After nearly 20 years and a dozen script re-writes, Steve Timm, professor of communication and theater, and Kyle Ham, '94, have decided to pursue making an independent film together.
The film, "Reparation," is an adaptation of the a play that Timm wrote and produced at DePauw University in 1993 titled "The Activist."
"Reparation" is centered on Bob Stevens, a small-town farmer that has a three-year hole in his memory. A stranger appears making the claim that he was Stevens' best friend in the Air Force Security Police. Stevens and his family have to try to discover the truth about the man's identity before it is too late.
The role of Stevens has been given to Jon Huertas, who is known for his roles in "Castle" and "Generation Kill." Marc Menchaca, who is known for his roles in "Homeland" and "Generation Kill," will be the stranger.
"There's a level of satisfaction, I suppose, in sending the script out to professional actors and having them respond, along with their agents and manager, in such a positive way," Timm said. "They're fighting to do the film."
Timm believes their excitement is a reflective of the quality of the script.
"They could certainly take a project and make a lot more money doing another project," Timm said.
A Kickstarter launched last night to raise money for the film, which will begin filming in Greencastle and Putnam County around June 21.
Although Ham and Timm began working on the project shortly after Ham graduated, they decided to pursue the project as an independent film about a year ago.
Ham, who was in the first class Timm taught at DePauw in 1990 and a film studies major, received an internship with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 1995, Ham contacted Timm wanting to turn "The Activist" into a film. Timm joined in. They spent the next few years producing multiple drafts and shot a trailer for the film in 1997.
"Steve and I were still learning to write together," Ham said in a phone interview yesterday afternoon. "Frankly, I was still learning to write at that point. I was in my early 20s and had never written a screenplay before."
In 2002, they gave the film the working title of "The Broken." Producer Bonnie Bruckheimer began circulating the script through Hollywood. The film was considered by directors such as Christopher Nolan, Bruce Beresford, Billy Bob Thornton and Wes Craven. During the next six years, the script would be re-written repeatedly.
"The script went through probably 15 to 20 revisions while it was circulating in Hollywood," Timm said. "Every director that we worked with, and they were talented people, wanted to put their stamp on it or eliminate certain characters."
Then Bruckheimer told them to stop rewriting the script.
"It became a story that we didn't want to tell and a story that we didn't recognize," Timm said.
Timm and Ham believe that this is the time to continue pursuing the project.
"Kyle's at a point in his career where if he's going to be a film maker, he wants to do it now," Timm said. "For me, I'm not at the end of my career, but I'm closer to the end than I am at the beginning."
Ham had personal events that left him with a now or never mentality.
"I started to be aware that maybe I should be making the most of my time, and this film was always something that I was very passionate about, something that I always wanted to make," Ham said. "I picked it up, looked at it, read it and realized I was still deeply in love with it, even though I hadn't touched it in seven years."
Ham, who was senior supervising producer at Discovery Channel, resigned from his position to work on the film full time and will be moving to Greencastle on May 1 to start the pre-production process.
But Ham and Timm are not the film's only connections to DePauw. There is a slew of alumni collaborating on the project. Matthew Lessall, '93, is the casting director and a fellow producer. Lessall was one of the actors in the original production of "The Activist." Kaitlin Klose, '13, is the production coordinator. Tina Anderson, '96, and Brian Harvey, '94, have offered advisory help. Olivia Carmel, '13, is also working on the project, as well as other alumni.
Four current students will serve as interns on the project. The interns include seniors Alex Gasaway and Henry Johnston and juniors Caleb Haydock and Maeve McDonough.
"I immediately wanted to get involved," said Haydock, who is a production intern.
Timm said that DePauw's administration has been supportive of the project.
"They have provided the funding for the interns," Timm said. "They have helped us find housing for the actors and crew. They have given us access to other facilities on campus."
Timm sees working on the film project as a unique opportunity.
"There's something uniquely special about working on a collaborative project," Timm said.
Ham agreed.
"I think that DePauw creates that type of environment where professors and students can actually collaborate on things," Ham said.