Pittsburgh native Nick Pasqual's indie film 'Poor Paul' now streaming

Jun. 23—From its 2022 world premiere at Dormont's Hollywood Theater, the indie movie "Poor Paul" has moved on to bigger audiences.

With creators and cast members including Pittsburgh natives Nick Pasqual and Abhi Sinha, the film is now available on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Google Play and YouTube.

"A statistic I find astonishing is that only about 8% of indie films ever produced actually get distribution," said Pasqual, 33, a Mt. Lebanon native who moved to California as a teen to pursue his acting career. "We feel very grateful and fortunate that we're part of that small amount.

"I guess we did something right here."

Pittsburghers were the first to see the comedic-romantic adventure based on the award-winning web series named after the main character. Some scenes were filmed around the city.

Played by Adam Carbone, Paul is a socially awkward college student with a rich fantasy life in which he is the hero of every scenario.

In the movie, Paul inherits enough frequent flyer miles to take his roommates, Clyde (Pasqual) and Jason (Sinha), on a trip around the world. The friends run afoul of an eccentric Italian man bent on having Paul marry his daughter.

"I was so grateful to be able to premiere 'Poor Paul' in my hometown," said Pasqual, whose television credits include "How I Met Your Mother" and the Pittsburgh-filmed series "Archive 81" and "One Dollar." "It got a very positive response from the audience. To see their reaction and hear the laughter was amazing.

"We did another screening in Northern California, where our director is from, and one in Rhode Island, where we shot the majority of the film. We basically got to screen it in all of our hometowns," he said.

From there, the movie made the circuit of small film festivals from San Francisco to Budapest to Calcutta, Pasqual said, winning a few awards along the way.

The creators then hired a sales agent, who secured a deal with the Los Angeles-based film distribution company, Indie Rights.

"More (streaming platforms) are expected to come," Pasqual said. "We're excited to see what the future holds."

Pasqual said he hopes the future includes more Pittsburgh-based film projects.

"The best thing is working in my hometown," he said. "I get to spend time with family and do what I love. It's the best of both worlds."

Audiences might not have seen the last of the hapless Paul either.

While he has been developing other projects with "Poor Paul" co-writer and director Sean Michael Beyer, Pasqual said, "I think there is a strong possibility of more 'Poor Paul' to come."

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .