An Evening With "Lone Ranger" Crew Members

            Hello friends, I hope everyone’s doing well. I am actually feeling somewhat melancholic as I type this blogpost because I’m sitting at my last class at Full Sail University. Thanks to this master’s program, I started this blog and have been blessed to meet new people through here. I want to thank my 300 unique visitors and the over 4,000 people who have viewed my blog this past year. But anyway, as a 1^st AD I worked with once said, “There’s no crying in film.”

            My topic for today is about a Q&A panel I attended a week ago at Full Sail. The event was hosted by “Women in Film & Television Florida” and featured three crewmembers from Disney’s The Lone Ranger. The panel consisted of Andrew Campbell (production assistant), Ann-Maree Hurley (make-up artist), and Todd Warren (stunt double for Johnny Depp).

            All three of them spoke to students and guests about how they got started in the industry, what other films they have worked on, and the overall experience working on the Jerry Bruckheimer film.

            They all agreed that one of the most challenging aspects of working on this film was shooting in the middle of the desert in Arizona under infernal conditions, as well as experiencing some sandstorms occasionally. The shoot took nine months to complete and took place in five different states. For Todd, he said the most challenging thing he had to do was a “yo-yo” stunt while riding a horse.

            The panel lasted a couple of hours, and of course, someone in the audience had to ask them towards the end what their thoughts on the box-office results are. For those of you who don’t know, the film hasn’t been doing too well considering that the budget was $215 million. However, it is still being released in other countries and I mean, most of a summer "blockbuster's" profit is made overseas. Ann-Maree has seen it five times and loves it more each time she sees it. They are all proud of the end product and encouraged the crowd to show some love and go see it. Based on everything I learned at this panel, I am definitely taking some time to go see it and I’m looking forward to it. If you have seen it, what are your thoughts on the film?