21st Century WireOur own 21WIRE journalist and road reporter has taken on an important new project…
Around one month and a half ago in mid-May, after a lengthy discussion with a US production team, journalist and 21WIRE founder Patrick Henningsen took the initial steps with Free State Films to create a new documentary film about the Bundy Ranch standoff which took place in Nevada this past spring. Pre-production planning began that day and Henningsen organized a local crew in the US, and spent the following weekend researching and 48 hours editing a concept trailer for the project.
The following Monday, a trailer for the film – with the working title, ‘The Last Rancher’, was released on YouTube and a GoFundMe page was set up to help get the production started. See their trailer here:
The immediate response allowed Henningsen and crew to be on location the following week with director of photography Shannon Bushman and a GMN support bus in Bunkerville, Nevada.
Time was of the essence for two reasons. Firstly, in July and August it can get very hot in the Nevada desert, and September seemed too long to wait, so a window of opportunity was open in June to film at Bundy Ranch. Secondly, even though the federal government left Bundy Ranch on April 12th, as anyone connected to the story will tell you – they could return at any moment. The Nevada location filming is finished and the team has split up to film set-pieces in Utah, Arizona and California. Here’s a production update from Patrick in Nevada…
Once the secondary location filming is finished, post-production planning will begin and they may launch another more public appeal campaign to help raise awareness and attract more support.
“This story is a piece of American history, and I really felt it was important to tell it properly and in the right spirit of what really took place that day in April. Beyond that, this is also a story about a fight to preserve America’s unique rural and independent ranching culture – which is now under threat of extinction”, says Henningsen.
To get to the next step they will need your help. It’s a story well worth telling…
Support this project at: www.GoFundMe.com/freestatefilms
http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/07/07/bundy-ranch-documentary-under-way-crowdfunding-for-freedom/