THE MAKING OF ‘BOONVILLE REDEMPTION’ PART 2
Kassandra Voyagis, Ed Asner & Pat Boone
In last week’s Round-up, I shared part one of my
visit to the set of BOONVILLE REDEMPTION at Paramount
Ranch (if you missed it, the link is HERE . If you missed my earlier story about
being ‘background’ on the film, that link is HERE .) Here is the conclusion of my report,
beginning with my interview with director Don Schroeder.
DON SCHROEDER Interview
HENRY: How
did you get involved in this project?
DON SCHRODER:
Judy Belshe-Toernblom called up just before Christmas in 2012 and asked,
“How would you like to direct a feature film?”
Okay! Can I look at the script? And it was really quite wonderful, so I
accepted immediately. It’s a great
opportunity – a great story. The first
thing I said after I read it is, I could do this. Even though it’s my first feature, believe it
or not I’ve made two or three-hundred other films.
HENRY: What
sort of the films were the others?
DON: Mostly
I’ve been doing informational films, public service announcements,
documentaries, that sort of thing. I’ve won Emmy
Awards for documentaries, and I won a Golden
Angel Award for a narrative film I directed Robert Mitchum and Rhonda
Fleming in.
HENRY: Wow, tell me about that one.
DON: It was called WAITING FOR THE WIND; it was a
thirty-minute special for Lutheran Television, in the 90s. It’s about a farmer with a boat on his pasture,
who’s always wanted to sail around the world.
Robert Mitchum played the farmer, and Rhonda Fleming played his wife.
Don Schroeder
HENRY: Had
you done any westerns before BOONVILLE?
DON: No,
that’s what’s so exciting about this.
HENRY: What
do you see as the big differences between doing a western, and the other genres
you’ve worked in?
DON: Well,
the thing about a Western is the technology is 19th century. So much of our world today is digits, but in
the 19th century they had a physical
world, and what’s great thing about that is it’s cinematic. Because you’re dealing with things, objects,
and you interact with the world.
HENRY: Were
there any surprises things you didn’t anticipate in a Western until you were
actually doing it?
DON: The
horses – you’re really don’t know what it’s like to work with them until you
get there. And I really respect the
wranglers, because they’re very safe. The
thing about horses is they’re horses;
they’re not people. The wranglers have
really been careful. You have to think
how a horse is going to think. You don’t
put things over their heads, for example; that can excite them. They like to have friends around, they don’t
like to work by themselves; they’re herd animals. With movie-trained horses, when you say
“action” they understand they’re supposed to act. But sometimes if you yell “Action!” loud enough they’ll start to run. It’s very different working with horses; it’s
been a lot of fun.
HENRY: You’re
again working with very familiar actors – Pat Boone, Ed Asner, Diane Ladd. What is the difference in your approach,
working with known actors like that, versus people who are certainly talented
but not necessarily well known?
DON: I used to recoil at the idea of working with
big stars, and it finally dawned on me that the reason they’re name talent is
they’re really good! So, it’s been a
dream – the casting that Judy’s done has been just spectacular. You expect that the actors bring something to
the party; that they not only know their lines, but they’ve thought about the
character, know what their backstory is.
What mannerisms they may have developed.
And these people are real pros – they do that, they bring something to
the party, and it’s always more than you expected. Diane Ladd was just spectacular, and amplified
the role way beyond anything we expected.
HENRY: I
understand she does part of her role in Boontling. What is it like directing in an almost
foreign language?
DON: She had
a little trouble with Boontling; it was difficult for her, and I have to give
her credit, because she mastered it. She
did a beautiful job. It was like doing a
part in a foreign language; she had some long speeches with Boontling, and she
was fine.
HENRY: Would
you call the film’s genre more of a western or a mystery?
DON: I would
call it a family drama. It’s set in 1906, Boonville, California, and primarily
a family drama.
HENRY: Who do
you see as the natural audience for this film?
DON: That’s a
good question. It’s a family film. I’m sort of pointing it at a thirteen-year-old
girl because that’s the protagonist.
HENRY: What
should I know about you, and this production, that I don’t know?
DON: You know
what really helps is to have the executive producer. Judy’s been 35 years doing casting, and it’s
made an enormous difference. Because she
has really gathered a tremendous cast. I
don’t mean just the lead parts, the name parts, but all the rest of the roles
are character people with years and years of experience. She chose carefully, and we have a
tremendously rich cast, which makes my job a whole lot easier.
HENRY: I know
that you’re a film teacher at Loyola Marymount University, as well as a
filmmaker. Which is good, because there
are so many who teach it, who have never done it. And we are now a generation where most of us
in the business have gone to film school.
I went to NYU.
DON: I went
to U.S.C.
HENRY: How
does working with students and training new filmmakers effect what you do
on-set?
DON: What’s fun is the other way around – what I
do here effects how I go about teaching.
Now this experience is so rich I’ll be able to bring a lot of it back to
the classroom. The kind of equipment we
need to have, what goes into making a shot.
We have a behind-the-scenes photographer, one of my former students,
taking pictures. And I gave her an assignment;
I told her I’d like you to shoot all of the different elements that go into
making one good shot. And it’s really
remarkable, the amount of preparation that it takes to get one good shot.
HENRY: What
kind of camera are you using?
DON: This is
a Red One camera. It’s digital HD
technology, but not the absolute latest.
It’s just a little bit older, and my director of photography, Virgil
Harper, knows how to get the very best out of it. We’re getting an incredibly good look – the
visual is just stunning.
HENRY: A lot
of people are very upset at the disappearance of celluloid in exchange for digital. How do you feel about it?
DON: I
understand the purists, and in truth film is still a long-term preservation
medium. But when you can control each
pixel on the screen, you really don’t need film. You can make it look like anything. So as far as I’m concerned, film is
unnecessary except for archival purposes.
HENRY: Are
you interested in making the video look like film, or do you just let it look
the way it looks?
DON: No, there’s a whole lot that goes into making
a film look cinematic. And Virgil knows
those secrets; I don’t. But there’s a
lot involved with setting up the chips so that they record a cinematic
look. You can do that also in post, but
he’s doing that here with the way he’s set up the camera, and filtration. He uses a lot of filters to give it that
cinematic look.
HENRY: Have
you given thought to the music you’re going to use?
DON: Well,
you know one of the stars is Pat Boone, and he’s going to sing a song at the
big wedding party at the end. He’s going
to sing ‘Old Time Religion,’ and everyone’s going to be dancing to that. Also, one of our actors, Nicholas Neve, plays
the violin; we discovered that in auditions, and we’ve woven that into the
story. Beautiful, beautiful scene
where he says goodbye to Grandma Mary, not knowing that this is the last
goodbye. And he plays ‘Just As I Am’ as
he walks down the road by himself, beautiful sun going down behind him.
HENRY: Do you
have any favorite Westerns?
DON: Virgil
and I watched a lot of them. John Ford
Westerns are of course the best. The
control of the frame – he gets the right things in front of the camera, and he
arranges them so cinematically. John
Ford is by far the best teacher for Westerns – without question. There’re others too, but nobody measures up.
EMILY HOFFMAN interview
Emily Hoffman plays Melinda, the thirteen-year-old
whose search for her father’s identity is the core of BOONVILLE REDEMPTION’s
story. We didn’t have much time to chat,
because she was in virtually every shot on the day I was there, but we talked
for a minute or two between takes, while she petted a horse. She, and Nicholas Neve, who plays Melinda’s
companion, Shakespeare, are two of the nicest, most enthusiastic, genuine, and
patient kids I’ve ever met on a set.
HENRY: Is
this your first starring feature?
Emily Hoffman
EMILY HOFFMAN:
Yes it is, and it’s really exciting.
It’s a big thing for me, and it’s surreal, I’ll tell you. I’ve been getting used to it, and how it
works, and it’s awesome.
HENRY: How
long have you been filming?
EMILY: I’ve been acting since I was six and a half;
but I’ve been filming this movie for about three weeks now.
Pat Boone & Emily
HENRY: What had you done previously?
EMILY: I’ve
done some short films. I’ve done some
music videos, voice-overs, and modeling.
HENRY: I’m
guessing this is your first Western.
EMILY: Yeah (laughs) It’s so cool to see what they
wore back then; how there was no air-conditioning back then, which sucks. And how they acted. It’s cool.
After the 1906 Earthquake --
Emily and Nicholas Neve
HENRY: Is
this your first period film of any kind?
EMILY: I
believe so and it’s awesome. I like to time-travel.
PETER SHERAYKO Interview
Ever since TOMBSTONE, where he played Texas Jack
Vermillion before the camera, and was in charge of the authenticity of props,
costumes, saddles and the expert riders known as the The Buckaroos, Peter Sherayko has been the go-to guy for getting
Westerns right. He’s written a pair of
books, TOMBSTONE: THE GUN AND GEAR, and THE FRINGE OF HOLLYWOOD – THE ART OF
MAKING A WESTERN – you’ll find his site HERE. I asked Peter what his job is on
BOONVILLE
REDEMPTION.
Peter Sherayko and me
PETER SHERAYKO:
We at Caravan West are doing
everything – the props, the set dressing, the costumes, the horses, the
saddles, and the guns, and Sheri Keenan, my assistant, is handling all of the
background people. That’s the Caravan West side of it. The Peter Sherayko side of it is I’m the
armorer. It’s not a gun-heavy movie,
it’s a gun-light movie. And I’m also the
stunt coordinator, and I’m playing the part of Jack, who is ranch-hand to the
main bad guy.
HENRY: Now
you were just recently working on the second season of QUICK DRAW, the Hulu
series, here at Paramount Ranch.
PETER: We
finished that earlier this year. The
second season of QUICK DRAW comes out in August, and we’re anxiously waiting
for a third season to come up. And Nancy
and John, who are the producers, director and star of the show, want us to come
back and do more stuff. They just did an
interview with the L.A. Times, and
the reporter called me up, wants to interview me regarding the Buckaroos, and putting everything into
the shows.
HENRY:
Terrific – that’s the kind of exposure you want.
PETER: It
would be nice to be in the L.A. Times,
yes. The end of last year we did HOT
BATH, STIFF DRINK2, and I just got a call that we’re going to do HOT BATH,
STIFF DRINK 3. But then I’m negotiating
with another show, it’s a ten-episode documentary series for FOX TV. They want me to do everything – not only what
we normally do, but they also want me to get the medic, and the water truck,
and the fire department and the permits, and hotels. The company is Warm Springs, and they’re out
of Montana. They’re the ones who do the
series MOUNTAIN MEN. So the supervising
producer, we’ve worked together on four different shows. And he just said, when we do a Western
series, we know who to call.
HENRY: Would this be a show done in Montana?
PETER: No, it
would be done here. We plan on doing ten
weeks, five days a week. Three days a
week at my ranch, and they want to book Melody Ranch for the other two days, to
do the recreations.
HENRY: So
it’s documentary recreations of what?
PETER:
Documentary series on ten people: Davy Crockett, Butch Cassidy, Wild
Bill Hickok, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Kit Carson, Custer, the real Lone
Ranger – supposedly the Lone Ranger was based on a real character, but not so
much like Clayton Moore played him.
Black Bart, and there’s one more that escapes me – it’s like trying to
name the seven dwarfs.
HENRY: How
did you get involved in BOONVILLE REDEMPTION?
PETER: Don,
the director called me last year, and he said he was trying to do this nice
family movie about this little girl and her mother. We came out, shot here one day, and we did
about four scenes. They cut it together,
and then they tried to raise the money all year. And they raised the money, and they called me
about two months ago. They said Ed
Asner’s going to be on the movie, Pat Boone, Diane Ladd, Robert Hayes, me, and
can you put everything together? I said
yeah, I’d be glad to. We’re doing a 24
day shoot and having a great time.
HENRY:
Twenty-four days – that’s a long shoot.
PETER: It’s a
long shoot. I’m working as an actor
about eight days, I’m working as a stunt coordinator three days, and
supervising everything else is every other day – every day.
HENRY: What’s
so far been the biggest challenge on this production?
PETER: The
biggest challenge for me is getting everything right with very little
preparation time. We have a very tight
schedule. We have a different
designer. I have a way of doing things,
and they have their way, and it took a few weeks until I could get into their
rhythm. I know the West. I always
pre-plan everything. I look at every set
that’s there, I go this is what’s going to go in this set: this, this, this and
this. And I get it all lined up. Other people work in a different way. So they didn’t line it up. And then they have people pulling it, but it’s
not the stuff that I’m saying to pull, so it’s kind of a hectic thing.
HENRY: When
you say pulling it, you mean pulling props.
PETER: Going
to my ranch, going to the buildings and getting the props. I’m literally doing nine jobs on this movie,
and I can’t be at all places at all times.
HENRY: You’re
a purist when it comes to historical accuracy.
So when you’re, let’s say, picking saddles, how many saddles would you
have of your own to choose from?
PETER: I have
over sixty period saddles. So it’s 1906;
I’m playing the ranch hand, for instance, who is the old guy. So the saddle that I’m riding in the movie,
my character bought twenty-odd years ago.
So it’s an 1880s saddle, not a 1906 saddle. But for the sheriff as well as the deputy, I
have a loop-seat saddle that came out in the mid to late 1880s. Then for the main bad-guy, Maddox, I have a
brand-new saddle of the 1900 period. So
depending on who it is, I’m designing every saddle.
HENRY: So
you’re casting saddles to characters.
PETER: I’m
casting saddles as well as firearms. For
Maddox, I have him having an 1877 Colt Lightning, a double-action gun which
they made into the early 20th century, which you don’t usually see
in movies. For his throw-away gun I’m
using an 1890s style double-action top-break gun. And the sheriff and the deputy, who are the
only other ones in the movie carrying guns, I’m giving them Colt single
actions. The Colt single actions from
1902 to 1906, that’s the gun they made the most of, so I’m giving them the
standard gun of that time
HENRY: So that late, into the 20th
century, they were still making more single-action than double-action guns?
PETER: They
were making more single-actions in the early part of the 20th
century. They may have been making them
because they had more parts to put together, so they said, let’s get rid of
these, so we can start promoting the newer style guns, but historically that’s
what they were doing. And because it’s
California 1906, that’s basically what a lawman would be carrying.
HENRY: Looks
like quite a bit of rolling-stock out there.
Are they yours?
PETER: Yes, I
have seven wagons on the show. I had
four; I just purchased three more.
HENRY: Are
these reproductions?
PETER: No
they’re all originals; they could go back as far as the 1880s. I found three of them in June when I was
doing a book-signing in Grass Valley. I
found a guy who had twenty wagons.
SHERI KEENAN Interview
HENRY: How long have you worked with Peter Sherayko?
SHERI KEENAN: About a year and a half. I live in the next town, in sister
towns. There was a write-up about him in
our local magazine, and it sounded like it fit my background pretty well, and I
thought I might be able to assist him.
So I wrote him an introductory letter.
He called me right back, and here I am.
HENRY: Is this your first job in the film industry?
Sheri Keenan -- made up for the earthquake
SHERI: In the film industry proper, yes, but not my
first job in the entertainment industry.
I worked for Disney for fourteen years.
I started off at the Park, which was really fun, and then I moved on to
Imagineering.
HENRY: How many Westerns have you worked on since
you started working for Peter?
SHERI: What’s
interesting about that is I think I’ve worked on as many non-Westerns as
Westerns, which I didn’t expect. One
thing about the western genre is, even though it’s a western, it could be a
commercial, or it could be a rock video.
The other thing is, Peter has his ranch, which we utilize for locations
quite a bit, and that brings in all sorts of other projects, and other times
periods. They wanted it to look like
Jonestown, in South America the other day, and flew in an airplane. So you just never know – that’s the exciting
part of the job.
HENRY: You
fit me with clothes and boots for this one.
Are you the background wardrobe person on this one?
SHERI: I can’t
take credit for that. Peter is unique in
that when he supplies background, they come prepared dressed and ready-to-go,
in their period attire. For this we’ve
had a lot of women, which we don’t normally have in a Western. They have their own wardrobe, but I am doing
more and more wardrobe.
HENRY: What
are your duties on this production?
SHERI: My
title on this is background casting. And
because Peter is also doing set design and props and wardrobe, and is required
on the set, and I get to come out for that as well.
HENRY: Where
do you see the Western industry going? Do
you expect to see more and more?
SHERI: I
certainly hope so, for my future of course, selfishly so. It does seem like we’re heading into a resurgence, an upswing of interest.
Sheri among the 'backgrounds'
HENRY: Do you
ride?
SHERI: I do,
I grew up trail-riding, and competing every once in a while in horse shows.
HENRY: Have
you gotten on a horse in any of these productions?
SHERI: Sadly, no.
Not much call for a riding lady in the 1880s. however, I do ride quite often at the ranch
with Pete.
When I contacted writer/executive producer Judy
Belshe-Toernblom to find out where the production stands, she was enthusiastic. “We believe we are in our last edits. We then will proceed to
color corrections, sound, v.o. work (looping) and finally music.
We have some great interest but are
waiting until it is in the highest form it can be for showing to distributors.
We have had some test screenings and the feedback from them has been so
helpful. We hope to get a 2015 release. This is all in the Lords
hands but we are using the hands that He gave us to help. It's like Joel Osteen
says "Do all that you can and then God will do what you can't." I’ll keep posting updates as thing progress, but you can
also check out the official website HERE.
‘99CENT MOVIE NETWORK’ LAUNCHES WITH FOUR WESTERN
COLLECTIONS!
As promised, the folks behind the Movies & Music Network have launched
a new streaming movie network called the 99centNetwork. They’re going to be
offering several ten-film collections – including four different Western
collections – and you can select any three movies from a collection for
ninety-nine cents! For $1.99, you can
buy all ten! Heck, for eight bucks you
can buy all forty Westerns! And these films
are yours to stream for life – you can even share ‘em with your friends! There’s some cheap Christmas shopping for
you!
They’re also offering movie collections in other
genres, including, horror, sci-fi, holiday, and something called Pink Eiga,
which appears to be Japanese soft porn.
But let’s talk about Westerns! In
Collection #1, high points include ONE-EYED JACKS, directed by and starring
Marlon Brando; Monte Hellman’s Spaghetti Western CHINA 9, LIBERTY 37, starring
Warren Oates; Dennis Hopper in the Aussie Western MAD DOG MORGAN; Lesley
Selander’s BUCKSKIN FRONTIER with Richard Dix and a great supporting cast; two
Roy Rogers films; a Buster Crabbe, and more.
Collection #2 features, among others, Sam Peckinpah’s first Western,
DEADLY COMPANIONS; two Bob Steeles; three Roy Rogers; and Enzo Castellari’s
excellent ANY GUN CAN PLAY, starring Edd Byrnes, George Hilton and Gilbert
Roland – incidentally, Enzo was in L.A. last week, speaking at USC, screening
KEOMA, and discussing a new Western he’s planning with Franco Nero.
Collection #3 includes THE BIG TREES starring Kirk
Douglas; Zane Grey’s FIGHTING CARAVANS starring Gary Cooper; the Spaghetti
Western, BETWEEN GOD, THE DEVIL, AND A WINCHESTER, starring Richard Harrison
and Gilbert Roland; the Israeli Western KID VENGEANCE, starring Lee Van Cleef
and Leif Garrett; and Randolph Scott in ABILENE TOWN. Finally, Collection #4 includes KANSAS
PACIFIC, starring Sterling Hayden, and featuring Reed Hadley as Quantrill;
Howard Hughes’ infamous THE OUTLAW; DEATH RIDES A HORSE, starring Lee Van
Cleef, and featuring a great Ennio Morricone score; Don Red Barry’s laughably
bad and thoroughly enjoyable JESSE JAMES WOMEN; and the very
interesting-sounding Mexican-shot JORY, starring Robby Benson and John Marley. Check
out the site HERE , and please let me know what you think!
ARTHUR GARDNER DIES AT 104
Arthur Gardner, who came to
Hollywood to be an actor, then became a very successful producer of series like
THE RIFLEMAN and THE BIG VALLEY, and features like SAM WHISKEY and THE
SCALPHUNTERS, has died at 104. After
playing a small role as a German soldier in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, he
joined the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force during World War II,
helping make military training films at Hal Roach Studios. There he met the two men who would become his
production partners, Jules Levy and Arnold Lavin, who would form GARDNER-LEVY-LAVIN
PRODUCTIONS, a company whose name became synonymous with ground-breaking,
high-quality Western productions for big-screen and small.
Johnny Crawford, who starred in THE
RIFLEMAN as Mark McCain, recalled on his Facebook post, “I first met him in
January 1958. One day, after school, my mother drove me to Hal Roach Studios to
be interviewed for an episode of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater. That episode
was also the pilot for The Rifleman,
and Mr. Gardner was one of the producers. He was a great role model and a dear
friend for many years.” Even at age 102,
Gardner was still going into his company’s Beverly Hills office regularly.
His autobiography was entitled THE
BADGER KID. Below is part one of Arthur
Gardner’s interview from the Archive of American Television.
‘RIO BRAVO’, ‘LITTLE BIG MAN’ OTHER WESTERNS ADDED
TO NAT’L FILM REGISTRY
As happens this time every year, twenty-five films
have been added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry. Among them are several Westerns: RIO BRAVO (1959), Howard Hawks’ and John
Wayne’s contemptuous response to HIGH NOON; LITTLE BIG MAN (1970), Arthur
Penn’s entirely different take on Custer’s Last Stand; RUGGLES OF RED GAP
(1935), where transplanted English butler Charles Laughton proves himself more
American than his employers; and STATE FAIR (1933), the first of three filmed
versions of Philip Strong’s novel, starring Will Rogers. Among the non-Western films named to the list
are ROSEMARY’S BABY, FERRIS BEULLER’S DAY OFF, HOUSE OF WAX and SAVING PRIVATE
RYAN. For the complete list, go
here: http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2014/14-210.html
‘YELLOW
ROCK’ CHRISTMAS NIGHT ON SONY MOVIE CHANNEL
December
25th at 10:40 pm, Pacific time, after you’ve finished unwrapping
everything, and consumed as much food as you dare, you can catch YELLOW ROCK,
the 2012 Western Heritage Award – Bronze Wrangler – Best Picture winner,
starring Michael Biehn, James Russo and Lenore Andriel.
THANK YOU READERS!
‘ROUND-UP’ REACHES 200,000 HITS!
Last night, the number of times folks have visited
the Round-up since I started posting in January of 2010 surpassed 200,000! Today, the top ten countries reading Round-up
are The United States, France, The Ukraine, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada,
Romania, China, Australia and Norway! We’re
read regularly in over ninety-five countries, and my gratitude to all of you
around the world who have made Henry’s Western Round-up an important source for
your Western information is overwhelming.
I am sure you realize that it takes a huge amount of time and work every
week, and your support, and encouraging messages, makes it all worthwhile. I am more grateful to you all than I know how
to express.
THAT’S A WRAP!
It’s already Chanukah, almost Christmas, and New
Years is just around the bend. Here’s
wishing all of you a wonderful celebration, a pause to appreciate your
blessings, and high hopes for a spectacular 2015!
Happy Trails!
Henry
All Original Contents Copyright December 2014 by
Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved
