ADVISOR DON SCHROEDER TALKS BOONVILLE REDEMPTION

Boonville Redemption is a faith-based film set in 1906, Boonville, California and tells the story of a 13 year-old girl who seeks to find out what happened to her biological father. Boonville received 5 Dove Awards by the Dove Foundation in 2013 and became the winner of BEST SCRIPT at the San Pedro International Film Festival soon after. The film has also received nominations from the New Hope Film Festival and the Action On Film Festival. Written by Judy Belshe-Toernblom and directed by FLOBEL Advisor, Don Schroeder the film stars Pat Boone, Diane Ladd, Edward Asner, Shari Rigby and Emily Hoffman. Nectar News sat down with Director, Don Schroder to learn more about his experience with the film and his history in the industry.

NJ: Boonville Redemption has received the Dove Family Approved seal meaning that the foundation believes the content expressed in the film makes for the kind of entertainment family members can enjoy together with confidence. As the director of the film and a frequent participator in the film industry, how do you value this award?

NJ: In working with the cast of a period piece, what were some of the most important elements of onscreen behavior that you wanted your actors to keep in mind?

DS: Because Boonville Redemption is set in 1906 California, when it was still the wild west, one of the things that some of our cast members had to learn was how to drive a team of horses. They spent a day with our wranglers learning how to handle the reins and talk to the horses so they would stop and go on command. We also had to brief the rest of the cast and crew on how to behave around horses. They were all movie-trained horses, but they are still animals and unpredictable. Fortunately, everyone behaved as they should—horses and people alike. 

NJ: Is developing a period piece more difficult as a director or do you find it easier?

DS: In many ways, a period Western is more fun than shooting a film that is set here and now. The Western world is very physical. Just think about everything we do nowadays that runs on electricity. In 1906 when our story is set, there wasn’t any electricity, so everything ran on people or animal power. In those days, survival took a lot of work—food had to be grown and harvested, homes and shops had to be built from scratch, transportation involved dirt roads and temperamental horses, communication was face-to-face. For a director, that means many more things for the actors to do and the camera to capture. We learn more about people from what they do rather than what they say, so  in a period film there are many more ways for a director to reveal character with behavior instead of relying just on dialogue.

DS: For me and for our investors it was the script. Judy Belshe-Toernblom had written a screenplay that you couldn’t put down once you started reading it. It is rich with characters and tells a moving story of grace and forgiveness from the point of view of a 13 year-old girl who is on a quest to find her real father. No one in town will tell her what happened to him and it is her courage and determination that reveals the truth. So it was the screenplay, and a chance to direct my first feature film after making about 300 other films in my forty year career.

NJ: Which character(s) were you most eager to work with?

DS: There are many well-developed characters in this story, so it is difficult to single out any one in particular. Along with 13 year-old Melinda who is on a quest to find out what happened to her real father, there is also her abusive stepfather driven by greed and jealousy, her heartbroken mother who turns to superstition to assuage the guilt she feels over the terrible choices she made in the past, and Melinda’s ailing grandmother who shows the girl the love and acceptance she has craved all her life. Then add a town “watcher” who carries a lit lantern day and night because he’s terrified of the dark, a newly-immigrated Italian family struggling to make a living from their homegrown vineyards, a native-American couple surviving on their traditional skills and hard work, an African-American family eking out a living on odd jobs and grit, and a town doctor who has been in Boonville so long he knows everyone’s story. Throw in a terrible secret that involves all of them, and a unique language spoken only by those that live in the town’s valley, and you have the makings of a great story. 

NJ:After the initial reading of the script with the entire cast describe how you felt.

DS: Frankly, I was enormously gratified to have such a great cast to work with. The screenwriter, Judy Belshe-Toernblom, has been a casting director for 35 years, so she was able to find an extraordinary ensemble of thirty great actors to fill the parts of all these fascinating characters. Add to that the star power of Pat Boone—a living legend, Ed Asner—a seven-time Emmy winner, and Diane Ladd—a three-time Oscar and Emmy nominee, and as a director your have to be extremely grateful.