursue a dream: “Because you never know when this world may reach up and snatch the life right out of you. Do it now.”

If you’d like to help the Find Eddie team hire a professional editor to keep their promise to Corey Mintz’s memory, check out their Go Fund Me page. [Update: The film was completed January 2021]

For progress updates, as well as information on any upcoming premieres, follow “Find Eddie” on Facebook.