Three brothers from Aldergrove are still amazed that wrestling legend Bret “Hitman” Hart agreed to star in their latest movie, a crowd-funded action-adventure called “Outlaw Murders.”
“It’s still sinking in,” said Stephen Sewell, who together with siblings Ian and Eric, have been making movies since they were teenagers, beginning with a borrowed camcorder from a neighbour.
The Sewell brothers have since graduated to commercial productions, with their last two films, 100 Miles from Hell and Muskie Point on streaming services Amazon Prime and Tubi.
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“We do all the writing and directing,” Stephen explained, as well as acting in the films.
For their third professional production, they came up with a story about Inspector Carlisle, a cop with a past investigating a mass murder involving a biker gang that he used to ride with.
They only had one person in mind for Carlisle – Bret Hart.
“He was kind of the first choice,” Sewell told the Langley Advance Times.
Stephen and his brothers are big wrestling fans, who know the Calgary-born Hart, holder of 32 championships before he retired, as a pro wrestler renowned for his ring skills, and widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time.
They pitched Hart’s agent, and Hart said yes.
During an online interview for the film, Hart explained that the brothers’ unique approach to filmmaking was appealing to him, because it allows improvisation within the structure of the script outline.
“It does kind of remind me of wrestling, [with] the spontaneity,” Hart observed.
Rather than scripting the dialogue, the brothers write outlines that explain the intended motivation and demeanor behind each character in a scene and important plot points that must be addressed within the dialogue.
“It’s a very structured outline,” Stephen said, but one that encourages realistic dialogue, natural pauses, authentic interruptions and genuine reactions of surprise since the actors never truly know what their costars will say next.
For Hart, a stroke and cancer survivor, acting is a way of testing himself.
“It was a challenge for me to remember my lines and hit my marks,” he recalled.
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And the fact that he did, has encouraged him to continue, though Hart made it clear he doesn’t do it for the money.
“If it’s a fun thing to do, I do it, for myself,” Hart said.
Hart has appeared in various television and film productions including Lonesome Dove: the Outlaw Years, Corner Gas Animated and The Simpsons.
In February, the Sewell brothers launched a crowdfunding campaign for the movie on Indiegogo from that will continue until April 2 at https://igg.me/at/outlaw-murders.
Donors who contribute more than $10 get a copy of the video game “Hitman Highway starring Bret Hart” for both PC and Android devices where players shoot and manoeuvre cars through a variety of enemies and obstacles.
Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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