Tuesday, November 12, 2013

ACTORS REPORTER COVERS STEPHANIE MARTIN’S CAUSE-DRIVEN SHORT FILM, WILD HORSES, TO SCREEN AT AFI FEST




Immediate Release
Info@LiveVideoInc.com
November 12, 2013


Actors Reporter is very excited to be covering AFM for its 33rd year in Santa Monica. A joint production between Live Video Inc. and Pepper Jay Productions LLC, we cover all things entertainment to give you the inside view on the “Hollywood” inside.  Your host Kurt Kelly takes you in the door!

 



STEPHANIE MARTIN’S CAUSE-DRIVEN SHORT FILM, WILD HORSES, TO SCREEN AT AFI FEST

Los Angeles, CA -   After scooping Best Live Action Short at the prestigious Palm Springs International ShortFest, its first festival, the team behind Wild Horses returns home to Los Angeles for AFI Fest next month hoping this prestigious screening will see the film continue to capture the hearts and minds of filmgoers and the wild horse community alike.
The award-winning short marks cinematographer and American Film Institute alumna Stephanie Martin’s directorial debut and has qualified for Academy consideration. Martin co-wrote Wild Horses with longtime friend Producer Jessica Walsh and took the opportunity to step behind the camera when she was accepted to the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.
In the course of making the film, Martin and her team became integrally involved in the issue themselves.  Her involvement in two roundups (during pre and post production) resulted in her participation in two on-going court cases against the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), the government agency within the Department of the Interior entrusted with the horse’s protection.  As a result, Martin’s commitment strengthened, igniting momentum.
Born from a desire to shine cinematic light on the dramatic plight of America’s dwindling wild horse herds, Martin turned to her friends and collaborators of years and recruited some of the most respected individuals in this business to help them add their story to the ongoing advocacy efforts of the wild horse community.   
The power of the issue helped the team working on a tight budget to raise funds and recruit world-class talent, most of which was donated.  Therefore, what began as a team of friends making their first short quickly transformed into an ambitious endeavor with the support of a multiple Oscar-winning crew including three time Academy Award winner Cinematographer Robert Richardson. The star-filled cast and crew included The National Geographic contributing photographer Melissa Farlow, legendary horse trainer Rex Peterson (The Black Stallion,Sea Biscuit, Hidalgo) and the actresses Mireille Enos (The Killing, World War Z) Brooke Shields (The Blue Lagoon, Army Wives), Barbara Tarbuck (American Horror Story), 45 horses including the son of Black Beauty, and a helicopter. 
“After many years of working behind the camera as a Cinematographer, I came to the realization that the only way I would ever make the films I was truly passionate about was to write and direct them myself.  That is how I cam to Wild Horses.  I aspire to make other such films that will not only inform but inspire”.-Stephanie Martin, director.
The filmmakers are currently at work on a feature length screenplay which begins where Wild Horses leaves off.
About the film
Wild Horses tells the story of Mills (Mireille Enos), a successful photographer, who returns to her native Nevada following an urgent call from her grandmother (Barbara Tarbuck) informing her that a band of wild horses close to their hearts, faces government roundup.
Cruelty, courage, love and memory collide as two generations of women bear witness to the brutality common to wild horse roundups in the American West today.
About the issue
America’s wild horses have long been part of the heritage and mythology of the American West. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 2 million, a number that has dwindled to around 35,000. Today, there are more wild horses in captivity than in the wild. They face regular government roundup, driven miles by helicopter across unforgiving terrain, and thousands are sent to slaughter every year.
As you read, roundups continue and herds are being removed from the land, separated from their families and from their place in our history. Despite an active advocacy community and growing media attention (The Atlantic, The New York Times), a better solution for wild horse management remains urgently needed.
www.wildhorsesthefilm.com

References:
IMDB.com


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