'Stanton' movie to tell rural Nebraska story
STANTON -- Tobiah Powell has visited Stanton almost annually since he was a child. Now an adult living in California, he's returned to make a movie in the northeast Nebraska town.
Stanton is a feature film drama about a lonely widow who lives on a farm.
"[The protagonist] kind of pushed away his family for decades. Throughout the course of the film, he will start to meet his family again, reconnect with them, and rekindle those relationships," Powell, Stanton's director, said.
The drama should be about an hour and fifteen minutes long.
Powell described the area of Stanton as a "second home" flourishing with "amazing scenery." He continued, "It's just the perfect location," especially because of his access to it.
Besides the family farm, Powell also has connections in Norfolk. One of those in his network is Adam Peterson, a theatre instructor at Northeast Community College. Peterson will be a co-producer, co-assistant, and actor in Stanton. Another one of the acting stars will be well-known rapper Wande, who's making her debut through Stanton.
This film will be a larger-scale project than Powell's previous movies -- with a budget of $10,000.
On the flip side, another trait that makes this project unique -- but presents a challenge -- is the community reaction.
"It's not even a huge thing but, just coming to a small town a lot of people are a little skeptical at first, they're like -- you know -- 'This guy's making a movie? I don't believe him,' and I totally understand that. I would be the exact same way," Powell laughed. "But everyone's been incredibly helpful."
Filming at the farm will start this weekend.
"It's going to be pretty chill on the first day," Powell said, as they prepare for a long journey ahead. While filming should wrap up as early as June, editing can take more than a year to complete. After that, Powell is hoping someone will pick Stanton up to make it available for digital streaming or accessible on DVD. You can stay tuned to see if Stanton comes out through Powell's Facebook or IMDB page.
When Stanton finishes up, Powell already knows what he wants to do next: "I'm thinking of writing a sequel to my first film, Fettered, in Albuquerque," Powell said.
Stanton is still accepting donations to add to the film's budget.
"Movies have always been ingrained in my life," Powell explained. This is just the latest step in his lifelong passion.
As a kid, Powell made short films with his brothers. Then, he cultivated the career in high school theatre. While he started out in the industry as an actor, "I found that I enjoyed directing more through my last film [Fettered]," he said.
You can expect to watch Powell will appear in a small role in Stanton, but he will be most focused on directing the film, he said.