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Over the last few weeks, what I’ve heard from several sources about the current status of “GallowWalker” hasn’t been all that great, for the film itself, creatively, and for those of us in the crew who remain to be paid. Current events, namely, three years in the clink for Dr. Snipes, sounds even worse, for reasons I really can’t get into, for the film, it’s handful of fans and everyone else involved.

I’ve been reading reactions to yesterday’s Snipes verdict on some of the more film-centric sites, and the consensus seems to be, “it really sucks for ‘GallowWalker’ … hope it still gets released.” Yes, it does suck, like I said, for more reasons than one.

It just kills me, knowing that the long hours and tireless dedication that my second unit crew alone put into the project (there were actually quite a few genuine tears the day we wrapped — it’s amazing how close a “family” becomes under times of great stress), far from their homes, may be lost to something that is just a half-remembered footnote to a Wikipedia entry on a movie that no one will ever see.

The last cut of the film that I worked on, late last year, before the film was finally wrenched, lock, stock and barrel, from the creative team that started the whole thing, was really, really, very good … certainly a hell of a lot better than some of the crap I’ve seen in theaters and on DVD in the interim. Despite the hell that went into making the thing, over a period of several years, director Andrew Goth managed to retain the spaghetti western feel he was looking for from the first frame to the last.

I’m sure something as esoteric as this will not stand the cut of a non-creative, money-minded team who are looking only to cash in on something quick to line their own pocket at the expense of — literally — hundreds of others. So who knows what will be released or when. I’m sure the impulse at the moment will be to garner as much publicity as possible at the star’s expense, slap together some quick post-production work and get a DVD out the door as soon as possible. But, like I said, who knows.

The really crazy thing about the whole experience is the people who initiated the project, fostered and nurtured it through development, gave long painful hours, and what resources they had, fully, to the project, are today no further ahead than when this thing started. It’s like “GallowWalker” never happened for us. I know for a fact that Andrew Goth doesn’t even have a decent DVD copy of the film he can show to prove what he’s been doing for the last couple of years. We’ve got some concept art and storyboards, a handful of production stills and a trailer that was slapped together by sales agents before the edit was even started.

Boo-hoo-hoo, right? I guess life goes on … all we can do is try and do something new all over again from scratch.

Related posts:

1. The Wretched
   This zombie western project pre-dated “GallowWalker” by a couple of years, written by Joanne Reay, to be directed by Andrew...
2. GallowWalker Production Stills
   Below are my production stills from the “GallowWalker” shoot in Namibia, Fall-Winter 2006. The film starred Wesley Snipes, Kevin...
3. GallowWalker
   Resources: GallowWalker Concept Art GallowWalker Storyboards GallowWalker Production Stills 2007 Berlin Film Market Trailer Additionally, here are three making-of “production...
4. Making “GallowWalker” - part 3 (with video!)
   For this installment of my own recollections of the making of the film “GallowWalker” in Namibia at the end of...
5. Making “GallowWalker” - part 1
   In 2006, I was approached by Joanne Reay and Andrew Goth to do some concept work and storyboards on a...