Movie in the works based on book by local author

VW independent staff/submitted information

The film rights to “The Sheriff’s Son” – the newly published memoir by Van Wert native Jim Clay, have been optioned by 2 East 8th Productions,

the independent film company co-founded by writer-producer-director Drew Dull.

The book, which reached Amazon’s Top 15 New Releases and remains among the top 150 U.S. Biography bestsellers, tells the true story of Clay’s childhood growing up inside the Van Wert County Jail in the 1960s, where his father, Wilmer Clay, served as county sheriff.

The memoir offers a rare glimpse into a small-town America that has largely disappeared, told through the eyes of a young boy whose home was unlike any other.

The connection is personal.

Jim Clay coached Drew Dull in basketball more than 20 years ago in Van Wert County. The two reconnected earlier this year when Clay, now 70, reached out to Dull about the memoir he had spent nine months writing.

“These are the stories that don’t get told much anymore – the quiet stories about small-town America,” Dull said. “It’s not about special effects, it’s about grounded realism, character, and story. These are the narratives I’m naturally drawn to: exploring how people become the people they become. 

The fact that this is a true coming of age story based on the life of one of my childhood mentors was just icing on the cake.”

Clay published the memoir independently and has watched it climb the Amazon rankings in its first weeks of release. 

“I never set out to write a movie,” said Clay. “I simply wanted to preserve the story of my childhood before it was lost forever and after my brother passed away, I realized I was the last person alive who could tell our family’s story. The fact that Drew wants to bring it to life on screen is more than I ever expected.”

The Sheriff’s Son is now in development at 2 East 8th Productions as a feature film. The production will be based in Ohio and structured around the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, the state’s 30 percent refundable production incentive. Development plans include exploring preserved

19th-century sheriff’s residences in northwest Ohio as potential filming locations, and a possible red carpet community premiere at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center once the film is complete.