Montana filmmaker's 'Saving For The Day,' a love letter to Missoula
MISSOULA, Mont. — A movie set in Missoula, written and directed by a Montana man, and starring Montana actors, premiered at the Roxy Theater in Missoula this week.
'Saving For The Day' runs at the Roxy through Thursday.
For director/writer, John D. Nilles, it was a 12-year odyssey to bring his action-adventure to the screen.
He told NBC Montana the picture is his "love letter to Missoula and to Montana."
Since he was a kid growing up in the Bitterroot, John knew he wanted to make movies.
Back in 1988, when he was six years old, a Hollywood film crew came to Hamilton to make a cops and robbers caper called 'Disorganized Crime.'
John, like many in Hamilton watched that movie being filmed.
"They filmed around the corner from our house," he said. "It was a big deal. That was really exciting, and I just wanted to be a part of it.”
For John, 'Disorganized Crime' planted the filmmaking seed.
“My mom bought me a video camera," he said, " which was probably the best investment she ever made.”
In school, John became " the kid with the camera."
He started making action movies.
In high school, John and his friends made "a 70's style buddy-cop film."
"We jumped my old 1981 Oldsmobile station wagon over Cherry Orchard Loop, " he said. "Sparks flew. It was pretty foolish. But we did it over and over."
"At lunch," he said, "everyone came home from school to the premiere in my mom's living room."
He devoured everything he could about filmmaking.
"I was self-taught," he said. "My mind was a sponge, and I was just absorbing as much filmmaking content as I could."
He made a full-length film on an old wind up16-millimeter camera.
Then, he packed his belongings and headed to Hollywood.
“I only ended up staying about 8 months," he said. " Coming from a really small town in Montana to Los Angeles was just overwhelming.”
He missed home.
He wanted to make contemporary westerns.
What better place to do that but in Montana?
“So, I came back home and made another film," he said, " and made another and I just kept making films here.”
'Saving for the Day' is the director's most expansive work to date.
It's the story of Joe Bell.
Joe is an accountant and somewhat of a hermit.
“He’s scared to go live his life," said John of his character. " He suffers from the arrival fallacy, meaning he is saving for the day when his real life will begin.”
Joe won't have fun or seek adventures until he is rich.,
“He’s given this chest by this cryptic old timer whose known as the clockmaker, " said John of the plot. "The chest is full with untold millions in treasure and it’s accidentally locked. And Joe is set on a series of adventures to find the key.”
Of course, there's a romance.
“He finds the key around the neck of a very determined, quirky, funny, beautiful character named Abby," said John, " and ultimately Joe has to decide between love or money."
Andy Shirtliff plays Joe.
Lindsey Zachariasen plays Abby.
“The lead actors, Andy Shirtliff and Lindsay Zachariasen are both from western Montana," said John. "Andy was born in Butte. Lindsey was born in Missoula.”
The director said 'Saving for the Day' isn't a "big Hollywood movie."
“ All the people that worked on it volunteered out of passion," he said. " We are all local Montanans who wanted to make some movie magic.”
The story is told through John's favorite film genres, like westerns, science fiction and film noir.
“I’m gonna’ take a little cowboy. We’re gonna’ get some aliens," he said. "Let’s go for a film noir detective, let’s go for a knight in shining armor, and let’s combine them."
The film, he said, takes a " little nibble of each to make it a cohesive story.”
One of 'Saving for the Day's' main character is Missoula itself.
“We never explicitly say that the film is set in Missoula," he said, " but you couldn’t make the film without Missoula.”
Movie goers who know Missoula can't miss the landmarks.
John showed us an alley off Orange Street, where the crew shot Joe and Abby's first meeting.
They shot in the Florence Hotel and at Missoula County's historic courthouse.
“There are multiple motifs running through the film," said John. " I tried to show the M (on Mount Sentinel) as much as possible."
The movie features stunning shots of Missoula in the fall.
"Missoula is really beautiful in the fall, he said. "I would absolutely say Missoula is a character in the film."
There's a sword fight off Waterworks Hill.
“We filmed during magic hour, meaning the last hour of daylight," he said, while walking through the area. "We had to come up here at least 20 times.”
John knows Montana light.
He knows Montana.
“My great-great-great grandparents homesteaded in the Bitterroot," he said. " They came from Missouri via oxen train.”
His family's pioneer history made westerns a natural fit for John.
He was weaned on the old stories.
“As a fifth-generation Montanan, I’ve always felt a sense of pride about living here and listening to the stories of my parents and grandparents," he said. "It has inspired me to become a storyteller myself.”
As a family man, John will be passing those old stories onto his own kids.
“I wanted to make an entertaining family film," he said. “There are so many stories that I want to tell, and I don’t have to leave Montana to tell them all.”
