Arkansas Traveler

Arkansas Traveler – new article & more pics from the trailer shoot

KansasCity.com has a nice, long article about Arkansas Traveler here and they also posted a bunch of pictures from the trailer shoot.

A native of North Carolina and long a Civil War buff, Bridgers almost a decade ago began writing a screenplay about a fictional Confederate officer named Waylon McClawhorn, who in the last days of the conflict escapes a Union POW camp in Illinois and makes his way down the Mississippi and back to his home in Arkansas.

Along the way, Waylon encounters bad men of various stripes — whom he ruthlessly and efficiently eliminates — and reluctantly picks up fellow travelers such as the abused Myrtle (Bettis). Sometimes, Waylon gets advice from a shadowy figure named John Bass (Bridgers wrote that role for himself).

“Waylon’s got the Civil War version of post-traumatic stress syndrome,” the bearded, boyish-looking Bridgers said. “He hallucinates this specter that tells him what to do. Basically, John Bass is Waylon’s subconscious.

“In the end, it’s all about Waylon’s redemption, about how he rejoins the living.” (…)

“Sean gave me his script when we were both on ‘Deadwood,’” Dillahunt recalled. “I was really surprised. Good writing is hard to come by. It’s a sign of how much people like this script that they’ll work free to make it happen.”

Dillahunt said he jumped at the chance to play Waylon McClawhorn, if only in the trailer.

“I wish I had a high enough profile that just by my getting involved something like this could get made,” he said. “It’s important to me that it gets made. Doesn’t even matter if I’m in the finished film.” [KansasCity.com]

For more pics, go to Wide Awake Films’ Facebook page.

New film in development: Arkansas Traveler (and other updates)

Garret Dillahunt,Arkansas TravelerThe news I mentioned yesterday:

Garret has a new film in development called Arkansas Traveler. It’s a western written by Deadwood’s Sean Bridgers, still in the development stage, with Bridgers and Angela Bettis also attached to star. (Go here for the synopsis.)

Last week, they filmed an extended trailer for the film. Blue Springs Journal was there and wrote a really good article about it.

“…Understanding that period and understanding it on a level that other people don’t – that rubs off on the actors and the performance,” Bridgers said.

Bridgers, an actor by trade, is familiar with period pieces. He played Johnny in HBO’s frontier series, “Deadwood,” as did the star of “Arkansas Traveler,” Garret Dillahunt, who played Francis Wolcott. Dillahunt also played Ed Miller in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”

Garret Dillahunt,Sean Bridgers,Arkansas Traveler“When I’ve been around and heard the actors talk about being around a historical setting, it really makes their jobs easier to transport into that era,” Bears said.

The cast and crew of “Arkansas Traveler” tread carefully around one of the log buildings as the inescapable mud from the rain the day before makes for sloppy, unsure footing. Wide Awake Films and the co-directors production company, Travelin’ Productions hope the “teaser” they filmed here in Missouri last month will translate into a feature-length Hollywood film. — Blue Springs Journal

And in other news:

Page updates: Burn Notice (screencaps), Gary Unmarried (screencaps), Baryo (pics), Arkansas Traveler (page & synopsis)