by Jesse Mullins
BIG SPRING, TEXAS—Members of the cast and crew of The Iron Orchard descended upon Big Spring, Texas, in late February as part of their publicity tour for the theatrical release of their new film. On the evening of the 21st, they were in attendance at the city’s Cinemark multiplex for a screening of the film to a packed house of Big Spring friends and supporters.
The screening was followed by a question-and-answer session, as leading man Lane Garrison and other important figures from the film went up front after the closing credits.
The Texas ties that the cast and crew had were soon much in evidence.
Producer Camille Chambers (also publicist for the film) said that the film’s creators wanted their opening to be in Texas despite offers they had had from New York and Los Angeles.
“We got together and discussed it and we felt that if we opened in [one of those cities] then they’ll end up just throwing it on video-on-demand or whatever [soon after the premiere] and we decided they were not going to do it justice, and they’re not going to do it they way we know we can do it,” Chambers said. “We’re home [here] and we’re excited about it.”
Besides being filmed extensively in Big Spring, The Iron Orchard also was filmed in and near Gail, Texas, as well as near Snyder, in Midland, near Colorado City, in Forsan, near Coahoma, and in Austin.
Garrett, who played the role of protagonist Jim McNeely, said that they were hoping that Texas fans of the film would give an impetus to it, in a word-of-mouth fashion. The film had the financial backing of numerous oil and gas interests from the Permian Basin.
The Iron Orchard has won a handful of awards and Chambers remarked that “We just got an email yesterday and we are going to be screening with the Salento International Film Festival in Hong Kong.”
Chambers introduced Nolan Osmanski to the attendees. Osmanski played the part of Buster Drum, a heavy, essentially a thug, in the film. She said, “When he walked in, the first thing we said was, ‘Here’s the guy.’”
She asked Osmanski to give his version of things.
“They were [looking for] a kind of big, nasty guy to bully the main character,” Osmanski said. “And I got a message over Facebook saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to be stationed here in Big Spring, we’re going to be shooting a movie, why don’t you call back and say if you’re interested.’ And I said, Oh, that’s bait. That’s not real.” [laughter]
“Then I did a little research and decided it was a legit deal,” he said. “So I called them back and pretty much got the deal that way. Later I asked, ‘How did y’all even find me?’ So Ty [Roberts, the director] goes, oh, I’ve got a buddy that played football at U.T., he played on the offensive line. All American, all that stuff.’”
Roberts told Osmanski said that his lineman friend told him [Roberts] that “big ol’ offensive linemen usually get these kinds of parts.” That led Roberts to do a search for linemen in West Texas.
“And so the next thing you know, they’re doing some research from Big Spring, and, ‘Oh, Angelo State. That’s pretty close to Big Spring.’ And they go down the list of O-Linemen, and, ‘Yeah—let’s pick that guy.” [laughter] “So instead of going through my head coach [to reach Osmanski], they go through Facebook. That oughta be easier, right? Just made it harder on me to figure out if it was the real thing. Then I met Lane and it was an awesome experience.”
Chambers said that the Big Spring Heritage Museum, and the Petroleum Museum in Midland, opened their doors to the filmmakers. “As you all did,” she said. “The props… we couldn’t believe it. And they worked as technical advisors, and technical consultants, and it was phenomenal. They recreated Jim Dent’s office in the opening scene. But the props and the research, and they helped with historical books, and just literally opened their vault and said ‘Take what you need.’ And our team from L.A. couldn’t even believe it. They said, ‘This never happens.’”
An audience member asked Lane Garrett, “When did you become Jim McNeely?”
Garrett seemed pleased by the question.
“I was living in ‘La La Land,’ as we call it, and I was sent this script by a casting diretor from San Antonio,” Garrett said. “I read the first page, which described West Texas so beautifully. I called them back within five minutes and said, ‘I want to do this movie.’
“They said, ‘We just [now] sent you the damn script!’ [laughter] ‘You gotta read the whole thing.’
“So I read it and it was amazing. I didn’t even know it was based on a book. So I called them back and said, ‘I’ve gotta do this movie.’ I flew to Austin to meet with Ty, the director, and just pitched myself. I said, ‘I’ve just got to play this character. I know who this young man is.’ And I begged him for the role.
“They had talked to everybody—the McConnaghey’s and big, big names—and Ty just felt I was the right pick. And I came out here.
“My dad was a roughneck when I was growing up, out in Odessa. And I hadn’t been out here since I was a kid, and just the smell and everything started to hit me, and walking around, really, this whole town [Big Spring] and meeting you folks. I started living the character, and once I got this hat [laughter]… Well, I like to work from the outside in, how does this guy walk, what does he do with his hands, and then getting the suit, and kinda going from the boy to the man… But it was really being around the entire community [that did it.]
“So you asked, me, ‘How did you find the character?’ And so I’ll tell you that last night, at the premiere, I said it was really being around the community of Big Spring that influenced where this guy was going to go. And then of course I had that beautiful book to base it on. There was a lot to draw from. Jim McNeely came from a broken home, with no parents, and he was a poor boy, rejected by the love of his life. Didn’t go to college. I lost my parents when I was young. I didn’t go to college. I moved out West, trying to make a name for myself. Had rejection from a woman. So there was a lot of motivation, and a lot of similarities. But it was really being here in Big Spring. Just walking around the town. I just really found it here. And it was an honor. I mean, if Ty were here, he would tell y’all, he wants it to go down as a classic Texas film, like Giant.”
“It was the hardest work of my life,” he concluded. “And all of our lives, but for me, as an actor, it’s best thing I’ve ever done. I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance to play a character like this, or be in a movie this good.”
The Iron Orchard is currently playing in theaters across Texas and in select cities across the United States.