Month: May 2015

By Carrie Moore, Custer County Chronicle
Wednesday, July 9, 2014

It’s not uncommon for people to wonder what their ancestors’ lives were like and what they did on a day-to-day basis. For Molly Cameron, that curiosity has been answered, thanks to her new movie, “Lakota Girls.”“Lakota Girls” is a full-length feature film written by Cameron and produced and directed by her and her husband, Russell. The film is about an 8-year-old girl from Pine Ridge, played by a 10-year-old Native American actress from Rapid City, and her connection with a white girl her own age.
“The Native American girl’s parents are in an accident, so her grandmother takes her to her friend’s house, a horse lady (played by Custer resident Ilona McDill), so she can visit her parents in the hospital,” Cameron said. “The girl is (apprehensive) since she believes white people are mean.”
While at the horse lady’s home, she introduces the young girl to her granddaughter, played by Cameron’s daughter, Clara. Once they get to know each other, she finds out that Clara is also Native American, introducing a 100-year flashback, featuring Cameron’s great-grandmother.While the flashback is just a few segments of the movie, it is a key part of the film, said Cameron.
“I really liked the story of my great-grandmother coming out here to South Dakota with her three sisters,” she said. “They got teaching degrees at the University of Indiana. There weren’t many teaching opportunities there, so they came to South Dakota.”
During the flashback scenes, Emylon (Cameron’s grandmother) comes to Rapid City from Indiana, where she teaches at a white school. She soon meets a handsome Native American man at the Sioux trading post and they become engaged and marry at Sylvan Lake.The scene filmed on Friday, June 27, at the Bank Coffee House in Custer was of Emylon talking to her older sister, Velma, about the man she met.“It’s crazy to see this story come to life,” Cameron said. “I had (this memory) in my mind, so it was very emotional to see it come to life.”Cameron has seen photographs of her great-grandmother in South Dakota, riding her horse to school with a shotgun on her arm for rattlesnakes. In her research, Cameron found her great-grandmother’s name in a census book. She also found her teaching contract from 1910.
“I found it fascinating, first of all, that their father sent them to college and second, they were brave enough to come out here and teach,” she said. “I’ve researched for about eight to 10 years, so it’s been interesting to understand what it might have been like for my great-grandmother to come out here.”
Another aspect of the film Cameron wanted to touch on was the portrayal of Native Americans.“I thought Native Americans are portrayed negatively in the movies and media. I wanted to show them as people, not poor Native Americans,” she said. “I thought it may be nicer to do that through little girls.”Cameron said she believes her daughter, Clara, 8, feels the spirits, which was where the idea for the story started.“She loves the things they believe, so that’s where I started,” she said. “This story addresses many issues. It gives a message that we are all the same with our differences and it doesn’t really matter.”
Cameron held an open casting call for Native American actors ages 3-60 in April. She cast 16 for the film. She also hired actresses from Indiana to portray her ancestors.“I wanted Native Americans to play Native Americans and Indiana girls playing Indiana girls,” she said.Playing Cameron’s great-grandmother is Alexa Raye, while Jessica Froelich portrays her sister. Both are from Indiana and have experience in films.“The guy who plays my great-grandmother’s fiancé, Sam Shoulder, is from Rapid City and he is amazing,” Cameron added. “I had tears in my eyes at the wedding scene. The chemistry between them is really amazing.”
The majority of the film was shot in South Dakota with some in Indiana. In South Dakota, filming took place at the Bank Coffee House in Custer, Sylvan Lake, Glen Erin School and other places in Custer State Park, Prairie Edge in Rapid City and other locations in Rapid City and the 1880 Train in Hill City. They also filmed at a Victorian house in Rapid City and had a 1923 touring car they borrowed from a gentleman in Spearfish.
The shoot will wrap in August, with months of editing afterwards.
“When it’s done we will submit it to film festivals and try to sell the film,” Cameron said. “Indie films like this do pretty well internationally. We were in Italy and Greece and told them about working on the film and they were all familiar with the Lakota.”
Jim Ankeny from Minneapolis helped with filming flashback scenes. Ankeny, a 1979 Custer High School graduate, owns Blue Earth Pictures and has over 30 years experience creating films.
“He has been so much help and a wealth of knowledge,” Cameron said. “He  is basically teaching us how to film well. We’re amazed by the footage we have so far.”Wendee Pettis, owner of Baby Doe Films in Hot Springs, helped with makeup and hair, as well as helping set scenes.Cameron can’t wait to share her story.
“It’s been fun to see and hear people’s reactions to the movie,” Cameron said. “I’m just really happy to be doing this and can’t wait to show Lakota Girls to the world.”

For a woman who had never given a passing thought to being in a movie, the wait Sunday to audition was both nerve-wracking and thrilling.”I’m actually kind of giddy,” Wynona Traversie, 63, of Rapid City said. “My armpits are sweaty, and I never sweat.”
She and nearly 50 other aspiring actors stopped by for a Sunday afternoon casting call at the downtown Rapid City library. Upon their arrival, the aspiring actors filled out a short form and then had to memorize one passage of their choice from movies like “Legends of the Fall” for their brief on-camera audition.
First-time filmmaker Mollianne Cameron was directing the show on Sunday. Her production company, Chocolate Eyes Productions, is here to find actors for a film about two girls roughly between 8 and 10-years-old — one white, one native — who form a lasting friendship after an unforeseen tragedy brings them together.
The auditions continue Monday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Hoyt conference room. Cameron is hoping to cast Native American actors to play a grandmother, three fathers, two mothers, a teenaged son, a daughter between 8 and 10 years old and two children at least three years old.
Traversie said she was grateful for the chance to be part of a project showing Native American culture in a more positive light. “I really hope the film is a success,” she said. “The more we get away from the stereotypical Native characters, it’s better for them to see. We don’t all live in poverty.”Cameron and her husband live most of the year with their children near Indianapolis, but they also own a horse ranch seven miles west of Custer and close to where he grew up. They will begin filming there in late June.
She said the beauty of the Black Hills provides a perfect backdrop for their story. “It’s a way different life out here,” Cameron said. “It’s a place everyone should see.”The location, she said, will allow them to set the production’s pace without feeling rushed. “It really fits the story the way she wants to tell it,” said her husband, Russell Cameron.He said she wanted to make the film from a child’s perspective to avoid stereotypes that have plagued other films about Native Americans.”We won’t have substance-abuse issues and a lot of swear words. It’s going to be a family friendly film,” he said.Their plan is to produce the film first, then show it at festivals while they hope to find a distributor. They have managed to secure funding from a number of sources and are spending some of their own money on the project.
The undertaking is a big risk.  Russell Cameron said production costs alone might range from $50,000 to $100,000 but with technology driving down some of the costs of film-making, his wife said the time was right to pursue a passion she had since she used to visit a theater blocks away from her home as a child.
She is just as excited as some of the prospective actors and said they will iron out the details with actors of lesser experience if they have to once filming begins. “It’s really about how they come across on camera,” she said.
Contact Meredith Colias as 394-8417 or meredith.colias@rapidcityjournal.com

April 07, 2014 6:30 am • Meredith Colias Journal Staff

Production company looking for Native American actors

For a woman who had never given a passing thought to being in a movie, the wait Sunday to audition was both nerve-wracking and thrilling.

“I’m actually kind of giddy,” Wynona Traversie, 63, of Rapid City said. “My armpits are sweaty, and I never sweat.”

She and nearly 50 other aspiring actors stopped by for a Sunday afternoon casting call at the downtown Rapid City library. Upon their arrival, the aspiring actors filled out a short form and then had to memorize one passage of their choice from movies like “Legends of the Fall” for their brief on-camera audition.

First-time filmmaker Mollianne Cameron was directing the show on Sunday. Her production company, Chocolate Eyes Productions, is here to find actors for a film about two girls roughly between 8 and 10-years-old — one white, one native — who form a lasting friendship after an unforeseen tragedy brings them together.

The auditions continue Monday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Hoyt conference room. Cameron is hoping to cast Native American actors to play a grandmother, three fathers, two mothers, a teenaged son, a daughter between 8 and 10 years old and two children at least three years old.

Traversie said she was grateful for the chance to be part of a project showing Native American culture in a more positive light. “I really hope the film is a success,” she said. “The more we get away from the stereotypical Native characters, it’s better for them to see. We don’t all live in poverty.”

Cameron and her husband live most of the year with their children near Indianapolis, but they also own a horse ranch seven miles west of Custer and close to where he grew up. They will begin filming there in late June.

She said the beauty of the Black Hills provides a perfect backdrop for their story. “It’s a way different life out here,” Cameron said. “It’s a place everyone should see.”

The location, she said, will allow them to set the production’s pace without feeling rushed. “It really fits the story the way she wants to tell it,” said her husband, Russell Cameron.

He said she wanted to make the film from a child’s perspective to avoid stereotypes that have plagued other films about Native Americans.

“We won’t have substance-abuse issues and a lot of swear words. It’s going to be a family friendly film,” he said.

Their plan is to produce the film first, then show it at festivals while they hope to find a distributor. They have managed to secure funding from a number of sources and are spending some of their own money on the project.

The undertaking is a big risk. Russell Cameron said production costs alone might range from $50,000 to $100,000 but with technology driving down some of the costs of film-making, his wife said the time was right to pursue a passion she had since she used to visit a theater blocks away from her home as a child.

She is just as excited as some of the prospective actors and said they will iron out the details with actors of lesser experience if they have to once filming begins. “It’s really about how they come across on camera,” she said.

Contact Meredith Colias as 394-8417 or meredith.colias@rapidcityjournal.com