Of all the festivals we’ve played, Coyote promised to be a special experience given that it took place in the very community in which we shot the movie. And as a result, many in the audience were sure to have been extras in the movie, or owners of the locations we used.
Mike and I arrived at the San Francisco International Airport at roughly the same time -- me from L.A., he from New York. After renting a car, we made our way up through Napa, Sonoma and Calistoga, where we stopped for a quick lunch. Then we were on our way through the winding roads into Lake County. Middletown to be exact – the home of Lake Langtry where we spent 10 days shooting the lakeside scenes with Mike, James LeGros and Enrico Colantoni.
We met up with Festival founder/director Karen Turcotte at the venue, checked out the projection equipment then followed her to our digs for the next couple of days. Lake County locals Charlie and Linda McLaughlin generously hosted us in one of their beautiful guest homes on their Whispering Pines compound. Mike was dubious at us staying at a compound for the word conjured up images of the Branch Davidians in Waco. For me, “compound” brings to mind the Kennedy’s retreat in Hyannisport. We were delighted to see that reality was closer to what I had imagined!
After a short rest, we briefly met our hosts and then headed off to dinner at Boars Breath restaurant – a local fine-dining establishment we frequented during the shoot. Mike and I both enjoyed a bottle of the local Guenoc wine during dinner and arrived at the screening sufficiently relaxed. The place was packed with familiar faces eager to see what we had shot two years ago. After welcoming everyone we dashed out (there is only so many times we can watch the damn thing) and returned 90 minutes later for the Q&A.
The response was terrific and the comments very generous. The entire audience stayed for the 30 minute session, some offering up corrections to spellings in the end credits! It’s always fun for us when both Mike and I are there for the Q&A, as we offer differing perspectives and commentary on the experience. A special treat was the attendance in the audience of local actress Margaret Beach who played the travel agent. Also in the audience were local county officials Kelly Cox and Debra Sommerfield, both of whom were key to bringing the production up to Lake County and without whose help the film would not have been possible. Also there was Sandy Tucker, the super nice rep from Lake Langtry Vineyards who was instrumental in securing the Guenoc Wine property.
The sad note was that Tom was scheduled to join us, and his death just a few days earlier was constantly on my mind. It was difficult at times to see him on the screen, but I will forever be proud of the fact that I played a role in the realization of his life-long dream to be a film actor.
Although, like cell reception, the GPS connection was spotty in the mountains of Lake County, but we managed to find our way back up to Whispering Pines (the town, not the resort where we housed the crew during production) and settled in for the night.
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