Acting like a forlorn farmer … in the movies!

Some warm summer Saturday in May, my wife and I were fortunate to be cast in a proof of concept scene for a screenplay for which our friend hopes to get funding in order to shoot the whole thing.

“Micronation,” written by Dustin Brenton, is about a farmer whose wife has died and whose farm is being taken away by eminent domain, so an interstate can be built through it. He tried to secede from the union, creating his own nation.

The scene we filmed involved the farmer, Sam Shoemaker, played by yours truly, getting a visit from his on-again, off-again, hippie-like lady friend, Ecco Flowers, played by my wife, Kimberly. Sam has given up the fight; the government guy is about to show up with the necessary papers to boot him from his farm. Ecco comes by before the government dude shows up to try to convince Sam to keep up the fight… for the farm and her. After she leaves, Mr. Richards, a smarmy, conceited jerk played so very, very well by Bobby Easley, drives up to the farm house in his big, fancy SUV.

You can see the whole thing here:

It took nearly all day to shoot this somewhere northwest of Trafalgar, Indiana. Having done 95% of my acting live on a theater stage, there were a few aspects of this motion picture gig that I had to adjust to. For example, we could do multiple takes! In fact, we had to do multiple takes … even if I didn’t flub a line. One take to get a particular camera angle and mic one person. Another take for another camera angle and mic someone else. Another take cause the director (also Dustin) said so. Or another because one or more of us had a good idea.

Since I spent most of my time in the sun on a warm day, I was a tad exhausted when it was over. But we had a great time performing and chit chatting with all the crew.

Here are some notes from the director and writer, Dustin Brenton:

“For months, I’ve been sharing updates about the awards my screenplay ‘Micronation’ has received. Now, I’m thrilled to present a proof of concept scene we’ve shot. This is just one scene from the film, created to promote the movie and aid in our fundraising efforts to bring it to life for you all to enjoy someday.

“A heartfelt thank you to Paul Hoffman, Kimberly Bush Hoffman, Bobby Easley, James Brenton, Derek Hobart, Sara Logan Thompson, Nick Camin, Aaron Milbourn, and Bigfoot Yancey for their incredible work in bringing this scene to life. Additionally, I extend my gratitude to Tom Devlin, Lola Devlin, Gordon Strain and Pigasus Pictures for inspiring us to finally embark on our own film journey.

“Our next step is raising the necessary funds to produce the full movie. We are working on that internally but if you or anyone you know might be interested in helping us make this dream a reality, please reach out to me at dustin@brentoncreative.com.

“Above all, we hope you enjoy this short scene from “Micronation.” And please feel free to share it with everyone!”