Movie is a hit at premiere

That was the description of writer/director Cameron Watson about the reaction to the world premiere of "Our Very Own," the Shelbyville native's feature film directorial debut at last week's Los Angeles Film Festival.

"It was an amazing success, it could not have gone better," Watson said. With over 600 attending the sold out premiere and the movie receiving a standing ovation, the future success of the film appears to be all but certain.

"The audience was so behind it," Watson said. "They laughed in all the right places, they cried at the end. It was a dream screening, it really was fantastic."

The film, conceived by Watson, is a semi-autobiographic tale set in Shelbyville in 1978 starring Allison Janney, Keith Carradine and Cheryl Hines, along with rising stars Jason Ritter, Autumn Reeser, and Hilarie Burton.

Five local teens are excited about the return of Sondra Locke, who starred with her then-partner, Clint Eastwood, in several films of the era, including "Any Which Way But Loose." The teenagers hope to follow the movie star out of Shelbyville, but at the same time, one of the group is facing a personal family crisis.

Watson said that the date of the Shelbyville premiere hasn't been set in stone, but they are now looking at the second weekend in August.

With the first screening being standing room only, Watson noted that many film makers and industry executives attended the world premiere.

"There were a lot of distribution people in the audience, a lot of producers," Watson said. "It was a heavy industry audience ... and sometimes it's a hard audience, saying 'prove to me this is good' ... we didn't have that at all, it was just full of joy and fun."

"They got it. They were moved by it."

The director described the reaction as exactly what has been happening during the test screenings of the film. "It says to us that the film reaches beyond the small town, Southern specific thing," Watson explained. "It's people from all walks of life that are responding to it, based on the screening at the festival."

The next step for the film maker is obtaining distribution. Watson said they have had a tremendous response from studios and buyers that were at the festival. The director explained that they have been getting a lot of calls requesting a private studio screening.

"Over the next few weeks, the print will be bicycled around to all the different studios and distribution companies that want to take a private look at it," Watson said. "We've have several very good people sniffing around and inquiring." In fact, a private screening has been set up this week for a "pretty major studio."

"The word of mouth in Hollywood on this film is very positive," Watson said. "The buzz is incredibly high pitched."

Another aspect of the film is the return of Mary Badham to the world of movies. Badham played Scout in the classic film, "To Kill A Mockingbird," and came out of retirement after 39 years.

"We were one of the only films in the film festival to get a feature article with the Los Angeles Times, which of course is coveted space," Watson said. "They so responded to the Mary Badham story that they ran the feature on her the day we screened the film, so that was pretty major coverage." The article was picked up and run in several overseas publications, generating worldwide press.

Meanwhile, the first review on the movie has been published and is overwhelmingly positive. Tommy Wilson-O'Brien of the magazine LA Splash says that the nostalgic story is "brilliantly told" in Watson's first film.

"It took me back to how life once was and I wish it still were -- what a treat and delightful walk down memory lane!!" O'Brien writes.

The review covers the plot of the film and goes into detail about the unique supporting characters, some of whom long time residents may identify with, and states that the performances were all outstanding. " ...all the performances and I mean ALL, were right on the money. They were real and put you there. A rare and seldom-seen treat in this industry," O'Brien says.

The reviewer concludes with: "I highly recommend "Our Very Own." I can only assume and look forward to more quality film making from this team."

Cameron said one movie buff who travels the country attending film festivals saw the movie twice during the event and later ran into Janice Cole of Shelbyville, recognizing her from her brief scene as a lady in a hat during the horse show sequence.

"He said, 'I loved the movie so much I saw it twice, and I love that town,'" Cameron said, quoting the new fan. "'I'm headed back to Florida, but I'm going to get my family and do a little trip up to Shelbyville. I can't wait to see that town now.'"

The experience was repeated during Cameron's interview with a nationally syndicated radio show. The interviewer had seen the film "and the first thing out of her mouth was 'Shelbyville, Tennessee, your home town is the location of this wonderful movie. Tell me all about it because it just jumps off the screen and I want to go there.'"

"We wanted it to be a valentine to the town, and I think it really is." Watson said.