April 22, 1889 – Not as famous of a DATE as November 11, 1918 (Armistice Day) – but in the history of the colonization of the continental United States, it was a profoundly impactful day. At High Noon, at strategic points along the border to the INDIAN TERRITORY, cannons fired to announce the beginning of the “land rush” for persons to make claims on 160-acre plots of land. This action was an addendum to the Dawes Act of 1887, which in many respects was built upon the previously passed Homestead Act of 1862.
But there was a big difference in 1889. The land being given away had already been deeded to the “Five Civilized Tribes” in a series of treaties and actions (such as the “Indian Removal Act” that created the deadly and forced “Trail of Tears” march). The land being “given” away by the United States in 1889 belonged to the tribes – and they were not happy about this major treaty violation.
Our current feature production, “The Last Days of Belle Starr,” is all about this treaty violation and it’s impact to the tribes and to the Cherokee Nation. In the weeks before Congressional approval of the Dawes Act addendum, Belle Starr came out of a self-imposed exile of three years (following the death of her Cherokee husband, Sam Starr), to speak against this plan. As a white woman living on Cherokee Land (and then living with Jim July Starr), Belle was the ideal spokesperson to garner support from the residents of Fort Smith and other border communities to oppose the take-away of tribal lands. But just one week after her most persuasive, public speech, she was shot dead in a murder that the authorities in Arkansas chose to not investigate. Alas, despite her valiant efforts and martyrdom for the tribes, the “land rush” proceeded… and it is therefore an important element in our film.
The “Oklahoma Land Rush” was featured in the 1992 Ron Howard film, “Far and Away” – starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. But the worldview of that movie was to show what a GREAT idea it was to give land to immigrants and would-be farmers. There is scant mention that the land was being stolen back from the tribes – it was presented as just a big, happy, Hollywood ending.
Not so happy for everyone. What about the 100,000+ tribal members that lost their land and became homeless? What about the Communal Hunting Grounds that provided habitat for the wildlife that sustained the tribes? What about the concept of tribal sovereignty that was ignored and expelled as Senator Dawes moved on to become the “Chairman of the Commission of the Five Civilized Tribes?” April 22, 1889 was not a happy Hollywood ending for the tribes who lost over 90-million acres of land and nearly all of their sustenance hunting grounds.
Reality does not always deliver a happy ending, but reality often makes for a more powerful and successful movie. That’s what we believe and why “The Last Days of Belle Starr” has the potential of becoming an important and commercially successful feature film. It’s also what has allowed us to attract multiple “A” stars to the project – critically praised movie stars with a cumulative worldwide box office of more than $10-Billion dollars.
So, here we are, right in the middle of production on this exciting, major movie. For security reasons (and for “message track control”) we are filming with a closed set and without promoting the involvement of our principal stars until the filming is completed. But it’s been an exciting, exhausting and exhilarating adventure… including our OWN recreation of the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889.
Granted, we do not have the $100-million budget that Ron
Howard had thirty-years ago for his Land Rush scenes. But we’re giving him
quite a challenge with our impressive coverage:
six cameras plus a drone coverage of twelve horse drawn wagons, forty-two
horses with riders, and the official government stand with soldiers and
cannons. It’s amazing how “big” a scene
with that many horses appears on screen – enhanced to a degree with long-focal
length lenses that compress the space between the wagons and riders and create
a visual explosion of motion, dust and excitement. Big stuff… shots that will definitely
“make the trailer,” as they say.
Making a movie – ANY movie – requires tremendous work, clarity of mind, dedication and commitment. It’s likely one of the hardest creative endeavors of all… involving telling a story, engaging quality performers to act it out, quality crew and gear to record the performances, and all of the insane logistics of feeding cast, crew and hundreds of background extras, having location generators and porta-potty service, fenced-in areas to house the horses (and water and feed for the horses), and the complex logistics of flying and driving in dozens of people from different locations – trying to get everyone in the same place at the same time to collectively make magic.
That’s why it’s so amusing when persons who have never produced a film try to comment on those who are actual creators. Truly, if it were easy, everyone would produce movies. Only people who have actually PRODUCED or DIRECTED a major feature film understand the complexities… so the rest of the wanna-bees (or “never will bees”) would be best advised to just quietly sit back, watch and learn. The commentary in this paragraph is NOT directed at our legitimate HHSE shareholders... but is addressing the four or five chatroom naysayers who do nothing more than sling mud and fabricate consistently wrong prognostications and criticisms of HHSE and its management. HHSE will not apologize for succeeding and ruining a naked short-sell position. The bashers / short-sellers want nothing more than to scare longs into selling to them now, well below book value, so that THEY become the beneficiaries of the stock's meteoric rise.
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Based on our star casting, there is a reasonable expectation that “The Last Days of Belle Starr” will be licensed to nearly all of the major territories and media, worldwide.
Accordingly, and based on the deal structure of fees and profit participation for Hannover House, Inc. (HHSE), it’s obtainable that the net income for the company could reach $10-mm… which is approx. $.01 per share in earnings. Current Price-Earnings ratios for entertainment companies suggests that this production alone could support a PPS of over $.25 / share.
But “The Last Days of Belle Starr” is just one element of three that has the likelihood of a combining for an immensely powerful impact to HHSE this year. The others, as our shareholders know well, are the basic registration filing (which will allow many traders and funds to finally support the HHSE stock), and the launch of our own multi-studio streaming service, MYFLIX. It’s the “Holy Trinity” of major events that collectively could propel HHSE into a legendary league.
So much more that we’d love to share now… but our discretion
is for the benefit of our shareholders.
