Former local news reporter, documentary and feature-length filmmaker Justin Hunt will show his latest film, “The Post,” at three regional venues, including Farmington, Gallup and Durango, and at three theaters in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas.
“So what happens in Farmington and Gallup and Durango, which is where it’s opening with the Allen Theatres, is super-important because the numbers that are reflected in that are what other theaters will be looking for,” he said.
He said that a report with the number of audience members per screening comes out every week, and major chains like Harkins and Cinemark will be looking at those numbers to decide on whether to show it.
He would love to premiere it in Albuquerque, as well, as his company White Whale Films is based there and a lot of filming was done there with many local actors. Hunt said independent films face a daunting challenge going against the big studio productions.
Hunt, who got his start both in front and behind the camera at the age of 18 as the youngest reporter for KOBF-TV in Farmington, said he knew immediately that was what he was meant to do.
Hunt, a graduate of Bloomfield High School, said he grew up in a “nomadic lifestyle,” with his parents both in the Horseracing Hall of Fame; his dad as a jockey and mother, as a horse trainer.
In 1984 his dad settled in Farmington and Hunt got his first notoriety as a writer as a senior in high school when he received the USJA Award Winner for Best High School Newspaper Story in the country in 1994.
After attending San Juan College for three years, majoring in communications and covering sports and serving as weekend anchor for KOBF-TV, Hunt said his blood started “boiling for football.”
As a walk-on athlete for Mesa State University, Hunt played cornerback and became known as their best punt blocker.
With the recent success (state 4A champs, 6-0 this season) of the Bloomfield football program, Hunt said he comes up once or twice a year to help coach the defensive backs. “And so I still have a lot of ties to the football world, which is cool,” Hunt said.
“And that's a big part of ‘The Post’ is there's a high school football aspect to it,” he said, adding that both Aztec and Bloomfield football teams were in the movie.
Hunt said they got permission to shoot a couple of regular season games at Aztec because their colors matched the colors of the team in the script.
“I'm so thankful and appreciative for the amount of support that we got – like the Aztec Tigers wore alternative uniforms,” Hunt said. “They were different uniforms for two regular season games to fit our movie script.”
The movie is set in the small town of Rayford, north of Houston, Texas. Hunt said filming was mostly in Albuquerque, but a “fair amount” was shot in Farmington, including at San Juan Regional Medical Center, San Juan County Detention Center, Berg Park and a private residence.
“The Post” features Hunt’s daughter Abbey and her brother, Lantz. In the film, Abbey plays Penny Sanders, daughter of the protagonist, Jett Sanders, and sister of Jake, the boy who gets killed.
“The Post” also includes William Sterchi (“Outer Range,” “Hell or High Water,” “Gold”), Lincoln Castellanos (“Gray’s Anatomy,” “Cry Macho,” “Fear the Walking Dead”) and Lize Johnston (“The Exorcist: Believer,” “Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities”).
Filming began in February of 2023 and lasted for only 23 days. Hunt said a lot of films try to “jam it in tighter, but I like people … to have a couple of days on the weekends.”
“You start forcing people to do too much, then the creativity is lost because they're exhausted, irritated and tired of being there,” Hunt said.
He said it was great because the film crew “was tighter” when filming ended than when it began – “usually the other way around … everybody's excited at first and they hate each other at the end.”
“I kind of laugh because every time an actor or an actress was done when they wrapped with their part … they would cry because it was over, like they didn't want to leave.”
“And it was really great experience for everybody involved,” he said.
Hunt said he tries to “create a really good environment where everybody could be who they are and be creative.” He encourages everyone to bring their ideas to the table. “It makes people feel like they have a sense of ownership,” he said.
“I’m the writer, producer, director and actually majority executive producer because I figured … I’ve been trying to get to this point for 20 years, if I can't bet on myself, then what’s the point,” Hunt said.
Hunt’s awards, credits and filmography
One of the youngest news anchors in NBC history, he did his first show at 18 for KOBF-TV).
News director of KOBF-TV at 23.
2007: Released his first film, “American Meth,” a documentary narrated by Val Kilmer.
2011: Released his second documentary, “Absent,” distributed in more than 70 countries in over a dozen languages.
2013: Toured Australia with “Absent,” and was invited to speak at Parliament in Australia about the importance of fatherhood.
2103: Released his third documentary, “The Speed of Orange.”
2015: Released his fourth film, and first feature narrative, “Far Too Far,” which was shot in Farmington.
Next summer, a British remake of that film is being shot in England. It’s being produced by Mike Newell, director of “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire,” “Donnie Brasco” and “Pride and Prejudice.”
2015: Was honored with Justin Hunt Day by his hometown of Bloomfield.
2017: Released his fifth film, and fourth documentary, “Addicted to Porn: Chasing the Cardboard Butterfly.” It’s narrated by James Hetfield, lead singer of Metallica.
2018: Was invited by James Hetfield and comedian Jim Breuer to tour with Metallica and shot footage for a documentary.
Began giving out The Justin Hunt Heart of a Champion Award at the annual Tiger Duals wrestling tournament in Aztec
2019: Was named by the American Advertising Federation as the Producer of the Year
2019: Produced a documentary titled “Death Row Angels” for JaJa Film Productions of Amsterdam.
2023: Released his sixth film, “The Post.” The film hits theaters Oct. 20. In September, “The Post” won the award for Best Thriller (Feature) at the Silicon Beach Film Festival in Hollywood.
Hunt’s low-budget 2015 film (about $11,000), “Far Too Far,” had a “surprising twist at the end that really got people,” Hunt said. It was shot in Farmington and with all non-actor locals.
“But what's cool about that movie … it got optioned from me and they're doing a British remake of it. It will be produced by Mike Newell, who directed “Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire,” “Donnie Brasco” and “Pride and Prejudice.”
Hunt said he’ll get credited and paid as the writer, but what he’ll make depends on the film’s budget. “But that’s as good a feather in your cap as you can have,” he said, adding that it will “help when you’re talking to potential investors.”
“We're already in preproduction on my next movie, and this budget is twice as much as “The Post’ was,” Hunt, adding that’s the “nature of things … unless you’re born in wealth and don’t have to worry about that.”
Hunt said he wanted to be an actor when he was a youngster because his mother’s brother, Bud Edmondson, was a stuntman, appearing in movies including “Red Dawn” and “Lone Ranger.”
“But my parents didn't really know how to feed that dream. … My dad wanted a more, I think more of a normal type career path,” Hunt said.
“And what's funny how I got into journalism is when I was a senior in high school, you know, I was just your typical jock in a small town, and I had two office aid classes and they call me,” Hunt said, and said he can’t have two of those classes.
He asked what his options were and they told him about the school newspaper. It was a natural fit.
“Yeah, I ran into this lady. I'll never forget her name was Rose … she was setting up the 20-year reunion for the class of ’74,” Hunt said. He started thinking about where his class would be in 20 years, then wrote a “futuristic-retrospective, if that makes any sense.”
His teacher submitted his story and he won the Best High School Newspaper Story award and was hired by the Farmington Daily Times newspaper.
Assigned mostly to sports stories, Hunt recalled the time he watched and covered this “amped up, emotional volleyball game that was really exciting. He submitted 12 inches and woke up the next day to find they had cut it to 2½ inches. He said this was the “stupidest (expletive) ever.”
It just so happened that KOBF-TV had an opening for an intern.
“And when I went on my first news story for the TV station, I was I was hooked. I was done. I'm like this is it. I want to do this,” Hunt said.
As a result, Hunt, 47, accomplished a great deal by knowing at an early age what he wanted to do.
He started his own business, Time and Tide Production, now White Whale Pictures, since 2003 and looks ahead to whatever projects meet his standards of excellence.
As for his current inspirations, Hunt said, “You know, I just now feel like I’ve gotten to where I’ve wanted to be … making things at this level.”
Hunt, who wrote the script for “The Post” in 2020, said one of his best friends named Darryl Priddy (Doc) in the Farmington area was honored in the movie. The football stadium was named Doc Priddy Memorial Stadium and Hunt planned to surprise his friend by the gesture.
Unfortunately, Hunt said, Priddy died, “so it became a true Memorial stadium for my friend that passed away.”
Hunt said Priddy, who had played football and coached for Bloomfield, had a “ton of friends” in the area. Shortly after Priddy’s passing, Hunt came up to Bloomfield to help with the defensive backs and a sign “Do It for Darryl” was up in the stadium.
He took a photo, gave it to his special-effects guy and it was in the movie.
“It’s those little things … those stories about making a movie I think, that are as fascinating if not more than the movie itself.” Hunt said.
Hunt has a surprise for Farmington, but wants to keep it that way. “The Post” premieres Oct. 20 at Allen Theatres in Farmington and Gallup and at the Gaslight Theatre in Durango.
