Greetings HHSE Friends & Followers - Last November, HHSE facilitated the production of "THE RIOT ACT" (shot on location in and around Van Buren, Arkansas), by combining financial resources of distribution presales and State of Arkansas rebates with a bank credit line.
But one of the most valuable contributions to the film was the outstanding support received from the Fort Smith and Van Buren convention & tourism bureaus - which helped in securing wagons, costumed extras, horses, and an unprecedented "total shut down" of downtown Van Buren for a week... all at little or no cost to the production. With 70+ dump trucks of dirt, the streets and sidewalks were restored to 1903 status, and with limited expense on art direction, the buildings of Van Buren were converted to the proper period. The value of the in-kind goods and services is well in excess of $1-mm, and really made a huge difference with the final look of the film.
As another cost-cutting (free) expense to the production - HHSE managers (and the Executive Producers of the film, Eric Parkinson and Fred Shefte), took a quick break from supervisory duties, and appeared in a bit cameo as the local newspaper photographers.
THE RIOT ACT will open this Fall - the release specifics are still being finalized... but it's likely to follow the "Lady Bird" model, with the initial weekend focused on New York and Los Angeles. A full-page ad in the April Cinemacon issue of BOX OFFICE MAGAZINE generated over 200 playdate offers from all major circuits and key art house / specialty cinemas across the country... so the film has a lot of theatrical options available.
Pictured below are HHSE CEO Eric Parkinson (with a temporary "period goatee") and President Fred Shefte - on the SONY Pictures Studio lot, on the RIOT ACT location, and in character as 1903 Newspaper photographers.
