Wednesday, August 5, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist Lights. Camera. Cowboys. It was late June, but there was frost on my bedroll when I woke up in the dark at the Murphy Ranch cow camp on South Flat, about 25 miles up the Chewaucan River from Paisley, Oregon. I was there 4 along with cinematographer Samuel Pyke 4 to begin film- ing The Len Babb Movie Project, which was an idea that flashed into my head two months earlier while riding my colt. I had just finished watch- ing a couple of documentary films about cowboys and the life 4 <Fishtail,= and <The Highly Exalted= 4 and couldn9t shake the thought: I can do one better than that. Which was an especially arrogant idea, given I had zero experience making movies. I could barely make my iPhone camera work. But I have learned to listen to that little creative voice 4 in this case it was simply screaming in my ears4and also I am prone to creative manias that smash any fear of failure like an ugly bug. The challenges of mak- ing a world-class movie 4 with world-class production values 4 are immense, but sometimes we arrive at a confluence of vision, preparation, and opportu- nity that9s better left unex- amined. Sometimes we just have to embrace the confidence to go where the waters are taking us. In this case I was drawn to make a film about the Paisley, Oregon, artist and cowboy Len Babb. I wanted to make a film about his 80 years making a living in the saddle 4 a feat almost unheard of anymore 4 and about his accomplished artwork& but also about something else. In an era where it seems we have gone internal, and are intent on devour- ing ourselves, I wanted to make a film about val- ues 4 about faith, family, friends, and community, set against a backdrop of some of Oregon9s most intensely beautiful country 4 and in a town where working cow- boys remain the pillars of a threatened culture. But there was some- thing else. I wanted to get as many local people involved as I could. I wanted origi- nal music from Sisters local musicians 4 Jim Cornelius, Mike Biggers, Lilli Worona, and a talented ZX Ranch cowboy named Jody Cooper 4 and to have Keith Banning at Grange Recorders lay it all down in his Sisters studio. I wanted adult supervision and a local producer, and got one when Cris Converse came on board the project. I wanted Samuel Pyke, a Sisters native, to film it because he has travelled the world with his cam- eras 4 and he has a lot of them 4 filming sequences SUMMER SPECIAL! that are second to nobody. I wanted to build a movie around local collaborations 4 on the production end in Sisters, and on the nar- rative end by Len9s family and friends around Paisley 4 and as far out east as Juntura. All of these big ideas cost money, of course. So one day I sat in my barn while the horses ate and the rain came down and put together a call to action, a request for help, and tossed it out into a world seething in the grip of a pandemic, lousy politics, and appar- ently endless strife. And in the midst of all that ugliness the world has answered with a tremen- dous outpouring of enthu- siasm and assistance, and with an often-expressed desire to see something built around cycles of life, natural beauty, and creativity, rather than cycles of despair, dis- temper, and destruction. That first morning on South Flat, where Len Babb and half dozen other cowboys from neighbor- ing ranches had gathered to help the Murphy9s gather and brand some 800 calves 4 I felt that odd frisson, that elevating lightness of mind, that can only come when a creative project has real legs. Five minutes into film- ing, when the light was per- fect and there was a lace- curtain of steam rising out of Morgan Creek, young Paisley buckaroo Tyler Mecham got in a bronc ride on a cold-backed palomino 4 just as they were trotting out to get around the cows. It was dicey for a minute, but in the end Tyler forked that bronc, and Sam got the shot. WINNEMUCCA, NV OCT. 16-18 | $124 PPDO Date change! RESTORATIVE PEDICURE, $55 EACH! Please this mention ad! Receive $15 slot play, $15 food coupons! LEAVENWORTH, WA NOV. 29-DEC. 1 | $669 PPDO Includes 2 nights Enzian Inn, 2 dinners, 1 sleigh ride and more! 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Connie Boyle 541-508-1500 Box 615 Sisters, OR 97759 15 PHOTO COURTESY SAM PYKE, HILL SHADOW PICTURES Branding at Murphy Ranch, South Flat. The Len Babb Movie Project is an artisan project — with every aspect of the production rooted in Sisters and Central Oregon. And that9s when I knew beyond a doubt 4 come hell or high water 4 we were going to see this all the way to the end. We can never know what will become of our projects in the long run. We build them on a vision, and like children they grow up with their own ideas. This movie project has grown exponen- tially, and in surprising fash- ion, from where it started. It has led to other opportuni- ties. It has helped a spec- trum of people understand how valued they are, and how valued their work is. Which, I think, is ultimately why we create such things: to show care for each other, and to find value in each other. Which is what my cowboy movie is really about. Editor9s note: To view a trailer from The Len Babb Movie Project, visit https:// w w w. g o f u n d m e . c o m / f / len-babb-movie-project or find The Len Babb Movie Project on Facebook. NOW OPEN FOR BROWSING! JOIN US FOR VIRTUAL AUTHOR EVENTS... Thursday 8/6, 6:30 p.m.: LARRY WATSON (The Lives of Edie Pritchard) Thursday 8/13, 6:30 p.m.: GATEWAY TO ROMANCE AUTHOR PANEL Thursday 8/20, 6:30 p.m.: JEFF VANDERMEER and CATHERYNNE VALENTE in conversation Thursday 8/27, 6:30 p.m.: DANIEL MATTHEWS (Trees in Trouble) and VALERIE TROUE (Tree Story) in conversation Friday 8/28, 6 p.m.: WILLA GOODFELLOW (Prozac Monologues) Thursday 9/3, 6:30 p.m.: JANE KIRKPATRICK (Something Worth Doing) Visit PaulinaSpringsBooks.com for more information and to register for events. 541-549-0866 • 252 W. Hood Ave., Sisters