Local actor and chiropractor Brad Batchelor holds a conversation with actor Randy Jones on the set of “A Tale About Bootlegging.” Photo by Marie Freeman Locals Servin’ Up Moonshine A Tale About Bootlegging Films In The High Country By Scott Nicholson It’s a long way from Hollywood, but settings in Shull’s Mill and Trade, Tenn., will serve as the stage for a family comedy movie currently being filmed. “A Tale About Bootlegging” is being co-directed by David Consentino and Phil Fox of Charlotte. The script was written by Fox, who found a short story online and then asked the author to adapt it as a screenplay. The writer did not tackle the job but gave Fox rights to use the story. “I wasn’t even a writer until this,” Fox said. “I could see the characters.” Cosentino and Fox met on the independent film scene in Charlotte. Brad Batchelor of Boone, an actor as well as local chiropractor, is executive producer of the movie. The story is about a bootlegger in the North Carolina mountains and the small-town sheriff who wants to shut down the moonshine operation. Consentino described it as “a warm, fuzzy comedy like (from) the 1950s and 1960s.” He joked that they simply took out “everything that makes a good movie, such as sex and violence” but wanted to make a family-oriented movie that was fun for all ages. “If they’re not laughing, they’re not alive,” Cosentino said. The crew spent part of last week filming on location around some rocky areas in Shull’s Mill. On Tuesday, a small farm valley in Trade served as the setting for scenes that the directors asked to be kept secret to preserve a surprise in the movie. Batchelor also plays a doctor in the movie, but his real patients might hesitate to schedule an appointment after seeing his latest role. He plays a blind Scottish doctor who performs an embarrassing procedure on the sheriff. As one of four producers, Batchelor is also responsible for rounding up investors for the $10 million film. “We’re shooting half here and half in Saluda,” Batchelor said. A theatrical release is planned, but if the distribution deals fall through the movie will be released internationally directly to DVD and VHS. Cosentino said the setting had come to play a key part of the movie. “It’s absolutely gorgeous this time of year,” he said. “The background is a character.” Wednesday was originally supposed to be the final day of shooting, but production is a month behind schedule. The crew will move South during that time to keep up with the changing leaves. In addition to a number of locals who answered a casting call to serve as extras in scenes shot Wednesday, the movie has plenty of other Boone connections. Kim Evans, who was raised here and graduated from Appalachian State University in 1996, is second-unit director. She studied graphic arts and imaging technology and her “day job” is as a copywriter for Lowe’s Company. She was scheduled to go up in a plane flown by Batchelor and get aerial shots, but the weather was too poor. Aimie Cook, an ASU student, was serving as production assistant, a role that included everything from carrying wires to directing traffic. Ashton and Celeste Caton, 13-year-old twins, heard about the casting call on the radio and showed up in Trade. Their father Dan Caton said the kids were interested in movies and had taken acting lessons. Christie James of the Watauga Arts Council is serving as wardrobe director, and was one of the busiest people on the set, trying to match several dozen extras with period clothing in the right sizes. Catherine Carter of Blowing Rock plays a hillbilly mom in the 1870’s. Though her parts had already been filmed, she was on hand to assist with make-up and other chores. Steve Lewis, national banjo champion, is a friend of Evans’s and had been invited to be one of the musicians in a scene. Local singer Liz Harmon took her daughters out of school so the family could serve as extras, saying it was an educational experience for them. “It’s not every day you get to be in a movie,” she said. Extra Scott Nicholson walks off the set of the movie “A Tale About Bootlegging.” Photo by Marie Freeman R.J. Mains and Wesley Stevens of Zionville were recruited to bring a horse-and-wagon team. They showed up at 8:30 a.m. and quickly learned that working on a set was a case of “hurry up and wait.” They fed the horses early, though their scene didn’t end up starting until after noon. For each take on the muddy hillside, the pair had to turn the team around in the middle of the crowd of extras. Sonny Shroyer, probably best known for his role as “Enos” in “The Dukes of Hazzard,” plays Sheriff Ed Cooper. He has starred in a number of movies and television shows including “Smoky & The Bandit,” “Forrest Gump,” and “The Devil and Max Devlin.” “This is a moonshiner’s movie,” he said. “I’ve been doing a little research, and I’m kind of on the moonshiner’s side. Farmers had a hard time eking out a living and the government came along and made these rules.” Shroyer said he first got the script three months ago and started working on it even before a deal had been reached. “The most difficult scene, I start working on that right away,” he said. “I get prepared and keep studying. It’s different saying it in your own living room and saying lines in front of 30 or 40 strangers on a mountaintop in Tennessee or North Carolina.” Shroyer’s role is more of that of “straight man,” even though he does get his “drawers full of rock salt.” Sheriff Cooper is a teetotaler and retired from the state police. When he has a hard time finding deputies because of the well-armed bootlegger, he enlists twin brothers who happen to be of different racial origins (Bruce Williamson and Robert Johnson). Randy Jones, most famous as the Cowboy in the camp band The Village People, plays a cigar-chomping sawmill boss. He had worked with the directors on a previous film. Jones was born and raised in Raleigh and studied acting at the University of North Carolina. He went to New York and sang in musicals until he became a member of the Village People in 1977. Jones said some record producers had the idea for the band, with the singers based on male movie stereotypes that were easily recognizable to the public. Jones said he created his Cowboy character for the audition and landed the role. He said the band, best known for the hit “YMCA,” recently passed the 100-million-unit sales mark. For the current role, he has donned a bowler hat and coveralls. He described his character as “a cross between Charlie Chaplin with some Boss Hawg and a little String Bean, with maybe a touch of Pee Wee Herman.” Robert Harris, best known for his role in the recent horror hit “Cabin Fever,” was up from Greensboro to perform in the movie. He said his role as Old Man Cadwell in that movie was popular because “it was such a bloody, movie, it was a relief to have a jolly old guy in it.” Harris, whose key attributes are a long white beard and twinkling eyes, was a near-miss for the role of Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies. Harris has been acting on stage since 1938, but didn’t become involved in movies until five years ago. The actor, who is now 74, said, “I figured if I was going to be in movies, I’d better get started.” His connection to Boone is performing in the outdoor drama Horn in the West in 1967 and 1968. Barney Barnwell, who plays the bootlegger Ben, didn’t have to adopt a role—he already had a stage show based on moonshining, which was a key part of his family heritage. He hosts an annual moonshiners convention that draws 2,000 people and has performed as a musician for 30 years in the Plum Hollow Band. He had never acted in a movie before and now he is in a prominent role, but he said the directors just told him to be himself. However, he did keep some priorities. “I showed up to film and the wardrobe person said she needed to take some scissors to fix my overalls. I said, ‘Hold on, these are my real clothes. I’ll go get one of my old pairs if you want, but you can’t cut these.’” While locals like Linda Arnette and Christy Cook dropped in for a day, Kristi Schatzline brought her sons Ethan and Noah and mother Judy Kizzih all the way from Alabama, landing in Boone at 2:30 a.m. to serve as unpaid extras. Kizzih was able to doze off in a director’s chair after her work was done, and Schatzline said the drive was worth it because her sons had an interest in movie careers. “Ethan, mainly, is determined to be a television and movie producer,” she said. Batchelor serves a variety of roles, including location manager. He showed up the day before to bush hog a section of the field where scenes were to be shot. The tractor began sliding sideways on the wet grass and he had to jump away, saying he came close to having his legs chopped off by the bush hog. One of the reasons for delayed production is the purchase of a new generation of digital camera. “A Tale About Bootlegging” is one of the first movies to be filmed with a Canon XL-2. Batchelor said the camera is a big improvement over the XL-1 the crew was using early in the shoot, so some scenes had to be reshot. The movie will have to be edited and go through post production before release, which could take place next year. Information on the movie is available at www.ataleaboutbootlegging.com.