By David F. Rooney
Lights! Camera! Action! Revelstoke is about to star in a new feature film, entitled Mountain Men, that will begin shooting here on April 5.
Vancouver filmmaker Jason James is currently scouting locations in and out of town for the project and says his film will also provide employment opportunities for caterers, costumers, set painters, costumers and — of course —extras for different scenes.
He’s also looking for an old cabin and an old pickup truck that can be burned to the ground in one of the film’s climactic scenes.
Mountain Men is the story of two brothers from Revelstoke who, after drifting apart reconnect when the younger man returns home from New York to attend his mother’s remarriage.
“It starts out as a kind of dysfunctional family comedy and then becomes a story of survival,” James said of the script that was written by director Cam Labine.
The script was originally set in Nelson, but James, who is producing this $1 million film, preferred Revelstoke.
“This town is perfect,” he said in an interview on Monday, March 17.
James loves Revelstoke architecture and the incomparable mountain setting that makes this town unforgettable.
And, for once, Revelstoke gets to play itself.
James takes pride in making films that are actually set in and about real Canadian places. As many locals can doubtless remember, Revelstoke masqueraded as American towns in Alaska and Montana in the last two films made here (The Barber, filmed in 2001, and Embedded, shot here in 2010).
James said Mountain men will star Canadian actor Tyler Labine (his brother Cam is the film’s director) and American actor Chace Crawford.
Meanwhile his father, Mark McKee, has been helping him find locations for many of the film’s scenes like the cave-like mining tunnel alongside the Alkokolex forestry road. They’re also looking for a cliff and an old cabin whose owner wouldn’t mind seeing it burned to the ground.
“I think this project is good for the town,” McKee said. “There will be opportunities for a lot of people with the right skill sets.”
James said that he is bringing about 40 or 50 people here to shoot Mountain Men next month but he’ll also need local people to work as drivers, caterers, set builders and painters, as well as costumers and extras. These opportunities and others will be advertised on The Stoke List in the days and weeks to come. If you think you have something to offer this film production you can contact Producer Jason James at mountainmenfilm@gmail.com.
Once the film is ready, likely sometime next year, James and McKee would like to have it shown in Revelstoke’s Roxy Theatre.
“I think we could do that,” Roxy owner Carl Rankin said after talking with James and McKee
Please click here for more information about Jason James and Resonance Films.
