Producers hope film will attract business to Texas

By Michael O'Connor/editor@trcle.com

NEAR NEMO — The rancher settles into his seat on the buckboard, reaching over to pat his daughter reassuringly on the knee.

He looks to the side and says quietly but menacingly, “Lay a hand on my daughter, and I will kill you.”

He flicks the reins, and the wagon rolls away toward the small town.

Then director Bryant Hicks calls, “Cut.”

The rancher and daughter are actors, and Hicks is the first assistant director for “Reach for the Sky,” an independent film with a Western motif being shot near Nemo.

The film is the brainchild of executive producer Toby Thomas of Southlake and co-producer Glenn Helm of Richardson.

Their agenda for the film is ambitious and reflects the metaphoric meaning of the title.

They hope to show filmmakers the benefits of filming in Texas, drawing jobs and money to the area; help the director fulfill a goal of making films in several genres; and boost Hicks’ career by demonstrating his abilities to a Hollywood insider.

The director

The Hollywood insider is Alan Chan, an Oscar winner for his artistic and technical work on films such “Titanic,” “Beowulf,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.”

Thomas had worked with Chan on several film projects and knew Chan wanted to make a Western.

Thomas was the primary author of “Reach,” having developed the concept and outlined the story. He farmed out the actual script to writers who he said “fluffed it up and fleshed it out.”

The hope was to produce a Western in the mold of the films produced by Republic Pictures in the 1930s and ’40s, the formula flicks affectionately called “oaters” these days.

Thomas said he broached the idea with Chan, who readily accepted.

The only snag was that Chan only had two weeks off before starting his next project, so the film would have to be shot in 10 days, Helm said.

Johnson County connections

Once filming began, all involved figured out that meeting the shooting schedule couldn’t be accomplished unless the work was divided between two crews, one shooting in the day, the other at night, Helm said.

Chan was impressed with Hicks, who had also been recruited by the producers, Helm said, and put him in charge of the second unit, the daytime crew.

Hicks, whose parents live on a farm “between Joshua, Keene and Cleburne,” attended Joshua High School and the Cleburne Baptist Academy.

He said he “did all the ag stuff” in high school but developed an interest in cinema after he began working at the Cinema 6 in Cleburne.

He was transferred to the now defunct Esquire Twin downtown, where he became a projectionist.

“I sat there glassy eyed watching the movies and it spawned my interest,” he said.

Hicks said he attended Tarrant County College for a while and took courses related to film production, but “they don’t teach you what you learn out here, actually making a movie.”

On the set at Western artist Doug Prine’s ranch near Nemo on Saturday, the ninth day of filming, Hicks jokes with the cast and crew, exchanges fist bumps and offers encouragement to the actors.

After the rancher, played by Hank Sinatra, looks the wrong direction while delivering his menacing line, Hicks compliments him on the delivery, assuring Sinatra he’d said it perfectly, then gently reminds him that he needs to look the other direction.

Hicks said he tries to keep the atmosphere light because making movies is a visual art, and “visual artists don’t perform well under stress.”

Thomas overhears part of the conversation and asks what’s being discussed.

“You haven’t seen him after a 12 to 14 hour day,” Thomas says, deadpan.

Another Johnson County product, Mark Crosby, who hails from Alvarado though he no longer lives there, served as the film’s site production manager, Thomas said.

Crosby looks like the prototype of an Old West scout and says he had the opportunity to work on the Chuck Norris show, “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

Crosby prowls around the set offering advice and encouragement in a stentorian voice, and eagerly conducts a reporter around, introducing various cast members.

He’s as excited as anyone involved about the production.

In addition to his production responsibilies, Crosby appears in the film’s climactic gun battle, Thomas said.

The story

In “Reach for the Sky” rancher Everet Cates finds himself in financial difficulty, and the town banker, Samuel Mortimer, played by Ron Harris, schemes to take over the ranch. His daughter, Eryn, is played by Hannah Hague, whose father owns MW Ranch near Nemo, another site location for the movie.

Eryn has recently returned from finishing school and quickly becomes the object of Mortimer’s unwelcome affections.

Though taught to be a lady, Eryn ropes, rides and shoots with the best of them, and a Chinese servant has taught her martial arts to boot.

Hague says one of her favorite parts of the role is that she “kicks butt.”

Eryn takes on the persona of “The Masked Bandit” to obtain the money to save her father, and falls for the handsome Texas Ranger sent to investigate the crimes.

Texas production

Producer Helm emphasizes that all the cast and crew, except for Chan, are from Texas. Part of the producers’ purpose is to impress Chan in the hopes that he’ll be able to influence others to consider Texas for their movie projects.

In fact, everyone interviewed, even a production assistant working on the female lead’s makeup, tends to say “Texas” when asked where they’re from, giving hometowns as a followup answer.

Helm also confides he’s pleased that Chan seems so impressed with Hicks and hopes the new relationship will open doors for Hicks.

Hicks said Chan has talked to him about working on another project, the details of which will be worked out later.

It’s a wrap

Both Thomas and Hicks indicated they were pleased with the production, which is now in the hands of editors.

Distribution for the movie has not been determined, but Thomas said it may go straight to DVD. If possible, he said, a screening of the film will be arranged somewhere in the area.