Almost two years after Michael Harring took the helm as a first-time director, his lighthearted movie “The Mountain, the River and the Road” has premiered in national and Seattle film festivals. And the reactions are surprising, he said.
“People seem to enjoy the romance. For a couple of people, it nailed the feeling of falling in love,” he said.
A 1997 Oak Harbor High School graduate, Harring began filming in 2007, after leaving a film job in Los Angeles. Like many industry newcomers, the process was a struggle for the 30-year-old. He moved back into his parents’ Dugualla Bay home to write, raise money and find actors for his own feature-length film.
“It was my all or nothing approach. I threw everything I had into the movie,” Harring said.
Harring describes “The Mountain” as a quiet, slow-building love story. We meet Jeff (Justin Rice), a failing post-college writer as he’s being kicked out of his parents’ house. He starts on a road trip with his buddy Tom (Joe Swanberg) for a final grasp at youthful freedom, but they don’t get far. Their car breaks down in Kernville, Calif. and Tom must leave for Seattle to resolve his relationship problems.
Staying behind in Kernville, Jeff begins a friendship with a shy motel clerk (Tipper Newton) which flowers into romance.
The movie made its national premiere at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, Ala. in September, however, an early time slot led to a disappointing turnout. It’s Washington debut Oct. 2 was much larger. “The Mountain” was chosen as the opening movie for the Northwest Film Forum’s Local Sightings Festival in Seattle.
“It’s great to see it with an audience,” Harring said. “The response has been really positive.”
The script was inspired by Harring’s real-life experiences, such as early road trips from Oak Harbor to Kernville to visit his grandparents. In a few scenes, his family members were recruited as actors and most of the filming was done at a motel owned by his aunt and uncle.
His parents’ house in Oak Harbor acted as a mini-camp for his crew.
“All the cars parked outside of my parent’s place and we had sleeping bags and inflatable beds on the floor,” Harring said.
The result was a very personal film, which Seattle critics have called “sweet,” “authentic,” and “low-key but impressive.”
Harring still isn’t sure if filmmaking will be a viable career but he’s happy to continue with it in the meantime. He’s living in Seattle now and shooting his next film, “Lauren is Missing,” a drama about an unusual woman who doesn’t report her missing roommate to the police.
He’s working with a distributor for “The Mountain” and hopes to have the film on DVD soon. Harring’s other works, including music videos and short films such as “Cardinal” and “Driving Around, Following Strangers” can be seen at www.cardinalpictures.com.
