Justin Hunt, writer, director and producer of “The Post,” visited his hometown last Saturday for a Q&A after a showing at the Allen 10 Theatre at the Animas Valley Mall in Farmington.
Hunt’s sixth film was filmed largely in San Juan County, including locations such as Berg Park in Farmington, San Juan Regional Medical Center, San Juan County Detention Center, a private residence and football scenes at Fred Cook Memorial Stadium in Aztec.
A sold-out theater of friends and supporters attended the showing of Hunt’s revenge-thriller, which featured all New Mexico talent, including Hunt’s daughter, Abbey, and son, Lantz.
Veteran actor William Sterchi and longtime Hunt partner Morgan Estill, director of photography, joined Hunt for the Q&A.
Sterchi was featured in “Hell or High Water” (2016), with Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine, “Crazy Heart” and “Breaking Bad.” He has appeared in more that 45 productions in New Mexico, his home state, where he studied at University of New Mexico on a theater scholarship.
Estill is known for his camera and electrical work on “Hell or High Water, “500 mph Storm, “The Amateur” and “A Lonely Place for Dying.”
After Hunt was introduced and received an enthusiastic round of applause, he began the Q&A by asking the audience if they had a couple of favorite shots in the movie.
A woman asked about where the hunting scene was shot, saying it was powerful. Another woman mentioned the ghastly scene of a corpse.
A Tri-City Record reporter noted the final scene, when Angus Benfield held up two phones, contemplating what to do about the moral dilemma faced by the main character, Jett Sanders.
That’s when Hunt introduced Estill, who received a strong round of applause.
Hunt’s next introduction began by jokingly asking if anyone had seen “Breaking Bad” or “Hell or High Water“ or “Out of Range.“ Then he asked if anyone had heard of Jeff Bridges or an “upcoming actor named Matthew McConaughey.“
He then introduced William Sterchi, saying that he had acted with both actors and been in many major productions.
“Anything you want to ask, we’re here to answer, technical, story, surprise or local – we’ve got a lot of neat stuff here – so have at it.”
He received positive responses from the audience about the movie and his time in Farmington, growing up here and working as a Bloomfield High School graduate on the local news station, KOBF, covering sports and weekend news.
Sterchi commented about the “collaborative” process of filmmaking, saying, “It starts with the writer – this guy also wrote all this.”
He said there are “so many departments and locations, photography, actors, sound – I love the soundtrack on this.”
“There’s so much involved, and this guy’s at the helm of it, and I’m just thrilled to be a part of it, and consider it an honor and a privilege,” Sterchi said.
A woman from Albuquerque asked Hunt how he decided what and where to shoot the scenes, some of which she recognized as being in Albuquerque.
Hunt responded that “a lot of that is financially dependent, so that’s one of the things I really need to thank this community for.” He said Aztec High School allowed them to shoot two regular-season football games with the “team wearing alternative uniforms so it would fit the script in a real game.”
He said they put the word out on social media asking the crowd to wear black, and the crowd was “about five times larger than normal.” He said about 30 people showed up with “Go Rayford Tigers” signs, which probably “freaked the hell out of Durango.”
Hunt said they shot the scripted scenes with the Bloomfield football team. He said it was probably a “quarter-million dollars worth of production value that we got just by people wanting to help us out.”
The audience responded that the football scenes were “really good.”
Hunt related the story of his good friend, Darryl Priddy, known as “Doc,” who died in October while the movie was under production. He had known Priddy since the seventh grade and named the stadium after him as a joke. However, it now became a memorial in remembrance of his close friend.
On the press box it says, “Doc Priddy Memorial Stadium,” Hunt said, to honor his friend.
Hunt said he’d likely not want to direct something that he didn’t write. He said they’re already working on the next film, another thriller.
“I like holding a mirror up to society and making them think about things,” adding that he likes to stimulate conversation on the way home from the movie, maybe “open a dialogue with their child or have an internal dialogue with themselves.
“And thrillers are a great place to do that,” Hunt said.
He said he’s proud when film inspires action about problems in society, not just complaints.
The film was shot in only 23 days, Hunt said. He said he and Morgan put in “six weeks of work every day, going over every scene, every shot so that when we got there – it was extremely efficient.”
Hunt said the only major revision came when a couple of weeks before they started to shoot he decided to add the montage that came at the end. He wanted to add “emotional insight” into the character of Jett and to explain how difficult it can be sometimes to do “what’s right.”
“You know, my job is to set you up to knock you down and set you back up again and take you on this emotional ride,” Hunt said.
Estill said the hunting scene was never supposed to be in the snow, but weather often dictates schedule and requires constant, creative adaptation.
Hunt said they planned to shoot Wednesday through Saturday, so with snow hitting on Wednesday in Berg Park, a fair amount of schedule juggling was required. After all the changes, Hunt said, “Morgan and I acted like that was the plan all along.”
His favorite thing, even more so than golf, is “directing good actors.” Inexperienced actors require more direction, while seasoned actors, like Sterchi, need only a suggestion of what they might be “thinking or feeling.”
Sterchi said it meant a lot to him that Hunt invited him over for coffee to discuss the character of school superintendent that he would play.
The audience erupted with laughter when Estill pointed out how Kimberly Bigsby, playing Brooke Sanders, drove a toy car across the face of her fake baby in order to hold the attention of the young boy playing the part of young Jake Sanders.
Hunt said the stories behind the making of a movie are often more “fun and interesting” than the movie itself. He shared that young boy was his great nephew, who was actually supposed to say a line, “but he wasn’t having that.”
Hunt said they had lizards, stuffed toys – you name it – to coax the boy and get the desired expressions and reactions.
An audience member asked Hunt about directing his daughter, Abbey, whom he called a “natural actress.” Hunt said there were about 30 girls that auditioned for her part as Penny Sanders, and the casting director chose Abbey.
Hunt said “there’s this mixed emotion” of being nervous for his kids, while also being very proud of them for “how well they did.”
Saying that he loved the casting process, Hunt explained how he chose Addison Bowman for the part as the vengeful Brandy. He said when she was working as a waitress in Phoenix there was a horrific bike race accident. A cyclist took a horrific fall, severing his femoral artery. Bowman applied direct pressure to the vital artery, but was unable to stop the bleeding. He died.
Along with other personal loss she had experienced, Hunt said, “she knew what it was like to feel and watch death.” These life experiences gave her the ability to play the part well because “she could relate to something that deep in her life,” Hunt said.
“But there's the part of how long my kids have watched me try to get to this point and all of you as well, how hard I've worked to get to an opportunity,” Hunt said, adding, “I feel like I'm just now starting. I'm just now getting to where I want to get.”
Hunt said the filmmaking world is “brutal,” so that’s why he enjoys returning to his hometown area. He said he can “feel the pride” and greatly appreciates the love and support from the community.
