Barry Porterfield
Pauls Valley Daily Democrat
Pauls Valley —
The combination of noodling and action will take on a whole new meaning when a movie crew from California soon arrives in Pauls Valley to begin shooting for a short film.
With shooting set for all of next week the call is now out for PV residents to join in as auditions for extras on the film will be Saturday afternoon.
The film entitled “Noodling” is the brainchild of Rebecca Eskreis, a graduate student at the University of Southern California (USC).
Eskreis said her cast and crew, mostly made up of graduates and current students at USC and the University of Oklahoma in Norman, are set and ready to go.
However, local residents will get their chance to be a part of the project as a number of smaller, non-speaking roles are needed. Auditions are scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 31 at the American Inn and Suites lobby, 2415 West Grant in PV. Those interested can also e-mail noodlingthefilmcasting@gmail.com.
“I’m kind of excited,” Eskreis said about the short film project set to shoot Aug. 2-8.
“This is the biggest film I’ve ever directed. I’ve directed other films before but this is definitely the biggest.”
Eskreis’ journey to this film project has been an unusual one to say the least as she was introduced to noodling — fishing for catfish using only your bare hands — while living in New York three years ago.
She picked up a copy of the New York Times one day and read a story about how important noodling was for many families engaged in the activity for generations.
“I have a background in journalism so I often look for stories in newspapers and magazines for inspiration,” Eskreis said.
“When I read this story on noodling I was so struck by how people are so passionate about noodling. It was really fascinating.”
She was so fascinated it later inspired her to write short screenplay as a thesis for her introduction to screenwriting class at USC. Not much happened with the script from there until Eskreis decided to take it to the next step.
“I really wanted to make a film. I couldn’t stop thinking about my noodling script,” she said.
Then began the first of several new drafts of the script, which changed even more after Eskreis got the opportunity to see Oklahoma for herself.
That came this past March after she used the Internet to hook up with Cassie Ketric and Cinematic Artists of Norman. Ketric has since signed on to be the film’s Oklahoma producer.
“I cashed in my frequent flyer miles and flew out here. Then I drove down to Pauls Valley and began talking to people here.”
With the film project now a reality Eskreis said a number of sites in and around Pauls Valley have already been chosen to shoot scenes, including the Washita River for the noodling shots.
“We have a restaurant for some of the scenes and a couple of houses for exterior and interior shots,” Eskreis said.
“We’re going to be shooting all over town and down on the river. Right now we’re ironing out all the details.”
Although plenty of work still remains over the next several days Eskreis also recognizes the need to have a little fun with the project.
“I have a lot of fun with this when we say we’re planning out all the fish stunts. It’s like a dance. We’re planning out all the shots, where the camera is, where the actors and fish will be,” she said.
When the film is complete Eskreis plans on a local showing at some point, along with film festivals in the Oklahoma City metro area along with the Los Angeles and New York areas.
“There will definitely be a showing locally. I’ll try to get the film in festivals around the country. My school also does a festival for all the thesis films there,” she added.
