WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.960 Oh he is, folks, it's showtime. 2 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:10.599 People say good money to see this movie. 3 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.560 When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:17.199 hot popcorn, and no monsters in the protection booth. 5 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:20.600 Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring, don it. 6 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:43.119 Off, turn it so listen, phyllis been a long ride. 7 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.039 How about to smoke my friend back here? 8 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:47.600 There's a fine here stop. 9 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:47.960 A cough. 10 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:00.000 Riverbend, Georgia, nineteen sixty six. A timeless community where nothing change. 11 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:01.119 There'll be some. 12 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:04.319 Trouble if you come to town this morning, bikers, I'm wanting. 13 00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:07.280 You can't just go on killing negroes. 14 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:08.400 Times you change. 15 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:12.519 Three Vietnam combat hero is falsely accused of war crimes. 16 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:14.719 Are hiding out in Riverbank. 17 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:16.719 It's just a place to stay for a few days, 18 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:18.560 that's all. You can't stay here. 19 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.000 We're only a mouth in town here. I don't have 20 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:21.599 time to play. 21 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:22.400 Where's the gun? 22 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:24.959 No, we all know what happened to Marcus now as 23 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:26.959 the example of a man going to the laws and 24 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:28.920 god damn it, look what happened to him. 25 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:31.239 Now, come on out here, boy, I want to talk. 26 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:34.359 I'm doing the talking. I'm take care. 27 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:41.599 It is narrow there's only one way to save this problem. 28 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:43.319 That's to put a bullet in his head. 29 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:48.400 All right, God damn it, get back. I swhere I can. 30 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:53.040 I don't ever ever want to hear the words boy, 31 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.760 nigger or color to use again. Understood, I'm talking. 32 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.439 About probably of you. Sound like we're about to have 33 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:02.239 a revolution. 34 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:05.959 Only one man can teach them to fight. That's the 35 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:11.120 time we need to The town will be ours. The 36 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:17.039 people are now our hostages. We rather don't know what 37 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:19.159 the uh situation in the town is. 38 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:20.719 We can't get close. En'll find out. 39 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.800 We get work from you that you have located the hostages. 40 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:26.960 You gonna know one of that front line. 41 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:39.240 Try. 42 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.759 I've located and freed the hostages. They're in the big church. 43 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:44.199 They're all safe. 44 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:50.159 You can move in now, Margaret Avery. You don't get 45 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:55.960 out of here killing Steve James, Tony Franks. Two men 46 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.080 locked in combat. 47 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:01.080 You Brad, it's been alone, Tom trummin. 48 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:08.520 Riverbend. The battle for freedom has just begun. 49 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:14.680 Hey boy, I want to talk to you so many. 50 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:20.560 Hey folks, Welcome to a special episode of the Projection Booth. 51 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:23.000 I'm your host Mike White. On this episode, it is 52 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:26.759 the return of director Sam Furstenberg. He's talking about the 53 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:30.080 film Riverbend from nineteen eighty nine, which is getting a 54 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:33.919 new revival thanks to the efforts of Michael J. Dennis 55 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.719 from Real Black Cinema. That's our E E L B 56 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.120 L A c K dot com. Film is available for 57 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:44.800 pre order now through Real Black dot com. Thank you 58 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.159 so much for listening, and I hope you enjoyed this interview. 59 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:50.199 Before we even start to talk about Riverbend, I want 60 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:52.759 to know a little bit more about Steve James and 61 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:53.879 when you first met him. 62 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.840 Here is the story of the relationship between Steve James 63 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:01.560 and myself. At some point was nineteen eighty five, we 64 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:05.479 decided the company Kennon decided to do the movie American Ninja. 65 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.879 It was sequel to another kind of equal to another 66 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:13.639 three Ninja movies that they produced in the previously, and 67 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:17.680 we started. We worked on a script, myself, producers and 68 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:21.120 a writer, and those two characters emerged in the script, 69 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:28.120 the American Ninja, Joe Armstrong and his sidekick Curtis Jackson. 70 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.959 So and there are soldiers in the military and both 71 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:36.680 of them martial artists. Once the script and the character 72 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.360 was clear in our mind, what we want to do. 73 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:44.560 We started with the casting, so we decided on American Ninja. 74 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:49.839 So we decided on a casting which is called opencasting. 75 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:55.319 Not only agents usually casting auditioning in the movies, messages 76 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:00.600 being sent to agents, agents sent candidates, but we decided 77 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:03.959 to open it. Anybody who wants to come in audition 78 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:08.560 for these two parts American Ninja and Psyche can come 79 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:14.160 in martial arts school, amateur actors, agents, people to represent 80 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:17.800 by actually whoever wants to come. About four hundred young 81 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:22.160 people came. We had two stages of First they had 82 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.040 to meet Mike Stone. Mike Stone was the choreographer of 83 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.399 the movie Famous Martial Artists. So first they had to 84 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:31.959 meet with Mike Stone, and Mike Stone has to determine 85 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.839 if they are fit to do the part. As I said, 86 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:39.639 they didn't have to be necessarily martial artists, because if 87 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:43.199 somebody feits and you know, Mike Stone can teach them 88 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:45.639 the moves, et cetera. So first they had to go 89 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.199 to Mike Stone. If Mike Stone approved, they moved to 90 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.279 the second room, which was to meet me, the casting director. 91 00:05:52.759 --> 00:05:57.839 But lines et cetera, et cetera. The process of choosing 92 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:02.199 American Ninja was lanthy to couple of stages. But the 93 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:07.120 part of Jackson, I must tell you, Mike, when Steve 94 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:10.480 James walked into the room, you know he's built. He 95 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:14.600 was built like a like an Atlas. What a build. 96 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.839 And he came and he introduced himself, and I asked him, 97 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:20.800 are you martial artists? Yeah, he was a martial artist, 98 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:25.839 Steve James. Probably we talked a little bit and maybe 99 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:29.000 we read we read some lines together. I don't remember 100 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.360 that much, and I knew right there and then we 101 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:36.319 don't have to look any farther. This is Jackson. This 102 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.399 is the character we are looking for. Probably the company 103 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:42.199 made an offer money offer. I don't know how how 104 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:45.279 this this side of it goes, and he accepted it. 105 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.959 And we liked him right away, even before we had 106 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:55.000 the finalist American Ninja. So this was Steve jack now 107 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:59.519 Steve James now in a low budget movies. As you know, 108 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:03.319 we don't have time. We don't have usually paget a 109 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:07.319 hot time for pre rehearsals to meet and read the scripts. 110 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.519 Usually we don't. And I was already sent right away 111 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.600 to the Philippine to start to prepare once once we 112 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:18.560 we also choose chose Michael Dudikov. The second time I 113 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:21.720 saw Steve James was in the Philippine in Manila when 114 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:24.439 he arrived, and this was the first time also that 115 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:27.199 he met Michael Dudekov and Michael Ludykov met with him. 116 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:32.199 The chemistry, as we know today, were fantastic, was fantastic, 117 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:37.399 and uh, you know this, this this duo of American 118 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:43.000 Ninja and Jackson, you know, Armstrong and Jackson worked fantastically. 119 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.800 So mean you know when when when the movie did 120 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:51.279 well and the company you you know, Mike, we did 121 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:55.120 not do American Ninja number two right away after General, 122 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:57.839 but rather we we shot the movie. We filmed the 123 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:03.399 movie Avenging four in between them and Avenging Force also 124 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:08.360 called for a similar situation in New Aleans political so 125 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:15.639 a black candidate for city and the hero, the Michael 126 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.959 the hero, so that it was perfect. So Menacham Golan 127 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.600 actually asked me, gave me the script and asked me, 128 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:24.279 do you think can you read this script? It was 129 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:28.160 while we were mixing the sound one day. Menach Golan 130 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.160 came to the mixing stage and he gave me the script. 131 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:34.039 I didn't know anything about it at that point. I 132 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.159 did not know that Chuck Norris already rejected the script, 133 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:41.279 and he said, can you please read it and tell 134 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:43.480 me if this script is good for Michael and Steve, 135 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.759 because by then they already saw the chemistry. I read 136 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.399 the script over a night that came back next next 137 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:52.399 morning to the office. I said, I said, menagaan Golan, 138 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:56.519 this is a fantastic script, a fantastic script and good 139 00:08:56.600 --> 00:09:00.120 for both of them. So we traveled to a to 140 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:03.480 New Orleans and we filmed the movie. While we were 141 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:07.000 in New Orleans, the explosion of American Injia happened. It 142 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:12.519 was distributed all over the world. So as we came 143 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:15.960 back from New Orleans, I was in the editing. The 144 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:20.120 company already knew that they're producing American India Number two. 145 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:23.879 The day after we finished the sound mixing with the music. 146 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.759 The next day, I was already on the plane my 147 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:32.000 way to South Africa to prepare for our American India 148 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:37.559 Number two and Steve. One day, Steve, Steve James calls 149 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:41.759 me and he said, listen, you know South Africa apartheid, 150 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.159 how is it? Tell me I'm reluctant. I don't know 151 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:49.080 if I should come or not. By then it was 152 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.840 kind of the end of apartheid in South Africa. So 153 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:57.639 I told him Steve, first of all, it does not 154 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:03.919 apply to America, of course, but nonetheless being in a 155 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:06.759 part of it is not a pleasant situation. But it 156 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:10.039 was winding out. It was already the end of apartheid. Actually, 157 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:13.159 the week that I arrived was the last week of 158 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:17.200 different identity cars. They used to have three different identity 159 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:20.159 cars according to the races, but this was canceled. The 160 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:24.000 week I arrived was the last week of the three 161 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:29.080 different So I said, no, save the atmosphere is excellent, 162 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:33.159 et cetera, et cetera, h relaxive. And he came to 163 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:36.159 South Africa and the first weekend we decided to go 164 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:38.399 out on the street to a market. It was Sunday, 165 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:41.960 the market. Now, the minute we walked out with him 166 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.440 in the street, we didn't realize he was already a 167 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.440 hero because the kids already saw the movie American Ninja. 168 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:49.039 We didn't know. 169 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:52.440 We couldn't walk with him in the street because in 170 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:57.799 South Africa he was this African hero, you know, in 171 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:03.240 American African, but nonetheless for them it was this African hero. 172 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:06.200 We just couldn't walk with him in the street. He 173 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:10.679 was mapped by the children, the kids who just saw 174 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:14.840 the movie America Ninja. So this was so we became. 175 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:17.559 It was friendly. We were you know, we lived not 176 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:20.919 far from each other here in Los Angeles during the 177 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.679 time we were in South Africa. He married in Israeli. 178 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:28.840 His wife, Nava, was an Israeli. So there was a 179 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:31.639 lot on kamen, a lot of camen between me and 180 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:34.840 Steve James. We liked the same type of movies. We 181 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:39.399 were crazy about Akira Corosawa movies, both of us. So 182 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.200 there was a lot of camen, and we became very 183 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.200 good friends. But you know, sadly enough, as you know, 184 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:50.120 he passed away two to too young, too early. 185 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.799 And how did Riverband come about? 186 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:56.639 So those three movies are out, you know, a big deal, 187 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.200 America and Ninja one and two. Riverbend was not as 188 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:05.279 successful as American Ninja by any means, but maybe I 189 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:08.320 directed a few movies in between one or two. One 190 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:13.360 day I received from my agent script. It was called 191 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:17.279 The Night of the Eagle before Reburban. Night of the Eagle, 192 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.639 big script, one hundred and sixty pages, one hundred and 193 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:24.320 eighty pages, and I read it just you know offer 194 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.159 through my agent. Somebody sent you a script. I didn't 195 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:29.879 know anything about it. They want you to read it 196 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.639 and see if you would like to direct it. I 197 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:34.799 read the script. I'm dying to direct this movie. This 198 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:40.919 is fantastic material, unbelievable, and so I gave my positive, real, 199 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:44.960 you know, affirmative. I want to do it, and I 200 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:50.600 had a meeting. It turned out the producers are from Texas. 201 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:54.879 It's money, it's the investors from Texas. Producers are from Texas. 202 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:57.279 And my agent told me they will come to Los 203 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:00.600 Angeles to meet with you, and indeed they There were 204 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.200 four producers, two couple, and they came to Los Angeles. 205 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:06.759 They came to my house. You know. We arranged the 206 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:10.360 meeting in my house. And while we were talking, they 207 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.360 wanted to sense me out if I if I understand 208 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:17.679 the material. I guess and then they while, how do 209 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:20.559 you know about me? So they saw the movies, especially 210 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.480 Avenging Force. They saw Avenging Force the main the writer, 211 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:28.679 he was more knowledgeable, the writer, producer Sam Vance. He 212 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:32.480 saw the movie and the movie deals with white supremacy, 213 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:38.919 it deals with the racial subject Avenging Force. And then 214 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:41.399 they turned to me, they say, do you think you 215 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:44.840 can bring in Steve James. We want him for the 216 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:49.879 lead part. I told him, I'm sure Steve James will 217 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:53.399 be more than happy to do the script this movie. 218 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:58.039 He will be more than happy. So it was, you know, 219 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.120 we parted, and then I learned to my agent that 220 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:03.279 they want me to direct the movie. They want to 221 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.799 cut a deal and and at the same time they 222 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.480 want me to bring in Steve James into the project. 223 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:13.399 And I think, I don't remember the detail like contact Steve, 224 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:16.799 you know, gave him the script. Of course he was 225 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:21.320 very very happy to do such a little They know, 226 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:23.759 they didn't even need me. They could have contacted him 227 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:28.960 directly because for him this this movie was and that's 228 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.639 this was the initial contact between me and the producers 229 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:36.360 of the of Riverband eventually Ribband. At the time, it 230 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.919 was Night of the Eagle, and that's how we started 231 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:40.240 to work on the project. 232 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.159 Mister Davis, I would love to get a little bit more. 233 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:46.399 Well, you know, I'm a filmmaker by train, but I 234 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.600 have a YouTube channel called Real Black TV, and a 235 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.759 little bit before the pandemic, I started uploading movies that 236 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.519 I thought were falling into the digital divide, you know, 237 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.720 because we from a black film in Philadelphia. You know, 238 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:05.519 things that if they weren't preserved or shared, they would 239 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.759 be forgotten. And one of those movies happened to be Riverbend, 240 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:12.240 which is a movie that I didn't really know that 241 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:16.039 much about until I met a gentleman named Charles Woods, 242 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.519 who's sort of my mentor. He does many lectures on 243 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:23.759 the channel about black film history, and it was one 244 00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:27.519 of his favorite films. In fact, he had five VHS 245 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:31.519 copies in his collection, right, So that alone impressed me, Like, 246 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:33.320 why do you have so many? We had this at 247 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.559 the video store, we had like one copy. Why do 248 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:39.519 you have five? And he said, watch it and you'll understand. Right, 249 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:42.080 So when I saw it for the first time, after 250 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:46.159 you know, being tutored by Charles, you understood this is 251 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:48.919 a very special film. It's one of the few films 252 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:53.120 where black characters have agency over their own fate. Most 253 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:55.519 of the films made up until that point and even 254 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:59.879 to today, that have black themes or majority black casts, 255 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:04.360 there's always some white savior or some sort of a 256 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:07.559 character where they don't really get to determine their own fate. 257 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:11.919 Even a movie like say Queen and Slim or juice, 258 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:16.000 you know, the characters meet their fate through accident as 259 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:20.240 opposed to deliberate decision, you know. And it just seemed 260 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.399 like this was one of two movies that I can 261 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.960 think of. And I know a lot about movies that 262 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:29.120 show black people standing up for one another, teaching one 263 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:32.919 another what they know to empower themselves. It's this movie 264 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.679 and one from nineteen seventy three called The Spooky Sap 265 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:39.200 of the Door. It's a very important film to me, 266 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:41.759 and I wanted to share it. I had on a 267 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:44.919 YouTube channel, and about a year later, it's twenty nineteen, 268 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.039 well about a year and a half later, I get 269 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:51.000 an email from Sam. The header is like, I am 270 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:56.360 Sam Furstenberg, director of Riverbend. So I'm about to open 271 00:16:56.440 --> 00:16:57.799 it up. And I'm like, oh, this is gonna be 272 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.399 a cease and desist, you know, I'm ready to take 273 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:03.080 it down. And he said, no, you're doing this film 274 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:06.799 a great service. It was produced independently and it needs 275 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:10.079 all the exposure it can get. And from there we 276 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:13.400 started talking about how the film was made, how does 277 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:17.599 this movie even exist? And we started to talk. In 278 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:22.480 the process of our conversations, a thirty five millimeter print 279 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:26.319 shows up as a listing on eBay, and at the 280 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:29.480 time I had never bought a thirty five millimeter print 281 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:33.319 of anything, you know, but I knew this was important. 282 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:36.039 It might be the only print that exists, is what 283 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:37.920 I was thinking. So I put a bit on it 284 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:40.559 and we won. It was in South Africa, so it 285 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:44.440 was during the pandemic in twenty twenty one when this 286 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.160 was happening, and it took about three or four months 287 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:48.680 for the show up. I wasn't even show it was 288 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.960 going to make it here, and then when it finally 289 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:53.680 showed up, it took another six months or so for 290 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:56.480 me to raise the money to get it transferred to 291 00:17:56.759 --> 00:18:01.440 case Scan and it had every scratch known a man. 292 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.240 It must have sam it must have played through every 293 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:12.279 projector every crappy grindhouse theater between New York and Johannesburg. 294 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:17.000 But fortunately found Preig Rodgers at Deaf Crocodile and he 295 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:20.400 cleaned it up. It looked beautiful. We had to replace 296 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.640 some scenes that were missing, but we premiered it in Denton, 297 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.279 Texas in January twenty twenty four, and from there a 298 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.640 whole bunch of series of serendipities happened. That led us 299 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:35.160 to be able to obtain the negative from MGM Amazon, 300 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.680 not the least of which was meeting Valerie Vance, the 301 00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:42.119 widow of Sam France and co producer Sam. 302 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:43.920 Can you tell me a little bit more about the 303 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.839 actual filming of the movie, because it's I mean, it's 304 00:18:46.920 --> 00:18:49.759 so ambitious that it's actually a period piece and it 305 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:54.160 looks fantastic, really recalls the nineteen fifties, nineteen sixties. 306 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:59.720 As I mentioned earlier, the money the investors were from Texas, 307 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:03.279 from the Dallas area, and they put the money privately. 308 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.759 The whole movie was financed privately, and they had one stipulation, 309 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.680 we must shoot, we must film in Texas. They were 310 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.160 not willing to move with any other Now, the story 311 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:18.839 takes place I think in Georgia in the south, so 312 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:23.400 but this was okay. We very quickly we found out 313 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:27.480 that there is an area in Texas south of Dallas 314 00:19:27.559 --> 00:19:30.839 which is called Wak Sahachi. The main town is Waxahachi, 315 00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:35.200 and the entire surrounding of this Wak Sahachi has very 316 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:39.240 much the look of the South of Georgia. I mean, anyway, 317 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:45.279 it's the same type of more or less characteristics architecturally 318 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:50.960 and atmosphere, so it was good enough, actually more than 319 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.720 good enough. It looks exactly like the South. And the 320 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:57.839 other time. The other thing they stipulated the crew must 321 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:03.599 be Texans. They to hire local people cast and crew. 322 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:09.319 So the only people that came from outside was myself 323 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:15.640 and Steve James. Obviously. They had also a production manager 324 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:19.480 that came with us, Norman Stevens. That's it. All the 325 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:25.400 casting was done locally through theater, theater from all over Texas, 326 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.119 not only from the Dallas area, from all over Texas. 327 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:33.160 And of course the crew, including the cameraman. The cameraman 328 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.759 he was a Hollywood camera man, but he was a Texan. 329 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:39.680 He worked television in Hollywood, but he was local. He 330 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:43.079 was Textan. And then only the only other thing that 331 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:47.599 came up was the leading lady. They wanted, obviously that 332 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:49.920 the best thing for a movie is a name, somebody 333 00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:55.519 recognizable name, and they started, we all agree that we 334 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:59.279 want once the name came up, we want Margaret Avery 335 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:03.880 from Color Purple, and they started dealing with the agents 336 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.720 in Hollywood. She agreed and she came. So except those 337 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:13.039 I think four people, everybody was locally and we started 338 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:17.039 scouting for locations. We don't need. There is not many 339 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:20.480 locations in this movie. It's basically this little town. There 340 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:23.720 is the bridge, there is the house where she lives, 341 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:29.039 Margarette lives. They are about six or eight locations, all 342 00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.200 of them we found and they were modified to look 343 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:38.880 you know. Of course, we had our department production designer, 344 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:43.519 everybody local, everybody from Texas, so they modified everything to 345 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:47.079 look ninety sixties. The vehicles, you know, there was a 346 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:52.640 vehicle managers, somebody in charge of vehicles. He found all 347 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.839 the correct vehicles that we look. Of course, the wardrobe, 348 00:21:57.079 --> 00:22:01.359 the uniform of the National Guard, and the uniform of 349 00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:06.519 the sheriff. Everything was modified like we do in movies, 350 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:11.039 to look period, and that's basically it. It was not 351 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:16.599 difficult at all to modify this Waxahachi area, the few 352 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:21.519 towns that we found. The main city is called Venice, Texas, 353 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.640 not far from Waxahachi, and everything was modified at just 354 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:29.000 twenty years big because the movie or thirty years back. 355 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:32.319 The movie was shut was filmed in eighty nine. We 356 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:36.519 were talking about the movie in nineteen sixty six, ninety sixties, nineties, 357 00:22:37.160 --> 00:22:39.079 so it was not difficult at all. 358 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:42.960 It was easy when you have a hero as good 359 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:44.920 as Steve James. You need to have a villain who 360 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:46.839 is pretty darnk good as well. Can you tell me 361 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.000 about Tony Frank who plays a sheriff. 362 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:54.279 Tony Frank is a local actor, Texan actor, and he 363 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:57.920 was in movies before. He was a television movie actor 364 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:01.599 established in this area, in the in the Texas, in 365 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:05.799 the Dallas area. And he came in into the project 366 00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:08.160 I did. I did not even I was not involved 367 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.359 in casting him when when I came to I was 368 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:15.799 recruited and hired a little bit late at the stage 369 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.200 of production. Most of the local actors were already part 370 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:22.559 of the cast before I came, before I arrived in Dallas, 371 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:27.480 and and Tony was was already in I never met 372 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:30.480 him before the first day of shooting. As customery in 373 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.400 low budget movies, we don't have money in time for this, 374 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:39.519 and and he was just right on spot on. Now 375 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:43.440 for people who see the movie, people who saw the movie, 376 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:47.119 or people who are going to see the movie, you 377 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:50.200 know how mean or you will know how mean he 378 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:54.000 is in the movie. So mean, you know, Bustard Hima. 379 00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:59.759 But Tony Frank himself as a personality was completely the opposite. 380 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:04.799 He was the sweet gentle man who was friendly. Everybody 381 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:10.640 loved it, joking and jokes, and he was the exact 382 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:14.920 opposite of the character of the sheriff in the movie. Yeah, 383 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:17.200 when we are looking today the movie and most of 384 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:22.000 people that look at the movie, they're really commending his performance. 385 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:28.640 His performance is magnificent. How villain villain is performance he is, 386 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:31.400 But that's what he is. He was a local guy. 387 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:35.359 When you ran across that YouTube channel that mister Dennis 388 00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:37.680 runs and you see that he's got the movie up there, 389 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.039 I mean, what is that when you guys start talking 390 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:44.720 and especially start talking about this restoration, the scanning process, 391 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:46.079 I mean, what's that feeling for you? 392 00:24:46.359 --> 00:24:51.440 Like? The movie was distributed by Paramount as a matter 393 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:56.640 of fact, big company, you know, Paramount, the major dissolution company, 394 00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.880 but they were had very few prints, never screened in 395 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:04.160 the West Coast. I hear that there were a couple 396 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:07.599 of screenings in the West Coast and in Texas and 397 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:10.559 in New York. That's what I hear. Never in the 398 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:13.799 West Coast. And then they distributed the movie. They came 399 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:17.799 up with with VHS cassettes for the rental business, and 400 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:22.720 the VHS cassette was of a very poor quality. I 401 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:27.200