7 minute read
Hollywood Comes to Idaho
Robin Wright stars as “Edee” in her feature directorial debut LAND, a Focus Features release. Credit : Daniel Power / Focus Features
-Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces
BY KAREN DAY
The distance from Idaho to Hollywood is about 900 air miles, but the journey is always an introduction into juxtaposed worlds, especially for the movie-makers who abandon corner offices above Sunset Boulevard for highmountain homes and fresh air. Iconic actors like Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks can glide back and forth from Sun Valley or the moon if they choose, accommodated by fame and talent. But those who produce, feature their films from afar–those invaluable invisibles who guard the heart, guts and budget must work harder to be heard, seen and compete. Ironically, pandemic Zoom meetings and iPhones have confirmed what Idaho producers knew all along: that art is art, wherever you create it and entertainment springs from anywhere. But even as TikTok grabs millions and theaters remain dark, box-office numbers still rule the film industry. Streaming platforms are commandeering distribution and festivals like Sundance and Telluride continue to demand the mandatory climb to credibility and prestige. But despite their distance from LA and maybe, because of it–Allyn Stewart, the producer of Robin Wright’s first directorial debut, LAND and Kasey Mott, the producer of MASS, Fran Kranz’s human crucible of reconciliation after a school shooting– have forged unique paths from Idaho to Hollywood success.
Photo courtesy of SVFF
On the day of this interview, Stewart had just finished a virtual presentation on the power of story. “I believe in challenging myself,” she says. “I’d never spoken directly into a camera before, like a newscaster.” Steward shakes her head. “Not easy, but now I know I can do it.”
Stewart relates all this while firing up the grill for a homemade lunch, building a roaring fire in an outdoor pit and lauding the benefits of snowblowing 51 inches of fresh snow off her deck. Added to Stewart’s IMDb page, it seems entirely possible this lithe, 64-year-old blonde could moonlight as a lion tamer.
“When I first bought a place here 16 years ago, I was a studio executive,” said Stewart. “I was a single mother with a small son, commuting back and forth, making movies, and just trying to keep my sanity. Finally, a great friend of mine, a very successful producer, said to me, ‘You know, Allyn, I made a mistake. I tried to do it all and it’s not time you can get back. You can’t get this time with your child back.’ So, I made the decision at the height of my career–I moved up here and became a full-time hockey mom.”
Making the move to Sun Valley, which most Californians considered wilderness twenty years ago, (imagine!) proved the easy part. Stewart began her career as a trailblazing female executive producer at the age of 21. Fast forward to full-time mom in her forties and five years of navigating whiteouts to Jackson Hole hockey tournaments: Stewart realized who she was. Really. Truly. Deeply. “I’m a mountain girl, and a mom, but I missed telling stories. It’s who I am and I love it.”
Producer Allyn Stewart at her home in Sun Valley
As Stewart speaks, a female elk descends the hill into her yard. “There’s a herd of about 16,” she says, smiling. “They’re my resident gardeners.” The elk stops in an Aspen grove. Above, the sky is bluebird blue and the wind is still. Calm descends, as if the animal and Stewart are old friends, enjoying the view together. The verisimilitude of this scene would not be believed by most in Hollywood unless it was in a movie, which explains why Stewart went back– without leaving. Instead, she began Flashlight Films with independent financing and confidence in her own ability to develop great scripts, melded by living in Idaho.
“When I started in the business, the studios had cornered the markets because it’s an expensive business. The equipment, editing, sets, production, distribution–but all that has changed and continues to evolve so fast. For example, we just made this spectacular film with Robin in 29 days, in four seasons, for only seven million dollars.” She nods, proudly. “That’s less than the visual effects budget for SULLY.”
Stewart knows this fact since she not only spent 29 days with Robin Wright in Alberta’s wilderness, filming LAND, but also produced the 2016, Eastwood-directed blockbuster about the heroic airline captain, starring Tom Hanks. Both male superstars frequent nearby homes and there’s no coincidence such a powerhouse consortium formed in the slice of beauty called the Wood River Valley. “There’s magic here,” says Stewart. “I mean Alberta is stunning. So wild we had to have a ‘bear guy’ on set at all times, but Idaho is the best of both worlds. Robin came up here and loved it.”
“And Clint, he’s the real deal. A cowboy. He will stand up for the truth, no matter the consequences. And no frills. I’m frugal, but he’s more frugal. Filming SULLY, a tropical storm came into Hudson river while we were shooting ferry boats bringing people off the plane. The dock was pitching, the boats bobbing and I suggested we stop. Clint said, ‘Nope. I’m not going to waste $130,000 to shut down.’ And he was right. You can’t fake authenticity.”
Stewart doubled down on authenticity while filming LAND. “I guess Clint taught me to keep going. There were brutal days, shooting at 8,000 feet, snow so deep we had to melt it to move. Robin has the stamina of ten women, she was going to do whatever she needed to do. We stayed on budget. We didn’t shut down until wind chill hit 70 below. I could not have made this movie with someone who didn’t have that pioneering spirit.”
Pioneering, trailblazing, resilient, resourceful–the adjectives that best describe Allyn Stewart’s character and film career are synonymous to many who call Idaho home. Famous or not.
“There’s a certain type of person that’s drawn here.” says Stewart. “No airs. Famous or not. Low key. Like Kasey Mott, the local producer of MASS, he used to work for me."
Like his former boss, Kasey Wilder Mott helped produce a high-tension human drama that premiered virtually at Sundance 2021. Unlike LAND, filming took place in Hailey, at one location, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, assisted by a local crew. Large-scale film production is rare in Idaho because the state does not offer lucrative tax incentives to production companies seeking wild, open spaces. Canada, Montana and Utah attract those Hollywood dollars. But for a smaller-scale production like MASS, Idaho offered the low-cost simplicity and local talent required to meet budget on a 14-day shoot.
Dylan Matlock, another producer on MASS explained, “When we were looking for a location, Fran visited and loved the look and feel of the town. We loved shooting there because of how wonderful everyone in the town was. From the representatives at the church, like Mother Lea Covill, to all the small businesses in the area, everyone was so warm and welcoming. It felt like going to camp and the cast and crew got to focus on movie-making.”
Intense moving-making it was. Starring Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton, Fran Kranz’s screenwriting and directorial debut brings together four parents who have lost their sons in a school shooting. How do the parents of the shooter and the parents of the victims reconcile their complicated emotional tragedy when face to face?
Photo courtesy of MASS
Sundance film festivals said, “MASS is a thoughtful, beautifully executed ode to humanity-in all its flawed and messy glory.”
Jessica Winfree, a Boise-based assistant director worked on the production. “I have a degree in filmmaking, but there’s very little work for a first AD beyond small, independent films here in Idaho. MASS brought together huge talent, a great script and offered me the chance to work at my highest capacity. I feel lucky to have contributed to such an amazing film.”
Allyn Stewart agrees. “MASS is simply brilliant–four people sitting at a table, and I was mesmerized. It’s proof that the best storytelling comes from the depth of humanity, and if you stay true to your story, you fight for your vision and what you feel, you will touch somebody else’s humanity. That’s what makes a great movie.”
Authenticity, indeed.
