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Prairie Rascals

It’s time to announce a new Bonehill Films production. Making Gwenevere over the past couple of years has been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done, so we’re going to try our luck in another genre which combines wild landscapes, dressing up, and a cavalier attitude to historical accuracy. We’re making a Western.

Of course, most Westerns are filmed in America, and ours will be filmed in Devon, which might seem to put us at a considerable disadvantage. But our local bit of Devon looks like this…


…and I think we can turn it into America with this one simple trick:


(Banjo music intensifies.)

Actually, I like the audacity of pretending Dartmoor is the Old West, and we’ll be joining in a time-honoured tradition - the first ever Western was filmed in Blackburn, and I remember my grandad telling me how as a boy he watched actors dressed as cowboys and Indians making films in Brighton, probably before the Great War. 

Our film will be a hard-hitting tale of wrongdoing and revenge called Prairie Rascals. We’ll be welcoming back several of the cast of Gwenevere, including Rosanna Lambert, Laura Frances Martin and Arran Hawkins, and I’ll also be looking for some new actors. I’m hoping to draw cast and crew from the local area as much as possible, in order to keep to keep transport costs and travel faff to a minimum, so if you live in The Dartmoor/Exeter/Plymouth area and are interested in appearing, or helping out in any way, please get in touch. There are props, costumes, and locations to find, and some sort of modular frontier homestead set to build.

Marika Keen, who played a lady in waiting in Gwenevere and was also a tireless behind-the-scenes helper shot some video while we were filming, which I’ve just uploaded to the Bonehill Films YouTube channel. Hopefully, we’ll have just as much fun filming Prairie Rascals (only with actual horses this time).



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24 February 2024 at 11:37
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