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Movie Based on Kidnapping to Be Filmed: Movie is Based on Star's Father's Abduction

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By Adrienne Steinfeldt, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

Mar. 29--A Muhlenberg County native who headed off to Los Angeles to make his name as an actor is coming back home for his film-making debut.

Joel Ewing and a crew of six will be in Muhlenberg County next week, shooting a short film based on the at-gunpoint abduction of Ewing's father, Robert "Trooper" Ewing.

The dramatic story -- in which bullets fly, cars are chased and a local man takes a bold chance and wrestles a convicted murderer for his weapon -- was one Joel Ewing heard often growing up.

It took the 28-year-old three years to write the script, and he's personally financing the $5,000-budget short film. He will be the director and the star, playing his father.

Owensboro native James Christian Baber, 28, will be playing the convict.

Baber, 28, graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College in 2003 and has since moved to Los Angeles, where he's landed appearances in "Walk the Line" and on the TV show "Crumbs."

If the short film turns out really well, it may have a shot at becoming a full-length feature, Baber said.

"We hope we could turn it into something bigger," Baber said. "That's how a lot of films start."

Joel Ewing and his friends, all getting a start in the movie business, are also banking on true-to-life lines like, "Just shut up and drive, and fast," to give them some face time in front of the people that matter.

The film will be screened, if all goes well, at film festivals around the country.

"Hopefully, it will be a launch pad for all of us," Joel Ewing said.

After the incident, Robert Ewing was dubbed "Trooper," and the film will bear the same name. It will run about 15 minutes.

Local people will be called on for some of the roles.

Muhlenberg County Sheriff Jerry Mayhugh has already agreed to spend some of his off time on location.

"I told them I'd help in any way possible," Mayhugh said. "We'll try to make it happen for them, with open arms."

The crew also will look for a local restaurant at which to shoot a short scene to end the film.

Filming will require short-term closings of Cleaton Road, where the car chase will be shot. Muhlenberg Fiscal Court is already working to get the OK of businesses along that street and to set up an official agreement for use of the road.

Coming home to Muhlenberg County to shoot his first film as director is perfect, Joel Ewing said.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather do it," he said. "It's just such a great area for storytelling."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

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Source: Messenger-Inquirer

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