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“Winter’s Bone” Brings Missouri Actors and Ozark Culture to Sundance
ST. LOUIS –While St. Louis was abuzz with George Clooney fever, another Missouri- based film was quietly in the works featuring area actors and promoting Missouri film production. This January, “Winter’s Bone”, a film set in the Ozarks, will be competing in the Sundance Film Festival. The film was chosen from 3,724 submissions and is up against 15 films in the U.S. Dramatic category.
In “Winter’s Bone”, an Ozark girl named Ree desperately searches for her backwoods, methamphetamine-making, bail-jumping father in order to save her family’s home. The film, an adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel by Ozark author Daniel Woodrell, wrapped shooting in April.
Cody Brown, a Springfield-area actor and University of Central Missouri alumni, was cast in the supporting role of Floyd. Brown, 23, says the film will provide priceless experience and exposure, both for the actors and the area.
“It was exhilarating working with professionals from the business. There’s not a lot of film opportunity in this area,” says Brown. “It was amazing that something like this came here—an unbelievable opportunity.”
In the film, Brown’s character is married to Ree’s best friend Gayle. A subplot of the film focuses on Floyd and Gayle’s marriage, an obligated union from Gayle's unexpected pregnancy.
“The love is gone,” Brown said, “but the kid is there.”
The ‘Winter’s Bone’ cast also includes Casey MacLaren who, like Brown, attended high school in Nixa, MO. The actors were trained at the Creative Actors Workshop in Springfield along with Lauren Sweetser, who plays Gayle.
Debra Granik, the director of “Winter’s Bone”, chose local actors with authentic accents and dialects to add legitimacy to the film. Granik last directed “Down to the Bone” in 2004, which won seven awards including the Dramatic Directing Award at Sundance.
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“It always helped to have someone local, like when they had improvs about hunting, about fending for your family. I know what it’s like to cook and kill my own food, things like that,” Brown says. “The cast and crew that weren't local were greatly helped by having some people from the area involved because we were valuable examples, references, and inspiration for those inexperienced with the Ozarks.”
Brown was thrilled to see such a large production on Missouri, where most acting opportunities remain in live theater. He plans on moving to L.A. to continue expanding his resume, but hopes that Missouri sees more film production in its future. He’s not the only one.
The Missouri Film Commission and Missouri tourism officials hope “Winter’s Bone” can promote the Show Me State’s potential in the film industry through the film’s success, word of mouth recommendations from the crew, and tax incentives. In Missouri, for every $1 million a production crew spends, it has the potential to receive $350,000 in tax credits.
Crew members stayed in nearby Branson during filming in the Ozarks. Local hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions were grateful for the economical boost. Local crew members were also hired, a trend that the Missouri Film Commission hopes to continue.
Future plans to create a “business climate” for the film industry in Missouri include technical training programs for production jobs, as well as a Web site listing local crew members and other local resources for filmmakers.
“We want to attract more people here and want to employ more people here,” Missouri Film Commission chairman Bill Lennon told The News Leader last year. “This (movie) is a really good start.”
“Winter’s Bone” is produced by Anonymous Content and Down to the Bone Productions. Anonymous Content has produced films like “Babel,” starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” The film will premiere at Sundance in January, 2010.
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