A Green Beginning:
The seed for Between the Creag and the Sky was planted over 10 years ago in a Green Theatre Class at Missouri State University. A performance student named Jessica Morgan, when given the assignment to write a character-driven one act play with ecological undercurrents, wrote a work titled The Space Between the Sand and the Sea. In the play, a father takes his adolescent daughter to a coastal overlook to spot whales, only to be confronted by the discovery that ecological changes may have forever denied her the opportunity.
The Screenplay:
In 2019, "Sea" was adapted into the short screenplay, Between the Creag and the Sky. The adaptation retains vital environmental themes by capturing a liminal moment between a father (Ed Swidey) and his estranged daughter (Kathryn Harter) whom he has led into the wilderness as an attempt to re-build a connection. The cliff-side environment around them is ever-present as a third character, as the father and daughter struggle desperately to re-connect.
Production:
In 2020, with the support of Missouri State University and independent producers, a team of 20 committed to bring the story to cinematic life. Creag was shot over a compact two-day period in the wilderness of Northern Arkansas, perched on the edge of a creag (mountain cliff) in the midst of an ice storm. Bringing the emotionally delicate script to life required a diverse team of practitioners including film professionals and faculty from MSU, as well as university students. Armed with ropes, harnesses, a multi-cam set-up, and a cast of two, the team made quick but articulated work. What had begun more than a decade earlier in a dusty theatre found new life in the sweeping wilderness of the Ozark mountains, and ultimately, in the imaginations of cinema viewers.
A Green Goal:
Creag wasn’t developed to bring notice to the team players involved, nor to be a stepping-stone for careers toward larger budget projects. A true passion project, it’s driven by the goals of sustaining the natural world around us and demonstrating that cinematic art is a vital tool in shaping our socio-ecological outlook. As part of its aim, audiences don’t watch Creag and immediately think “this is an eco-film.” It presents its themes more subtly, notably by exploring a moment of crisis in a parent-child relationship and providing the possibility for a positive narrative outcome in relation to the natural beauty surrounding them.
Screenplay and Direction by
Kurt Gerard Heinlein
Adapted from
Jessica Morgan's The Space Between the Sand and the Sea
Produced by
Kirchner Films
with support from Missouri State University College of Arts and Letters
and Missouri State University Department of Theatre & Dance
Cast
Kathryn Harter
Ed Swidey
Director of Photography
Josh Pfaff
Editor
Andrew Twibell
Audio Design
Bobby Lewis
Associate Producers
Courtney Heinlein
Austin Herring
Brent Sexton
Developmental Producers
Richard and Lucie Amberg
Music by
Tyler Durham
First AD
Jackie Crawford
Script Supervisor/Art Dept.
Natalie Laturno
1st Camera Operator
Chris Olson
1st Assistant Camera
Logan Triplett
2nd Camera Operator
Andrew Trice
Boom
Cooper Kelley
Electric/Grip
Carter E. Williams
Makeup and Wardrobe
Emma Keifer
Production Managers
Amalea Cox
Dung Troung
Safety
Hitman Stunts
Coloring
Logan Triplett
PA’s
Emily Trent
Dung Troung
Special Thanks:
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
Cecil the Tree Cutter
Lucie and Rich Amberg
Lisa Brescia
Edward and Robin Brown
Michele and Tim Campbell
Craig Carnelia
Leighton Heinlein
Sutton Heinlein
Levi Horrell
Maggie Marlin-Hess
Sean McEwen
Cathy McFall
Jeff Nicholson
Caleb Norman
Joe Price
Running Dog
Shawn Wahl
Robert Westenberg
Location:
Filmed at the McElroy Game Management Area
Madison County, Arkansas
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