Desert Wind Films

Brothers Keeper is Making Waves in the Media

Desert Wind Films — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:56:44 +0000

The Brothers Keeper Movement has begun! …of course you have known that for a while now, haven’t you? Well, now the news media is catching on also. As it turns out our montage (the above video) is causing some serious excitement! The Fishers of Men Montage (the original name of the movie) was created to generate some buzz before we released the trailer…and we have DEFINITELY succeeded in that, in large part to all of your efforts!

I wanted to thank you for all of your support in helping us share the Fishers of Men Montage with so many people in such a short period of time! Due to our collective efforts, FaceBook, Twitter, and the word of mouth buzz has really lit a flame behind our movement!

See for yourself the kind of impact that you are making in the news media by watching the below video and check out their story about you and I!

News Write Up from WTXL TV:
A quiet Sunday afternoon in Bainbridge is a stark difference compared to just a few months ago when film crews transformed the small South Georgia town into a Hollywood film set.

Film crews from Desert Wind Films Production spent several weeks late last year filming…Continue Reading

Rhonda Vincent Fishers of Men Theme Song

Desert Wind Films — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:42:35 +0000

Brothers Keeper, formerly known as Fishers of Men, is the first featured film of Desert Wind Films. In the planning process of Fishers of Men we stumbled upon a song written by Rhonda Vincent.

Rhonda Vincent, best known for her hit single Fishers of Men, is a blue grass star from Kirksville, Montana. She got her start early in the music business when as a child she appeared on the TNN series You Can Be a Star. Shortly thereafter Rhonda Vincent went touring with Jim Ed Brown’s band and Alison Krauss temporarily replaced Rhonda in the Vincent family’s band.)

Rhonda Vincent Music Awards

In 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 Rhonda Vincent was awarded the female vocalist award by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Vincent also in 2001 received the IBMA’s entertainer of the year award.

But, what we at Fishers of Men enjoy most about Rhonda’s music is her song, “Fishers of Men,” that you can hear in the video above. As you are listening to Vincent sing this amazing song feel free to read the lyrics below:

Lyrics to Rhonda Vincent Fishers of Men

Rise and follow me
I’ll make you worthy
Rise and follow me
I’ll make you fishers of men.

Peter, John, and James
Could never be the same
After they heard him say
I’ll make you fishers of men.

He said, Rise and follow me
I’ll make you worthy
Rise and follow me
I’ll make you fishers of men.
He said, Rise and follow me
I’ll make you worthy
Rise and follow me
I’ll make you fishers of men.

Cast your nets aside
and join the battle tide
He will be your guide
To make you fishers of men.

Jesus bore the cross
To gather in the lost
Oh what a might cost
To set us free from sin.

Click to learn more about Rhonda Vincent.

Film Making Aggies

Desert Wind Films — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:19:30 +0000

“Aggie” and “filmmaker” are two words that are rarely seen combined within the same breath. At a college where engineering and business reign supreme, it’s no surprise that A&M’s contributions to the film canon have been minimal at best, a glaring oversight former students Joshua Mills and Carlos Gancedo, both class of 1998, have set out to change. Graduating from Texas A&M during a time when a film minor was not even available, Mills and Gancedo are now poised to release their first feature length film, Fishers of Men, through Mills’ production company, Desert Wind Films”It’s been a great journey,” said Mills, who served as writer, producer and co-director of the film. “This is what I have always wanted to do.”

During his time at A&M, Mills was member of Phi Delta Theta and played club soccer. He graduated from A&M with a major in journalism and minor in theater arts. After graduation, Mills began organizing acting workshops in the Los Angeles area, which is how he met Gancedo, who attended one of his sessions.

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Desert Wind Film’s CFO Steven Camp Interviewed By ABC (27) During Shooting Of Brothers Keeper

Desert Wind Films — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:45:27 +0000

Desert Wind Films CFO Steven Camp is interviewed by ABC 27 in Georgia during the filming of Brother’s Keeper.

Brothers Keeper Hits Bainbridge Georgia

Desert Wind Films — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:57:43 +0000

Portions of Downtown Bainbridge were transformed to look like how they might have in the 1950s, as Desert Wind Films began shooting “Fishers of Men” (the former name of the feature film, Brothers Keeper) the week of Sept. 13.

The movie was shot in about 25 days and will feature a ﬁctional town called Bainbridge as its setting. Vintage cars were angle-parked along the south and east sides of the square, and those blocks were closed to through trafﬁc for two days. Store fronts were changed to replicate the look of the era. LTL Flowers and Gifts became the Newsstand, where bold headlines on special newspapers summarized the events of the movie’s court trial.

Steven Camp, executive producer and chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer for Desert Wind, told how and why Bainbridge was chosen as the site. The ﬁlm company initially chose a Georgia location because of the tax breaks given to ﬁlm producers. Their original intent was to ﬁlm the movie in Fayetteville at Riverwood Studios, but the plot incorporated a scene where two boys come down to Bainbridge to ﬁsh in the Flint River.

When Desert Wind contacted the Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce, they spoke with Development Authority Executive Director Rick McCaskill, who had served on the Florida Film Commission when in worked for the Quincy, Fla., Chamber of Commerce.

McCaskill convinced the group to come take a look at Bainbridge after he heard about the theme and era of the movie. Camp credits McCaskill with recognizing that the Bainbridge square, Courthouse and surroundings, in addition to the Flint, ﬁt the bill perfectly for ﬁlming. Not just the ﬁshing scene, but for the entire ﬁlm—or at least 95 percent of it.

After spending three days in Bainbridge, the Desert Wind scouting team agreed with McCaskill, who was assisted in ﬁnding locations for the movie by Adrienne Harrison, director of the Bainbridge-Decatur County Convention and Visitors Bureau “We immediately fell in love,” said Camp. “We met some great people, and realized God had led us to Bainbridge for a reason.”

During ﬁlming, the 68-person crew and 41 cast members are in Bainbridge, staying at local hotels and eating at local restaurants. Camp said Desert Wind ofﬁcials are already discussing the possibility of ﬁlming future faith-based movies in Bainbridge.

The former West Bainbridge Middle School on Dothan Road was the main shooting location that will appear as the ﬁctional Bainbridge High School in the movie. Inside the school, stars of the movie and a few lucky local youth and adults ﬁlmed in a classroom and a hallway. About 40 to 50 students from Bainbridge High School, Grace Christian Academy and Southwest Georgia Academy waited in the school’s old auditorium for their chance to be background extras in the movie. All of the students, particularly the girls, had hairstyles and clothing from the 1950s. Several adults were also on hand to play teacher extras.

Later, scenes were ﬁlmed outside the old brick school with several classic cars provided by local collectors placed in the background of some shots.

The main brick building at West Bainbridge Middle School where ﬁlming occurred was built in 1925. Most of the other buildings at the school, which closed in spring 2009, were built in the 1950s and early 1960s. It was also formerly West Bainbridge High School before several smaller high schools consolidated into Bainbridge High School in 1966.

A prom scene featuring the ﬁlm’s stars, several dozen local teenagers in 1950s semi-formal wear and the country/rock band BadHorse was ﬁlmed at the old Climax School. BadHorse, a Newnan, Ga., band that includes Bainbridge’s Bobby Walden Jr., pre-recorded songs by Buddy Holly, Little Richard and other popular 1950s artists for use on the ﬁlm’s soundtrack.

While the prom scene enjoyed the participation of dozens of extras, it’s a couple of other scenes the ﬁlm’s stars, including Mackenzie Mauzy as “Maggie Maloye” and Daniel Samonas as “Gordon Leemaster,” shot at the old Climax School that will have the ﬁlm’s audience talking afterwards. Those scenes were shot on a closed set in the school’s hallways and contain some of the movie’s most dramatic moments.

The Climax School, which was an elementary school and high school at different times, is now the site of a HeadStart program for preschoolers. It’s located off Lee Street in the western portion of the town.

About midway through ﬁlming, and again near the end of ﬁlming, Desert Wind Films crew moved to the old Grady County Jail, just north of Cairo, Ga., off Georgia 93.

Alex Miller, who plays “Pete,” one of the twin brothers the movie’s story is focused on, was joined by country music star Travis Tritt for scenes shot inside the jail. The cinder-block and steel jail, which is no longer in use, portrays a 1950s-era state penitentiary.

At its core, “Fishers of Men” deals with a tragic turn of events that affects the lives of the twin Goodwyn brothers, Andy and Pete, according to Camp. Pete, the more virtuous of the two, is put on trial for a crime he didn’t commit. His life, already dampened by the tragic loss of a friend, is threatened to be destroyed by others’ deception. The trial absorbs the citizens of Bainbridge and its aftermath leads to Andy sacriﬁcing himself so that Peter can go free and serve as a minister.

Ultimately sentenced to await the death sentence in prison, a desperate Pete begins to lose faith, knowing he is innocent. Tritt’s character “Eddie Waters” counsels and comforts him, urging him to continue being a Christian witness for others without faith, Camp said.

One brother’s personal sacriﬁce for his brother as he faces a bleak outcome contains allusions to the life of Jesus Christ, and is one of the movie’s most pervasive themes, Camp said. A shocking twist near the ﬁlm’s end takes place during scenes ﬁlmed at the Board of Education building downtown. One of the building’s rooms portrays an electric chair chamber and gallery in the movie.

An inspirational scene set at a seminary college chapel were ﬁlmed at First Baptist Church. Although First Baptist has one of the largest sanctuaries in Bainbridge, its old-fashioned wooden pews and stained glass windows lended itself well to the movie’s era. Movie magic was used to make a small portion of the sanctuary seem like a much smaller chapel.

Later on, scenes were shot at First Presbyterian Church on Broad Street. A powerfully emotional scene in which Pete delivers a sermon just three days after his brother, Andy, dies, featured more than 100 extras in the congregation, Camp said.

Scenes were also ﬁlmed at two of the city’s landmarks, Willis Park and the Decatur County Courthouse. A short scene was ﬁlmed in the Courthouse Annex, and a couple more were ﬁlmed in the ofﬁce of local attorney Ryan Cleveland across the street. At the direction of the ﬁlm’s production staff, Cleveland’s personal ofﬁce was transformed to look like that of a 1950s attorney.

A short scene was ﬁlmed in the Willis Park gazebo, where Herbert Leemaster— played by veteran Hollywood actor Ray Wise—made an important announcement to the local press in ﬁctional 1950s Bainbridge.

In addition to scenes set outside the courthouse, several scenes took place inside the main courtroom of the historic Decatur County Courthouse. The main building of the courthouse dates to 1902 and underwent extensive restoration in the 1990s. The sunlight shining through the courtroom windows onto the polished wood furniture made for an exquisite set suitable for the highly dramatic scenes being ﬁlmed.

Some of the historic residences where scenes were shot included the O’Neal- Cooper house on Shotwell Street and the Paul Trulock residence in Climax. Other locations included an upstairs apartment at a historic Broughton Street residence.

Most of the ﬁlm’s stars ﬁlmed scenes at Oak City Cemetery focusing on the dramatic funeral of one of the movie’s main characters. A riveting scene that accompanies the funeral happens between Wise and Michael Rooker, who plays the ﬁctional police chief of Bainbridge, as the two men’s characters observe the funeral from the cemetery’s outskirts. Professional Texas actress Noell Coet,
who plays “Ginny Wonders,” one of the ﬁlm’s most interesting supporting roles, also has a powerful change of heart on the banks of the Flint River, in a scene that comes after her testimony in Pete’s trial.

With ﬁlming slated to end around Oct. 15, the movie shoot brings to fruition comments frequently heard said by tourists and visitors to our fair city: “This downtown looks like something out of a movie.”