In a small blue house in Phoenix, Travis Mills, 29, does not live a glamorous lifestyle. He doesn’t have air conditioning or a TV. But he does have access to streaming on his computer and phone, a Boykin Spaniel named Bandit, and a passion for film and storytelling.
Mills, with his windswept short hair, sits on a bench upon his house’s small porch. He’s wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with Running Wild Films, LLC, the production company he co-founded in Phoenix. He’s carried an obsession with movies since he was a little kid. Despite the chill in the air, he isn’t wearing a jacket as he relaxes on a bench that looks out toward his yard, watching his dog run after a ball.
The worn-down house stands in contrast with the writer and director’s recent project called “Durant’s Never Closes,” in which red-velvet seats and sophisticated characters are the stars. Mills hopes to make an impact on local film and history through his work, embracing the challenges that he faces and staring down descendants of Phoenix power brokers — if the chance comes along.
Related: Film in production will portray ’50s Phoenician gambler and restaurant owner Jack Durant
“I have nothing to lose,” he said. “I don’t have a family. I don’t have a wife. All I have is a dog and my work. I’m able at this point to do these projects, and if it is dangerous then great. It should be a fun ride.”
Based off the book “The Saga of Jack Durant” by Mabel Leo and the play “In My Humble Opinion” by Terry Earp, “Durant’s Never Closes” delves into the multifaceted life of Jack Durant: restaurateur, gambler, gangster.
With help from investor funds and a Kickstarter campaign, the “Durant’s Never Closes” cast and crew got to work with a budget of $250,000 and eight days to shoot the film at warehouse studio space in Glendale, he said. In Hollywood it would have taken about 20 to 30 days to shoot a feature film like this.
Related: Locally inspired movie ‘Durant’s Never Closes’ surpasses $100,000 Kickstarter goal
“Hollywood throws money at problems, and independent filmmakers have to throw in creativity,” Mills said. “We have to solve them in other ways.”
This was the first time that Mills cast Hollywood talent as opposed to solely local actors. Tom Sizemore, known for “Saving Private Ryan” and “Black Hawk Down,” leads the cast as Jack Durant. Michelle Stafford, soap star from “General Hospital” and “The Young and the Restless,” stars as Suzie. Michael Richards from “Seinfeld” was cast in the film, but had to drop when shooting dates were flipped around.
Working with Hollywood actors was different for Mills, who said he’s never worked with actors who needed to go to their trailer. He’s used to asking local actors to stay on their marker on set. But he admires the work they do.
“Even though these people have much bigger reputations than we do … we can’t be intimidated by these people,” he said. “Even though they’ve all done this work, they’re coming into our world, and they don’t necessarily know better than us. They know different.”
Mills said it was easier to get in contact with Hollywood actors than others would think. He called their agents and proposed his idea with financial offers and the script, but he said he learned how to talk with the agents through trial and error. For example, he had to tell agents that he had enough money when at the time, he didn’t have enough.
“You just have to be a little bit of a con-artist as a director to get all these people to do what you want,” he said. “You obviously don’t want to abuse that, but you have to have some tricks up your sleeve.”
The real Durant’s steakhouse, located on Central Avenue south of Thomas Road, couldn’t be the scene of the movie because it was too dark and too loud. Instead building the set in Glendale helped the production team take advantage of a ceiling-less room and well-lit area with a sound stage.
Nick Fornwalt, cinematographer for “Durant’s Never Closes,” said the set didn’t benefit him too much in his role behind the camera, but the film gave him the challenge of working on a project with both a small budget on a short shooting time =for the first time and the opportunity of working with local people and productions.
“It’s good to be part of something a little more local-feeling,” he said. “I work out-of-state a lot. I’m not solely working in Arizona, so it’s kind of nice to have that community feel and be part of that.”
He said the desert and Phoenix itself was almost like a character that showcased Arizona’s history and culture.
The history in a plot
In the film, the death of Don Bolles, an Arizona Republic reporter who was investigating political corruption and mafia-associated fraud in Phoenix, plays a huge role. A bomb was planted and detonated underneath his Nissan Datsun, landing Bolles in the hospital until his death 11 days later. The tragedy changed the way people viewed journalism, crime and corruption in the city. A group of journalists gathered to create what some called “vigilante journalism,” but the report wasn’t published in the Arizona Republic.
However, Mills said he wasn’t interested in presenting a clear conclusion to the investigation. He even didn’t name some of the characters, such as the Bolles car bomb conspirators, leaving the audience to either follow along with their knowledge of the historical event or giving people the chance to interpret scenes with their own thoughts.
“A lot of people are asking me about the conspiracies, and I say ‘I’m in no one’s camp, I’m in my own camp,’” he said. “I created my own ideas about this because I don’t really care who killed him. It doesn’t matter at this point to me…I’m not an investigator, I’m a storyteller.”
Wayne Rainey, a Phoenix local, played one of the Don Bolles conspirators in the film. Sitting in his urban office where he’s the director of Rainey Studios in MonOrchid on Roosevelt and Fourth streets, Rainey normally speaks in a pleasant and booming voice, but he dropped to a softer decibel when he recalled hearing the explosion from Don Bolles’ car when he was 10 years old.
Bolles’s death impacted how he viewed his role as a killer in “Durant’s Never Closes.” Working on set helped Rainey realize the potential in Phoenix as a shooting site.
Arizona was the filming site for some famous movies such as 1996’s “Jerry Maguire” or “Little Miss Sunshine” from 2006, but there haven’t been many production crews that filmed in the Valley recently.
The city ranks as the sixth-largest city in America with a population of 1.6 million numbered in the 2014 Census. Yet Rainey said people don’t see movies shot in Phoenix often. He and Mills hope to make Phoenix viable for young filmmakers.
“We have a gigantic opportunity because we have the weather,” he said. “Phoenix has every climate and location, except for the beach, to shoot in.”
Mills also believes that aspiring filmmakers can make it work wherever they are.
“Stop talking about it and just do it,” he said. “No one has an excuse to not make a movie. You can shoot it and edit it on your phone. If they’re in Phoenix or any other city, take advantage of what’s around you. The people, the places, the history — all of it.”
“Durant’s Never Closes” was shown at the American Film Market, which took place in Los Angeles from November 4 to 11. Shoreline Entertainment represented the film at the event.
Running Wild Films, LLC is currently in pre-production for “Valley of Shadows,” based off of the Don Bolles investigation and the events leading up to his mysterious death. The film will most likely be shot in Phoenix again, something that Mills plans on doing for quite some time into the future.
“Someone was just asking me ‘why aren’t you in Hollywood or New York?’” he said. “That’s such an old way of thinking. If all the filmmakers just go to Hollywood or New York, are movies like Durant’s ever going to be made? We need to stay in our cities and tell the stories of our cities … It disappoints me that more Phoenix filmmakers aren’t taking advantage of the rich history.”
Contact the reporter at sincorva@asu.edu.
