Pinellas couple lost a friend to suicide. Their movie honors him.

ST. PETERSBURG — Both 25, married cinematographers Austin and Hailey Spicer live in Pinellas County but have shot more than 20 movies together all over the county in the last three years. It’s been hectic.

“A blur,” said Austin Spicer.

But it’s how the Seminole High School sweethearts forged relationships with and then cast prolific actors Daniel Roebuck of “The Fugitive,” Dean Cain of “Lois & Clark” and Kevin Sorbo of “Hercules” in supporting roles in the first feature film they wrote, produced and directed.

The movie, “I Feel Fine,” can be seen locally at the Sunscreen Film Festival on April 27 and 28 in St. Petersburg.

Also starring Corin Nemec of “Stargate SG-1″ and “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” fame, the film, shot in West Virginia, tells the story of a popular teenager who openly contemplates suicide and the impact it has on family and friends.

“Haley and I both lost a friend to suicide,” Austin Spicer said. “That’s a very deeply personal thing that people can relate to.”

They cast Elijah Passmore for the lead role of Ozzie. The character is based on a high school friend who died by suicide. The Spicers worked with Passmore as crew on a movie and realized he reminded them of their late friend.

“We thought that if he could act like this on camera, he could portray our friend,” Austin Spicer said.

They preferred not to share their friend’s name, only referring to him by his nickname — also Ozzie.

While the movie is fiction, key scenes are based on the Spicers’ real-life experiences in high school, with the friend and how they coped with his death.

In one scene, the cinematic Ozzie and friends skip homecoming to play baseball with apples, just as Austin Spicer did.

In another, Ozzie asks his father, played by Nemec, if the suicidal thoughts mean he would go to hell. That was something Austin Spicer wondered about in the weeks after his friend’s death.

“That was a real fear I had,” he said, one that has since gone away.

“Ozzie had a bubbly personality,” Hailey Spicer said. “He was the life of the party. He was very wise for his age as well. And I think everyone that knew him, looked up to him. So that’s kind of what we based the character off.”

He was a senior when the Spicers were freshmen and was on the cross-country team with Austin Spicer.

“We were always running the same times and sticking together and pushing each other back and forth,” Austin Spicer said. “We had this great encouraging relationship, even though there was that age gap. Seniors usually don’t want to hang with the freshmen. It was really a testament to his character ... to how great he was.”

Their friend died by suicide a little more than a year after graduating high school.

It’s been nearly a decade since then, but, when talking about him, the Spicers still cry. That made some shooting days difficult for them.

“There were a lot of hard emotional scenes,” Hailey Spicer said.

But it was also cathartic.

“We became very close with Elijah Passmore and ... recounted stories about high school and just things that happened with Ozzie,” Austin Spicer said. And as Passmore portrayed their friend, “it was really cool seeing him in glimmers.”

The Spicers hope “I Feel Fine” helps viewers engage in conversations on suicide, prevention and mental health.

“Both of us can agree to not take people for granted,” Austin Spicer said. “Life’s very delicate. This movie is a love letter to a friend we’ve lost.”

If you go

“I Feel Fine” will be presented by the Sunscreen Film Festival at 7 p.m. on April 27 and at 3:45 p.m. April 28. Both screenings are at AMC Sundial 12 in St. Petersburg. For tickets and a full schedule of movies at the festival, visit sunscreenfilmfestival.com.

Need help?

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out to the 24–hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741; or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay can be reached by dialing 211 or by visiting crisiscenter.com.