Winner – Best Oklahoma Film and The Ridiculous Good Movie Award (2009 Southern Winds Festival)
Winner – Best Action/Adventure Film (2009 Trail Dance Film Festival)
In the summer of 2006, Mark Potts was in Texas for an internship. One night, while driving with his father, they passed a cemetery. The two had been talking about when they lived in Oklahoma the year before and other family topics. “Did you want to be buried with Mom or with your family?” Mark asked.
“With your mom in Oklahoma, of course,” Mark’s father quickly answered. “But it’ll cost way to much to take my body over state lines.”
“You have to pay to transport bodies over state lines?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Well I’ll just throw you in the back of a van and take you myself.”
“That’s illegal.”
That night, Mark phoned his film partner Cole Selix and told him of this discussion, and so began the adventure of “The Stanton Family Grave Robbery.”
Cole and Mark came up with the basic story over the summer. In the fall, friend and fellow filmmaker Kevin Costello jumped on board and they wrote the screenplay. Cole, Kevin and Brand Rackley were to play the lead roles. With the help of film professor Jeff Van Hanken, they honed the screenplay for four months. During this time, Mark and Cole received a bank loan for $3000 to fund the film.
The film began shooting May 26 with the intention of ending toward the end of June. But scheduling shooting times for everyone between full time jobs and broken props (the van) pushed the end date until the end of August and added about $2000 to the budget.
Making “The Stanton Family Grave Robbery” was an amazing experience. It was literally four people with a love of filmmaking coming together and trying to make a film people could enjoy. Being able to watch the film with complete strangers and sharing our story of making it has been the best part of this process. And we thank everyone that helped make the film become the success it has. We are in debt to many people (figuratively and monetarily) and we will forever be thankful for their support.
Synopsis
The Stanton brothers don’t get along with Lori, their gold-digging-bitch-of-a-stepmother, or each other for thatmatter. When their father dies, Lori goes against their father’s wishes and bury him in Texas. The two older brothers, Mark and Brian, decide to take matters into their own hands. They kidnap their younger brother, Charles, and dig up their father to take him back to Oklahoma in order to honor his wishes.
Reviews
Film Threat Review by Peter Vonder Haar – “The Stanton Family Grave Robbery” was shot for less than $5,000, which the amazingly accomplished finish product that much more impressive. Director Mark Potts makes the most of his limited resources, shooting in a $27 a night hotel room and filming the genuinely dilapidated van until its very real breakdown. The script, written by Potts, Costello, and Selix, certainly helps, eliciting a great deal of laughter. The cast is similarly notable, especially Costello, who gets the bulk of the best lines, and Selix, who makes Mark’s third act turnaround eminently believable. Everyone involved obviously put an enormous amount of heart and energy into the production, and it’s nice to see it all come together.”
Film Threat’s 2008 Bests of the Fests – “…it has more laughs and heart than anything Adam Sandler or Steve Martin has made with 2,000X the funds in the last ten years.”
Brief review on Cinematical by Scott Weinberg – “Haven’t had this good a time with a low-budget indie road comedy since those Duplass boys delivered The Puffy Chair.”
The Independent Film Critic – “Having already viewed enough crap to fill a Razzie ballot this year, it’s with a certain glee that I find myself reviewing low-budget indies with such heart, style and creativity that, on what is often less than 1% of the budget of a wide-release film, these films far surpass most Hollywood releases this time of year. “The Stanton Family Grave Robbery” is such a film.”
Rogue Cinema - “This film is a great example of what you can do with a relatively small budget and a good script. You don’t need a lot of money to make a good film. You just need the ability to tell a good story and to make people feel for your characters.”
Media
Trailer
After winning “Best Action/Adventure Film” at the 2009 Trail Dance Film Festival, we decided to cut a trailer that put the “action/adventure” of the film on display.
