DALLAS — If you had told Les Branson when he graduated as one of 11 classmates of the Class of 1977 at Poolville High School he would be making movies someday, he wouldn’t have believed you. His mother, Earlene Branson of Springtown, had wanted him to be a lawyer since he was a youngster.
He never quite made that lawyer his mother had hoped for him to become, but he has made her proud nonetheless with the completion of his feature-length independent film, “Having My Baby,” which will have a free screening open to the public in Fort Worth at the Movie Tavern on South Hulen Street Thursday, Aug. 27.
A lot of things changed in Branson’s life as he grew older, but one thing remained the same — his love of books. And that is what started him on his long journey to independent filmmaking. According to Branson, when he moved to Dallas in 1987, and a friend gave him the book, “Seven Plays,” by Sam Shepard, it was a turning point in his life. It is still one of his favorite books, and he credits that book with giving him the idea to write plays on the side as he started a career in the aerospace industry. He soon made friends with similar interests and together they co-founded Thin Dime Theater Company in Dallas in 1992.
While Branson served as artistic director of the fledgling theater company, he wrote, produced and directed the original plays “Warboots,” “Dead or in Huntsville” and “Hillbilly Karma,” the reviews of which are still available in the Dallas Morning News archives.
Thin Dime Theater Company disbanded in 1997 as the former Parker County resident tried his hand at screenwriting and shopped several scripts to various production companies in Los Angeles.
He was never able to make a sale or find a production company interested in producing one of his scripts, so he and Thin Dime co-founder and friend, Sam Roden, raised the money themselves, and along with friend and cameraman, David Dixon, shot the independent Texas shoot-em up, “Blood is Thicker in Weatherford, Poolville and Dallas” in 1998. They were never able to complete the film, and as filmmaking neophytes made some of what Branson calls “egregious errors,” they still have the original 16mm footage and with modern editing technology, are hopeful someday they can resurrect the project and finish editing the film.
Originally from Chicago, Branson credits growing up most of his life in Parker County on Highway 199 between Poolville and Springtown with infusing him with a rural, country sensibility, which he has used to great effect in his stage plays and movies. His family settled in Parker County from Chicago in 1970.
“Having My Baby” is an action-drama about a fundamentalist Christian who kidnaps his agnostic girlfriend from an abortion clinic parking lot and takes her to the mountains to prevent her from aborting his child, as they are pursued by the FBI and National Guard.
“Having My Baby” premiered in Dallas in July with great results, according to Branson. He is hoping the free screening in Fort Worth will also be a success.
For more information on the Forth Worth screening, call (972) 307-2983 or visit www.havingmybabymovie.com.
Faces
Poolville alumnus’ movie has Fort Worth screening
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Riding to the top
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Amazing Grays, Amazing Grace
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A lifetime in the making
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