Joe Rudy considers himself a community social worker. A Noblesville resident and owner of Rudy’s Re:Cycle shop in Cicero, he is a former youth pastor and property manager of Bethel Lutheran Church and is now a bicycle shop owner.
“He’s everyone’s friend, and he’s a person that’s always willing to lend a hand,” said 12 Stars Media co-founder Rocky Walls, noting that Rudy’s shop focuses on bicycle repair and provides the community access to affordable bikes.
Rudy is featured in the documentary short film “Bike Story,” directed by Walls and produced by his Noblesville-based company, 12 Stars Media. The film’s world premiere is at 7:30 p.m. July 23 at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival. 12 Stars Media has had a film at Indy Shorts every year since 2021. The July 23 premiere is at Living Room Theaters. There will be a showing at 12:30 p.m. July 28 at The Tobias Theatre at Newfields in Indianapolis.
While filming another local short documentary in 2022, Walls — also a Noblesville resident — received a call from a friend that the new owners of the nearby Lacy building were clearing it out and might have some things he’d be interested in. Hoping to find a unique addition to his typewriter collection among the 30-, 40-year-old untouched items, Walls paid them a visit.
“While I was there, I happened to see, and it truly was like out of a movie, there was this window where this light was kind of pouring in, and it was illuminating these four bicycles hung upside down in a corner that truly didn’t look like (they) had been touched or certainly not ridden since maybe the ‘70s,” Walls said.
Walls said he recognized there was a story to be told through the bikes and immediately thought of Rudy, who he’s known for years through their mutual community work. Rudy was also a subject in the short they were filming at the time, “Toboggan ‘Bout Town.”
“I felt comfortable with Rocky’s vision from the very beginning,” Rudy said. “My hope is when people see this film, they might feel the importance and impact they have on their own community. When we don’t feel like we have a choice in what’s going on in the world, we can put the work in, get a little grimy, learn some new things and make some new friends right where we are.”
Walls said people use “our bikes to get places or to get together with people and go on a journey.”
The film explores “the concept of bikes as a symbol of freedom and coming of age,” said Walls, emphasizing how the importance of bicycles changes throughout people’s lives. “Adolescent experiences sort of revolve around a bicycle, often being the first means you have to explore further out into the neighborhood to go do things with friends that you couldn’t before.”
As Rudy restores the bikes, Walls said the film evokes nostalgia, encouraging viewers to restore what used to bring them joy.
“It might be picking up something from your childhood and revisiting something that you used to really love,” Walls said.
Filming took place in Noblesville and Cicero on and off for two years from January 2022 to April 2024, with a crew of six to eight people.
Walls said he plans for the film to be available in the fall on the Hoosier documentary streaming platform Hoodox, which he co-founded in 2021 with 12 Stars Media co-founder Zach Downs.
