As we speak -- or rather, as you read -- Jennica and Ryan Schwartzman and their 3-year-old son are driving cross-country from Los Angeles to Fayetteville. It's a homecoming of sorts for the filmmakers, who will be in town for the cast and crew debut of "Parker's Anchor," shot in Northwest Arkansas in the first two weeks of January.
The screening will not be open to the public -- the restriction has to do with film festivals and their requirements for world premieres -- but Jennica hopes everyone who worked on the film in any capacity will attend. She also hopes movie buffs will show up at Malco Razorback Cinema around 4:15 p.m. Monday to give the stars a red-carpet welcome.
FAQ
‘Parker’s Anchor’
Red Carpet Debut
WHEN — 4:15 p.m. Monday
WHERE — Malco Razorback Cinema in Fayetteville
COST — Attending the red carpet gala is free; tickets for the film are available only to cast, crew and sponsors
INFO — Email jennicaschwartzman@…
FYI
‘Landing in Arkansas’
Ryan and Jennica Schwartzman are finishing their filmmaking docu-series “Landing in Arkansas” to air on Fayetteville Public Television.
“After filming three features here, as out-of-state producers, we found that our information could be valuable to other filmmakers — especially in an academic setting,” Jennica says. “This will hopefully be used as a tool for other filmmakers to see what can be done here and maybe even inspire other out-of-state productions to come here too!”
They expect to release “Landing in Arkansas” this winter.
Among those expected to attend the screening are Penny Johnson Jerald, Amy Argyle and Brandon Keener, along with local celebrities such as Jason Suel, Julie Gabel, Vickie Hilliard, Jules Taylor and Mark Landon Smith, who was both an actor and associate producer for "Parker's Anchor."
Smith says he met the Schwartzmans when they came to Northwest Arkansas to film "Gordon Family Tree," and after his work on that film, he signed on again for "Man in the Trunk" and "Parker's Anchor." As an associate producer, he says, his work wasn't much different than what he does as executive director of Arts Live Theatre -- "just making sure that things are where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there." He says acting, doing regional casting and producing are all his favorite things. "Whatever I'm doing at the moment, that's what I enjoy doing the most."
Jennica Schwartzman says that attitude is part of the "on-set culture" that keeps the couple making movies in Northwest Arkansas.
"We chose to come back because of the people," she says by phone from Los Angeles. "We could have made it work in California with the money, but in Arkansas, we have so many generous businesses, a dollar goes a lot further.
"But both our director and producers from LA and anybody we bring out as actors comment again and again on that on-set culture, and that cannot be re-created. Every time we've put ourselves out there to cast or hire crew based almost entirely on recommendations, it's nerve racking. But every time we're walked away with deeper friendships and positive experiences -- and we go home happy every night, which doesn't happen very often in filmmaking.
"When we're there, everybody comes out of the woodwork to be a part of something that's fun, and they bring their personalities to it, and that's what makes it good."
The story of "Parker's Anchor" is one that Schwartzman says "weighed heavily" on her husband and herself as writers.
"It's about starting over," she says, explaining that for her grandparents' generation, "working at the same place for 35 years, getting a watch and retiring" was the norm. For her parents, changing that paradigm was challenging and often embarrassing. And now, for her generation, redirecting life every 10 years "is joyful. It's good change."
The film, she says, is "about a woman entering her second chapter. She discovers she is infertile, and her husband leaves her. And she moves back to Fayetteville, Ark., and is sleeping on her friend's couch."
"While building her life back up again and giving herself a second chance, she meets an international humanitarian who helps her re-define motherhood and begin the real adventure," Ryan Schwartzman says about the movie.
"There is no such thing as Plan B or C or D," adds Jessica Schwartzman. "This is the journey you're supposed to be on. Things change, and it's hard and it hurts. But it's good. It's all good."
The Schwartzmans hope to bring "Parker's Anchor" back to Northwest Arkansas for film festivals in 2017.
NAN What's Up on 11/18/2016