Making Movies in the Rain
By Brandy Nance
Originally published 10:40 a.m., September 22, 2007
Updated 10:40 a.m., September 22, 2007
CHASE COUNTY
The crew for a movie being shot in Chase County went from hearing “Quiet on the set!” to “Cover and move all electrical equipment ... we got rain coming!” all within a few minutes Tuesday morning.
Those were the words that have been echoing through the valley of Lauer Ranch, owned by Kay Lauer, in Chase County the past couple of weeks as a movie, “The Only Good Indian” is being shot. The movie is scheduled to be released in 2008, according to imbd.com, where the movie is listed as being in production.
Tuesday morning, the crew on the set, which was outdoors when the prairie brought everything from 30 mile per hour wind to pouring rain, which sent the crew scrambling to retrieve and cover all electrical equipment. But, as soon as the rain stopped, the crew sprung back into action and moved the set to another location where the next scene was to be filmed.
“The Only Good Indian” was written by Thomas L. Carmody and directed by Kevin Willmott, who is an assistant professor of film at The University of Kansas. Among the main characters in the film who were working on a scene Tuesday morning were Sam Franklin, who is played by Wes Studi, and Charlie, played by Winterfox Frank. Studi played in movies such as “Last of the Mohicans.”
The movie is set in 1905 and is a fictional account of the removal of Indian children from their homes. The children were forced to go to Indian boarding schools to force them to learn white society and destroy their heritage. The school portrayed in the movie is Haskell Institute in Lawrence.
Frank, from California, plays Charlie, one of the children forced to attend the school. Charlie flees the school to go back to his family’s reservation. Franklin (Studi), is a bounty hunter and takes off after Charlie.
“The Only Good Indian” has been shot in various locations in Kansas including Wichita, Lawrence and Chase County. The cast and crew has been in Chase County for about two weeks and will shoot there until the end of the week. The crew often works sunup to sundown or sundown to sunup, said Scott Richardson, one of the producers. Rain delayed both Saturday and Tuesday’s shooting.
Chase County was chosen for its beauty, Richardson said.
“We needed prairie and hills,” he said.
It takes many people behind the scenes to make movie production work. Cowboy Culbertson, who owns 80 acres in eastern Kansas is the on-set wrangler. He provides horses and training to the actors. Culbertson started in film in 1996. His experience in re-enacting allowed him to enter the film industry. Culbertson has worked on films such as “Ride with the Devil,”“Buffalo Soldiers” and “Rough Riders.
“It’s exciting work,” he said. “I enjoy working with the horses.”
On the Net:
Internet Movie Database: www.imdb.com.