'Riders On The Storm' filmed in county

Recent storm showers beating down on Boundary County’s pitch-black highways made the ideal backdrop for Portland Film Company director, Jeff Scott Taylor, while he and his 10-man crew filmed the psychological thriller, Riders on the Storm.

The scene was set last week near mile marker 528, along US-95, about 10 miles from the Eastport-Kingsgate Border Crossing. US Border Patrol assisted with traffic for roadside safety, though traffic was light as filming was purposely conducted late at night to capture the mysterious ambience of the film’s setting.

The thriller depicts an emotionally distraught Jeffrey Lambert, played by actor, Jeffrey Arrington, who takes off on a road trip by himself due to marital issues. After traveling many, lonely miles, Lambert picks up hitchhiker, Aldous Lennon Balfour, played by actor, Brian Sutherland. Trouble ensues when the duo kidnap a sheriff, played by actor, Dennis Fitzpatrick.

The three strangers soon discover that their lives are connected on a deeper level, and a bigger mystery begins to unravel.

Taylor, director and co-writer, is from Portland, Ore. Taylor says the film was inspired from his own experiences of driving through Boundary County late at night on his way to visit family. His sister, Tina Fuller, hosted the film crew for a week.

“The train in Sandpoint arrives in the middle of the night so my sister will leave a car for me at the depot and then I’ll drive up here,” Taylor explained. “Your imagination can really run wild. That’s the inspiration—the back roads of Idaho on a rainy night. The wonderful thing about filming out here in Idaho is that it gets pitch-black at night, except when there is a moon,” he said, “and the rain is part of the feel. We get lucky when it rains big.”

Riders on the Storm will be Taylor’s sixth feature film production since 2007, including 11:58, Water, and a film-noir trilogy: South of Heaven, Little Sister and The Long Walk Home.

Portland Film Company writer, Donna Lambert, who co-wrote the feature films, Little Sister, The Long Walk Home and now, Riders on the Storm, said she and Taylor had the location and the actors, Arrington and Sutherland, in mind while writing the script.

“We chose Brian and Jeffrey because we’d worked with them before in Little Sister, and the two of them have a great on-screen chemistry,” Lambert said. “They play off their characters’ traits, and the results have been stellar.”

“Yes, these guys were cast as we were writing the script. We knew exactly who we wanted; it was written for them,” Taylor added.

Lambert said that, prior to filming, the actors spent months preparing and conducting research for their roles.

“The best part of writing is developing the characters,” Lambert explained. “When we write, we give a lot more back story in order to get into the psychology of the characters that they’re playing.” she said. “And, these guys have given a 150 percent effort; it’s been months of preparation.”

Arrington, who plays the distraught Jeffrey Lambert, said, “Its [Riders on the Storm] theme is a metaphor for a troubled person who is trying to escape from his life and issues, but then, a storm starts to brew, not only in the physical, but in his mind, as well.”

Because of his extensive background in theatre, Arrington said that he enjoyed the play-like script in certain parts of the film.

Taylor said that some scenes were filmed like a play, very long and intense, and lasted upwards of 25 minutes at a time. A single take would cover up to 25 pages of script, which is unusual. Typically, a single take will cover between 2-5 pages in film.

“We purposely kept this a small cast and crew of 10 people,” Taylor said. “This movie has been a special challenge. We’re doing a feature film in a very short amount of time. It’s achievable, but requires long hours.”

Arrington is a full-time, professional actor from Portland who has been focusing on films over the past five years. Riders on the Storm will be his eighth feature film in the past two years, including Little Sister, Unshattered, Finding Groovopolis, All Too Human and Dead West, which was filmed in Seattle and is expected to be released Spring 2017.

Sutherland, who has appeared on Syfy’s Z Nation and NBC’s Grimm, describes his character, Aldous Lennon Balfour, in a perfected southern drawl, “Aldous was my great, great granddaddy’s name, a southern gentleman, a decorated, Confederate general. Lennon, named after John Lennon from the Beatles, if you know who that is, and Balfour was mama’s maiden name.”

Sutherland, a Portland acting teacher, has worked in the film industry for 15 years and owns two acting businesses, Professional Training for The Youth Actor and Improv at the Ballroom. He says the script was written in a very poetic way, and that he has enjoyed playing out his role.

The Sheriff, played by Dennis Fitzpatrick, is a classic character who wears a cowboy hat, has an old dog and carries a classic, 1911 pistol.

A version of Riders on the Storm, the hit song by The Doors from their 1971 album, L.A. Woman, will be featured in the movie.

“We’re hoping to have a variation on the song, or an experimental version,” Taylor said.

Taylor said that fifty percent of the production is simulated and the other half is filmed on Boundary County’s highways, with some parts being played out in local establishments, such as the Wild Horse Mercantile and Saloon, owned by Ray and Beth Holmes. Ray Holmes plays a dead man in the opening scene.

Local pilot, Johannes Snyder, also assisted with the film’s establishing shots by flying the camera crew over the northern region of the county.

J. Stanford Anderson, cinematographer and co-producer for Portland Film Company, said all of their productions are either crime dramas or psychological thrillers.

“Cynicism and moral ambiguity; it’s the visual style that all of the films have in common,” Anderson said.

Taylor said film production is slated to be complete in six months, with its release date set for March 2017.

Trailers can be found on film fan pages: facebook.com/southofheavenmovie, facebook.com/LittleSisterfilm, facebook.com/thelongwalkhomefilm, facebook.com/rotsfilm, or facebook.com/PortlandFilmCompany.