else. I had never seen a picture of George, and I had no idea if the guys we chose would have any similarity. I sent a photo of Moses to Jimmy, and Jimmy said he had to do a double-take, because he looks almost exactly like young George. If you look at the facial structure and the features in the photo used in the film, the resemblance is uncanny. And Clyde isn’t too far off either as Old George. When we went to do a first read, Clyde just read a couple of lines, and I knew we had our guy. Finding the right talent for that kind of dialogue is tough, and finding someone like him who could pull it off? He’s just a natural, two or three takes at the most. We both considered reshooting his parts, me because of lighting and time issues, he because he felt he could have done even better. But I decided that at some point you have to go with what you have, and move on to the next thing. For me, that’s a feature version of the film.
NM: Best of luck getting that feature going.
BH: There’s something I see at every screening. There’s a common emotional response. There’s a real enthusiasm, a heartfelt response, and it’s a story that needs to be told. I think it’s a better story than Glory.
NM: It really does look like the middle third, or middle quarter, of an even bigger film.
BH: It really is just like just a slice out of a bigger movie. It’s so compelling. Can you imagine, showing a wedding party on this plantation in Virginia, and the doors open, with the cameras tracking behind a little three year old boy, and “Oh, this is your wedding present.” I’ve already registered a treatment, a real basic story idea, with the Writers Guild of America, back in September last year. The idea for the story is mine, but it’s an historical event. I mean, anyone could make a movie about this, but the way to tell it is mine.
NM: So what is the future of The Battle of Island Mound?
BH: It’s going to the St. Louis Best Of Showcase at St. Louis International Film Festival in late November. It’s also going to be shown at the new visual arts center near Grand Center in September. It’s supposed to be a spectacular venue, something that will almost be unique to St. Louis. There’s a 77-foot screen and they also have a 50-foot screen going in. It will play at the Louisville International Festival of Film, and it was accepted to screen at The Harlem International Film Festival in New York in September. It was invited to be part of the Hollywood Shorts monthly screenings in four cities. And I’m going to go for Sundance, under the wire. You’re never sure who you might run into at even the most obscure film festival, so I’m hoping to make some connections with this. Get it in front of somebody who knows somebody, or somebody who is somebody. I’d really love to meet someone who can write at a very high level to help with the feature-version screenplay. I don’t feel qualified to do that. The State is going to sell the DVD to the public and get it into schools. One of the high school kids who saw a screening made a poignant remark. She said, “If I’ve never heard about this, what else don’t I know, what else haven’t we been taught?” I just need to get the film out there, get people to see it.