Timber Creek Productions to begin shooting film in Cooke County

Staff report

Gainesville’s Timber Creek Productions is set to begin filming the feature, “Rockabilly Baby” Dec. 10 on location in and around Gainesville and at the Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, La., home of a radio talent show called the Louisiana Hayride.

The Louisiana Hayride was heard throughout the country in the 1950s on radio station KWAH. It is also the show in which many American country music icons got their starts. Performers such as Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, George Jones, Faron Young, Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells, Jim Reeves, The Bailes Brothers, Tillman Franks, Doug Kershaw, The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Lefty Frizzell, began their careers at the Hayride.

“Rockabilly Baby” was written by veteran actor/writer, Ken Farmer.

Executive producer Buck Stienke said Farmer wrote the screen play adaptation which is based on the stage play, “Rockabilly Baby” by Leslie Jordan.

“Rockabilly Baby” is a musical drama set in the mid-1950s. The film is the story of a fictional piano player and rockabilly singer named Baby Boy Watkins.

Denton Blane Everett is set to star in the movie as Baby Boy.

The cast also includes actors Todd Farr as Dirty, Brandi Price as Jollene and Anne Lockhart as Mama.

Farmer has also signed on to direct this emotional look at the birth of Rock and Roll. “Rockabilly Baby” will be Ken Farmer’s directorial debut.

Rock and roll began to gather momentum in Memphis and took the world by largely by surprise, Farmer wrote in a press release.

“ It was a time when Jerry Lee Lewis, with his boogie-style piano playing and flashy performances, was a living legend until he married his thirteen-year-old cousin and caused a national scandal. It was a time when a young Elvis Presley was involved in the legendary Sun Label recording sessions and with his tough good looks and sexual gyrations, was creating a phenomenon known as the rock concert,” he said.

“It was a time when Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers were combining Negro rhythm and blues with a country-western sound and ‘tearin’ it up’ all over the Southeast.”

They all played at one time or another, at the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, La., he said.

Known as the “Cradle of the Stars” the Louisiana Hayride is still known today as the vehicle which helped open the door to the Rockabilly era.

“And when it was over,.. nothing has ever been quite the same,” Farmer said.

Baby Boy Watkins is a piano playing combination of Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Elvis and Elton John who finally gets his big break and is invited to play the Louisiana Hayride, he said.

Baby Boy’s manager, Dirty Dawkins, has set up his visit to the Louisiana Hayride followed immediately by a sold out performance at the World’s Fair in New Orleans. However, Baby Boy’s sister, Jollene, throws a wrench in the works when she shows up backstage at the Louisiana Hayride to tell Baby Boy of their mother’s psychological breakdown.

Baby Boy’s secret is revealed and he, Dirty and Jollene walk a difficult road as Baby Boy rises to the top of the music world in Las Vegas.

“ ‘Rockabilly Baby’ is a roller coaster ride of emotions, chock full of all original rockabilly music... It was the birth of what we call today Rock and Roll, set to the tune of a powerful heart-wrenching story,” Farmer said.

Stienke said he is excited about the prospect of filming the movie in Cooke County.

However, nothing about creating motion pictures is easy.

“Most people probably don’t know, or even want to know, all the things that go into making a movie,” he said in a telephone interview.

There are legal aspects that must be squared away.

Financial and technical issues are another concern.

Last winter, Timber Creek was immersed in the project “Damn You Bone” — a cop drama based on the recollections and stories of David Ulysses Bone, a former Gainesville police officer.

Last December, at a reception held at Timber Creek’s office on West Broadway, Bone said many scenes in the movie are based on real life incidences during his career on the police force.

The title is a play on Bone’s name and on his propensity for pulling pranks on co-workers. Some say he once went so far as to put a firecracker in his captain’s desk.

For now, Timber Creek has put away “Damn You Bone.”

“We’re still planning on filming it,” Stienke said.

He explained that without an established track record, a fledgling production company such as Timber Creek must first gain credibility.

They hope to bolster their credibility with “Rockabilly Baby” and then to possibly develop “Damn You Bone” into a cable network series, Stienke said.

Ten or 11 scripts are complete, he said.

The film crew for “Rockabilly Baby” plan to film the movie in digital high-definition using a camera called a “steadicam.”.

They will also film using three cameras simultaneously, he added.

This technique — sometimes used in television dramas — will cut the workload for the actors, he said. “So they don’t have to do so many takes.”

Shooting multiple takes causes fatigue for both cast and crew and can sap creativity and spontaneity, he said.

Timber Creek plans 12 shooting days in Cooke County, plowing through up to 10 pages of dialogue per day.

“It’s a time-intensive proposition,” Stienke admited. “Most of the stuff will be on location here.”

The final performance shoots are slated to take place on sound stages in Louisiana.

Original music for the film is being written by several artists.

“It will take a while to get the music assembled. Out of 25 songs, we’ll pick seven performance songs for the movie. It will be all original rock and roll,” Stienke said.

Stienke and the others at Timber Creek have high hopes for their “Rockabilly Baby.”

“It’s a very strong story. It’s funny. It’s dramatic, and it’s heartbreaking,” he said.

The production company plans to screen the film in Dallas for about 450 invited guests.

“We’ll use the screening to gauge audience reaction and to let us know if we have a decent finished product,” Stienke said.

Following the release, the company plans to secure a contract for the theatrical release of “Rockabilly Baby.”

A compact disc of original music from the film is also planned.

***

Timber Creek Productions is sending out a call for movie extras.

“If you would like to be in this movie as an extra, come to the offices of Timber Creek Productions at 107 W. Broadway in Gainesville on Saturday, Nov. 24,” Farmer said in the news release.

Casting for children ranging in age from 5 to 13 will be from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Adult casting is set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with Toni Cobb of Brock Casting on hand to screen applicants.

Prospective extras should arrive in 1950s-era clothing. They should also bring a clear, close-up photo if available.

Timber Creek Products, LLC is located at 107 W. Broadway St. Gainesville, (940) 668-5956.

E-mail inquiries should be directed to rockabillymovie@yahoo.com.

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