44 SIDELINES APRIL 2014
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Continued on page 46
Chatting With The Director
In 2009, when Oscar-winning producer Jim Wilson watched
Mine That Bird’s Cinderella story unravel, he knew the odds were
good that the come-from-behind underdog tale would make a
wonderful movie. Jim’s not a stranger to making movies featuring
horses and, for anyone who fell in love with Kevin Costner’s
buckskin horse Cisco in the Academy Award winning Best
Picture
Dances With Wolves
, that was Jim’s doing. Jim is a multi-
talented producer, director and writer, and his producing credits
include
The Bodyguard, Wyatt Earp, Swing Vote, Mr. Brooks
and
Message In A Bottle.
Jim is also a horseman and the saying “it takes one to know
one” rings true in bringing Mine That Bird to life in
50 to 1
. “I’ve
raced horses for 22 years out of Southern California, and I have
a little ranch outside of Los Angeles. I have one daughter who
did a lot of dressage and jumping also,” Jim said, adding that
his parents used to take his family to the racetrack when he was
young and they would sit on the infield and have a picnic.
It wasn’t until
Dances With Wolves
, however, that Jim fell in
love with riding. “When I did
Dances
I really started loving getting
on a good old Quarter Horse and going for a ride on the prairie.
That was when I really became hooked on horses,” he said.
Jim attended the Kentucky Derby four times in person, but
missed it in 2009. “I was watching it on TV and was blown away
by what I saw,” he said. “I knew I wanted to meet the owners
and the trainer, they sounded like real fish out of water and I love
that type of tale. They were real cowboys. I was very inspired
watching the race.”
Jim teamed up with Faith Conroy to write and produce the
movie. Faith described the movie as a “feel-good film and a
real romp, but also a film with a great message of hope for the
dreamers of the world.”
“It really is about getting out there and taking chances,”
Faith said. “Jim and I were crazy enough to leap off a cliff and
give it a go, and here we are, three and a half years later, with
a film we’re really proud of. It was a huge gamble with loads of
obstacles along the way, but like Chip says in the movie, ‘Life
ain’t worth much if all you do is play it safe.’”
Jim and the cast and crew were able to experience their own
dream come true when they spent two weeks filming at Churchill
Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. “They gave us carte
blanche on where we could go. We actually used the same
stall that Mine That Bird had for the Derby and real-life jockey
Calvin Borel plays himself in the movie. Recreating the Derby
and the winner’s circle was a highlight – it was magic and fun
movie making. We had a lot of horses, hundreds of extras and
when you pull it off, it really works! Being at Churchill Downs with
Calvin, my actors and horses was the pinnacle for me.”
While Jim was heavily invested in making a great horse movie
that horse and non-horse people alike would cheer for, he was
also invested financially. “It was self-financed so we were able to
take the handcuffs off and make it a colorful piece. I’ve never had
more freedom as a director. Because I know the medium, I know
the world I was working in – horses – I was able to direct like I
hadn’t been able to before. I was closer to being a pure director
in those 40 days than I’d ever been.”
Riding With Christian Kane
For a horse movie to succeed it should star actors who know
the front end from the back end of a horse. Cue Christian Kane.
A self-described “cowboy,” Christian plays the rough and tumble
co-owner of Mine That Bird, Mark Allen.
“I grew up in Oklahoma and my mom and dad rode rodeo.
I consider myself a cowboy, so when I got the fortunate task of
Mark Allen (Christian Kane)
