Haarmeyer movie gets early screening in Lea
Levi Hill/News-Sun
LOVINGTON — There is one thing you notice quickly when you sit down for an interview with independent filmmaker and author Mary Haarmeyer — she is a live wire, a runaway train of energy.
And after an hour of listening to her tell you about the challenges of making a movie you realize only someone that vivacious could ever be a movie director.
From make-up crews arriving late, to weather, to lead actors getting the flu, to having a herd of boisterous cows mucking up every take with their incessant mooing, to only having three months to prepare for the film versus the usual six, making a movie like Haarmeyer’s “Vengeful” is not for the faint of heart.
“I faced so many limitations while filming this movie,” Haarmeyer said after adding the 15-day shoot was shorter as well than normal 25-30-day shoots for a film like “Vengeful.” “We had no wardrobe department for the first four days of filming. I just got back from eight days of post-production. You think color correction would be easy. No. It took 15 hours a day for days going frame-by-frame.”
Color correction was a problem because New Mexico’s skies and actors’ faces tend to “white wash” under our glaring sun.
“When you finish a movie, if you are lucky enough to still have a budget, you have color correction,” Haarmeyer said. “It looks so rich now. Sound, you don’t think about sound in a movie. If it is good, you don’t notice it.”
But getting there is a challenge. Haarmeyer was watching post-production of the film and a scene where the lead actor is pouring the salt from a bucket sounded wrong. Turns out the sound file used — because the microphones could not pick it up during filming — was sand being poured from a plastic bucket. In the movie, the actor is pouring coarse salt from a metal bucket. At other times sound files included two footsteps when it should only have been one. It is a million and one tiny details Haarmeyer must fix on the fly both before, during and after filming.
And perhaps that is why “Vengeful” feels like such a success — because, despite the challenges, the film is garnering a lot of attention and careers are being made from it.
“I love to help people’s dreams come true,” Haarmeyer said. “I know how hard it is to kick and scratch and beat your head against the wall. Some people, that is all they need — that moment.”
And that may be why she shines talking about what her film is already doing for Lea. The film’s lead actor has had dozens of new auditions thanks to his performance in the film and at least two local residents have landed movie agents.
“I have so many people who worked on it wanting to put that in their reels for their resumes,” she said. “It makes me happy we have created something so wonderful.”
Hollywood is taking notice of Lea County as well, she said.
“You wouldn’t believe how many producers — Netflix, Universal — kept asking, ‘Where is this,’” Haarmeyer said of the reaction to the film trailer and a promotional video for Lea County that was shown at a recent movie recruitment event in Albuquerque. “They kept saying, ‘This place looks phenomenal.’”
“When I was in Albuquerque, there were probably half a dozen people who have talked to me there and subsequently about bringing a production to Lea County,” said Film New Mexico’s Lea County agent Charlene Upton. “They were like, ‘Where has this place been hiding?’”
Upton said many have been blown away by how easy Lea County is to work with.
“They had no idea we were in the State of New Mexico and so many things they have asked about are just a phone call away,” she said. “They will say, ‘I need this,’ and I will tell them, ‘I can get that any time.’ It really surprises them.”
There is a pilot for a western TV series currently filming near Santa Fe. If the pilot sells, Haarmeyer said it is slated to be brought to Lea County to film the ongoing series.
Upton has been in contact with many film and television producers already interested in Lea, including a horror movie project out of Austin and a filmmaker from London. All because of “Vengeful.”
Haarmeyer is opening a brick-and-mortar home for Film Lea County, her partnership program “Dreamers Defy” YouTube channel and a publishing company, Of Stars and Magic Publishing. The space would support acting classes, live and filmed auditions, interviews for Dreamers Defy and book signings for our publishing company’s authors.
“Together, these ventures aim to enrich our community, create opportunities and show the film industry that Lea County is ready to welcome their projects,” she said.
Also the location may be used for acting classes.
“They want to bring an acting coach and casting director to give workshops for our community for free,” Haarmeyer said of Film New Mexico. “This one film has opened a lot of doors.”
So, what about the film? Is it getting picked up? Haarmeyer thinks so.
“We have several distribution companies considering it. They want to put it in theaters first,” she said. “They want to release it next October, for Halloween.”
The film is a psychological thriller that may, or may not, involve vengeance from beyond the grave.
What about Haarmeyer herself?
She is already moving ahead with other productions, but has had requests from producers to direct several other projects and even some asking about a sequel to “Vengeful.”
What about for Lea County residents? Well, that’s another area that excites Haarmeyer. The film will get shown to the public twice on Oct. 24 at 7 and 9 p.m. at the Lea Theater in Lovington.
“This is a free screening for the community. Lea County gets to see it a year before everyone else,” she said.
Local and Hollywood actors from the film are slated to be on hand for a Q&A after the showing.
This may very well be the tip of the Hollywood iceberg for Lea County, but Haarmeyer is adamant the community vet movie companies looking to work here and said that is one of Upton’s jobs — to ensure the right people come to town.
“There is a risk,” Haarmeyer said. “They have to trust us and I believe we did a very good job of showing them they can trust our community. But we have to trust them too. Not all productions are good to your community. You need to know the people coming into your community and that is where Charlene is there to vet them. To make sure they are here and love our community like we love our community.
