Panama City setting adds rich character to indy caper movie

PANAMA CITY — The 2010 and 2011 shot locations included a St. Andrews home, a T-shirt store on the west end of Panama City Beach and Arnold High School, with intermediate flashes of environment taken from all over Bay County.

The shooting was for “A Free Bird,” produced by Scott Mills and Director Gregg Russell, who were inspired by Panama City — Russell on a trip with his wife — by how the environment differed from regular Hollywood haunts.

“It occurred to us that soap operas are always set in these rich environments,” Russell said, thinking of mansions and New York City lofts. “We thought about a soap opera in a lower, socio-economic environment.”

“A Free Bird,” an independent movie recently released on digital platforms, is about a man who loses his job and his car. His plot to exact revenge against his former employer, a steakhouse, is to steal its meat and sell the steaks on the black market. The story only gets stranger from there.

“It’s a little bit on the farce side,” Russell said.

The Panama City area does have experience with weird crimes — a woman trying to shoot a snake on school property, a 12-year-old stealing two school buses and taking them on a joyride, and that’s just two examples from 2014.

Despite the area’s efforts to shed its “Redneck Riviera” stereotype, Panama City’s and Panama City Beach’s reputation proceeded it, making it a captivating setting for a movie.

“It’s a place that’s rich with character,” said Russell, who was high on the Panhandle as a place to shoot movies.

His reasoning for why more movies aren’t set in the Panhandle: “I guess … Hollywood is more in California than you might think.”

About 50 percent of “A Free Bird” was shot in the Panama City area, with interiors shot in Russell’s native Atlanta. He and his wife are former producers and writers at CNN.

Russell’s original idea for the movie, which he also wrote, was to have it be a realistic portrayal of people in an extraordinary situation, his primary influence being “Urban Cowboy.” However, he changed his mind once the movie was cast with talented comedic actors, capable of improvisational riffs. Russell Durham Comeghys plays the lead JT, but George Faughnan’s manic interpretation of Jimmy stood out.

Comeghys is best known for small parts in the “Walking Dead,” “The Gift” with Cate Blanchett and Katie Holmes and “The Punisher.” Co-star Karen-Eileen Gordon starred in the Starz series “Magic City.” However, Stan Houston, who plays Darrell in “A Free Bird,” is drawing the most buzz with his recent turn as Sheriff Jim Clark in the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic “Selma.”

“He’s a natural,” Russell said.

With a favorable cast, Russell changed the way he directed the film, allowing for more improvisation, usually doing at least one scripted take and then a few takes off the page.

“I tried to give them as much opportunity as they could,” Russell said.

“A Free Bird,” even for an independent movie was filmed for a modest budget of less than $1 million. The movie is available for free on Hulu (with intermittent commercials), on-demand with Amazon and Comcast Xfinity, and the DVD can be purchased online from Target and Best Buy.

Russell said he was considering a potential screening in a Panama City movie theater.