Below we have a recording of the live press conference that occurred in Los Angeles Sunday morning October 8, 2017 featuring nine people associated with the movie about the Granite Mountain Hotshots, “Only the Brave”.
On June 30, 2013 19 members of the crew were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona. Of the 20 Hotshots, the only one that survived was Brendan McDonough. In the photo above, Brendan is on the left in the front row and was introduced as a creative consultant. One of the actors mentioned that he was on the set almost every day. Seated in the front row to Brendan’s left (L to R) are Miles Teller (he plays Brendan in the film), Josh Brolin (Eric Marsh), Jennifer Connelly (Amanda Marsh), and Jeff Bridges (Duane Steinbrink).
In the back row (L to R) are Joseph Kosinski (Director), Taylor Kitsch (Chris MacKenzie), James Badge Dale (Jesse Steed), and Pat McCarty (former Granite Mountain Hotshot, served as a consultant).
(Originally published at 7:35 p.m. MDT September 27, 2017)
Today I was looking back at what I wrote at 6:15 p.m. MDT June 30, 2013, the day 19 firefighters were killed in the line of duty on the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona. What initially got my interest was the fact that a fire that had been burning for only about 48 hours had ordered a Type 1 Incident Management Team — a little unusual, but not unheard of, for a young fire.
That evening I found some intermittent live video from ABC15, a photo posted on Twitter by Jeffrey Blackburn (@lensjb) showing very active fire behavior, and a post by @wildfirediva saying three large air tankers and two Very Large Air Tankers were working the fire.
But the one that really got my attention was this:
#YarnellHill Fire: Multiple burn patients. Landing zone for medical helicopters at Yarnell Fire Station. #azfire
…They were heroes — highly-skilled professionals who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm’s way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet. … But today, Michelle and I join all Americans in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of these brave firefighters and all whose lives have been upended by this terrible tragedy.
The 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots that were killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire.
I continued to update the story on a near-real-time basis for the next five days.
Now as October 20 grows closer I have been thinking more frequently about what happened 1573 days before that date.
On October 20 a movie “based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots” will be widely released — Only the Brave. Many firefighters, former firefighters, and those closely associated with those 19 individuals are apprehensive about this, perhaps for a variety of reasons. How will the producers, writers, actors, and the director treat this event that that still deeply touches a large number of people? Can a for-profit company make a commercial movie about a very sensitive fatal incident that does not take advantage of deep-seated feelings and in some instances mild or serious cases of posttraumatic stress disorder?
The film is not a documentary, so it is a given that it will take liberties with the actual facts. It has to tell a story, and most movie treatments have a conflict that eventually is resolved — or not. What will that conflict be in this adaptation of the story?
Many of the outdoor scenes were shot in northern New Mexico in the Santa Fe area where the fuels and terrain are very different from the fatality site on the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona.
And, the objective of the makers of the project, Black Label Media, Columbia Pictures, and Sony, is to make money.
These issues do not mean it can’t be a great film after which most moviegoers will leave feeling uplifted, or at least satisfied that the events and the real people involved, many still alive today, were treated fairly and honestly.
This project is not unprecedented. There have probably been hundreds of movies made based on real events in which dozens or hundreds of people died. Some were great, and others were not.
Little real information about the movie has been disclosed. There have been a couple of trailers, mostly based on action scenes. I have not seen anything about the story behind the action, or what drives the characters.
There have been a few quotes from actors and a producer that have been encouraging. The word “hero” has been used in describing the Hotshots. Here’s the official description of the film:
It’s not what stands in front of you… it’s who stands beside you. Only the Brave, based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of one unit of local firefighters that through hope, determination, sacrifice, and the drive to protect families, communities, and our country become one of the most elite firefighting teams in the nation. As most of us run from danger, they run toward it – they watch over our lives, our homes, everything we hold dear, as they forge a unique brotherhood that comes into focus with one fateful fire.
Molly Smith, an executive with Black Label Media, said it’s the film she’s most proud of:
We hope you feel, when you see it, as patriotic and proud as we have to have some of the greatest firefighters in the world constantly putting themselves out there for our well being. The ones who have lost their lives we honor respectfully every day, and the ones who wake up covered with dirt and ash and stale coffee on their breath (and always a ribbing laughter) we salute you again and again and again. I hope you feel we have represented you well.
A few weeks ago in an Entertainment Weekly interview, Josh Brolin (Eric Marsh, Crew Superintendent in the film) who for a while was a volunteer firefighter in Arizona, talked about how the actors in the movie still maintain regular contact even after the filming ended a year ago:
This was different, probably because of the subject matter. Nobody’s willing to let it go.
The film has the potential to have some realistic elements. At least one former Granite Mountain Hotshot provided advice as it was being made. The firefighter-actors participated in a multi-day fire boot camp before filming began. The pictures I have seen show the actors wearing typical wildland firefighting gear, and Granite Mountain Hotshot’s actual crew buggies were used.
“Only the Brave” opens in theaters October 20, 2017.
In about seven weeks the new movie “based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots” will be in theaters. In 2013, 19 members of the crew were entrapped and killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire south of Prescott, Arizona.
Not many many movies have been built around wildland firefighters. There was Red Skies of Montana that in 1952 introduced the myth of exploding trees, and Firestorm brought us Howie Long in 1998. Always was a good movie, but it was not really about wildland fire. So, many of us will be skeptical while waiting for Only the Brave to open on October 20.
However, there are reasons to be optimistic. Black Label Media which produced the film also made the award winning La La Land (Golden Globe Best Picture, Musical or Comedy), a story that could not be more different from Only the Brave, but it at least indicates that skilled personnel are employed by the company.
Molly Smith, an executive with Black Label, said it’s the film she’s most proud of. On her Instagram page she wrote:
We hope you feel, when you see it, as patriotic and proud as we have to have some of the greatest firefighters in the world constantly putting themselves out there for our well being. The ones who have lost their lives we honor respectfully every day, and the ones who wake up covered with dirt and ash and stale coffee on their breath (and always a ribbing laughter) we salute you again and again and again. I hope you feel we have represented you well.
The film has quite a few well-known actors, including Josh Brolin (plays Eric Marsh), Jeff Bridges (Duane Steinbrink), Jennifer Connelly (Amanda Marsh), Andie McDowell, Miles Teller (Brendan McDonough), and James Badge Dale.
In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Mr. Brolin, who for a while was a volunteer firefighter in Arizona, talked about how the actors in the movie still maintain regular contact:
This was different, probably because of the subject matter. Nobody’s willing to let it go.
The Director of the film about the Granite Mountain Hotshots just recently completed the final edits and has released the official trailer (above).
Supposedly it tells the story of the 19 firefighters that were entrapped and killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona June 30, 2013. One crewmember who was not with the others at the time of the burnover and survived, Brendan McDonough, is listed in the credits as a Creative Consultant.
The images shown here are from the website and the trailer.
The name of the film has changed, from No Exit, to Granite Mountain, and finally to Only The Brave: Based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. The release date has been pushed from September to October 20.
A number of books and articles have been written about the tragedy, but the producers say the film is based on an article published in GQ Magazine titled No Exit, by Sean Flynn.
GQ published an article today featuring an interview with the Director, Joseph Kosinski. Here’s an excerpt in which he talks about casting:
..The two roles I cast first were Eric Marsh and Brendan McDonough. Josh Brolin was always at the top of my list. I flew out to Asheville, North Carolina, where he was filming another movie, and sat down with him on a Saturday afternoon. I talked him through the vision I had for this film, and the importance of this story, and he got it instantly. He had actually worked as a volunteer firefighter at one point in his life, and he had lived in Prescott, Arizona, at one point. He felt an instant connection to the material and the story; that got him interested.
Before production began, the director hired two former members of Granite Mountain who put the 20 actors playing the parts of firefighters through a two-week “Hotshot camp”.
Here’s another excerpt from the GQ article about the reaction to the film from the Granite Mountain family members.
I just finished the film two weeks ago, so we’re just starting to show it to the family members now. The reaction so far has been everything I would have hoped and more—which, to me, is almost the most important thing. I believe so wholeheartedly in [the Granite Mountain Hotshots’] story being a heroic one, and one that needs to be told. Of all the opinions on a film, [the family members’ reaction] is one that truly matters to me on the deepest level. And so far, every reaction I’ve gotten from the family members is that we did our job.
The film about the Granite Mountain Hotshots is set to begin production on Monday, and will attempt to tell the story of the 20-person crew of wildland firefighters that were all killed on the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013 except for one survivor, Brendan McDonough.
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has hired a very impressive cast including Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Andie MacDowell, Jennifer Connelly, and Taylor Kitsch. (IMDB has a full list of the cast.)
Below is an excerpt from an AP article:
The producers behind a movie about the elite firefighting team that lost 19 members in a 2013 Arizona wildfire assure the story focuses on the firefighters’ dedication, not the way in which they died.
The movie will be filming in Santa Fe, Los Alamos and several other cities in New Mexico through early September. It is slated to open in theaters in September 2017.
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said the plot will focus on Eric Marsh, who led the crew, and Brendan McDonough, the only surviving hotshot crew member. He said it will not focus on tragedy or the exact details of the fire.
“This movie is about the lives of these people and what they were trying to put on the line, and what it meant to them to do what they were doing and what it meant to the community to have them doing it,” he said.
Brolin will play Marsh, who was superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew, with Connolly playing his wife, Amanda Marsh.
The film about the Yarnell Hill Fire that has been in the planning and casting stages for months will begin production on Monday, June 13. Much of it will be shot near Santa Fe, New Mexico. If the director does as well at making the film as he did at hiring a cast, it should be a hit. The actors announced so far include Josh Brolin, Andie MacDowell, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jeff Bridges, Taylor Kitsch, James Badge Dale, and Ben Hardy.
…“This movie’s not about tragedy,” said producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. “This movie is about the lives of these people and what they were trying to put on the line, and what it meant to them to do what they were doing and what it meant to the community to have them doing it.”
That’s important to Amanda Marsh, the widow of Eric Marsh, who was killed in the fire. She will be played by Jennifer Connelly; Josh Brolin plays Eric.
“I want the world to understand what it is like to be a hotshot and what it is like to be a hotshot wife,” she said. “Neither is easy. Both come with their own sense of deep responsibility and commitment to the job. I hope Eric’s personality comes through and that people get a sense of who Eric was.”…
Producer di Bonaventura intends to concentrate on four or five people, but said two characters drive the film — Eric Marsh, the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew Superintendent, and Brendan McDonough, the sole survivor. He does not plan to concentrate in detail on exactly what led to the crew of 19 firefighters being overrun by fire and killed — or why.
More from AZCentral:
…The tragedy will not be ignored, of course. It’s just not the focus of the film. Di Bonaventura compared it to “The Perfect Storm,” the 2000 film in which George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg play commercial fisherman on a doomed trip. “The event they lost their lives in in that movie is probably, I don’t know, I’m guessing it’s five minutes of that movie, a two-hour movie,” he said. “It’s very similar here. It’s sort of a blue-collar-value kind of job, very Americana.”
“How they do what they do is very fascinating,” he said. “It’s unbelievably committed, it is hardcore physical exertion. It takes a real strong will to go through with the experience, and that is the thing that I hope people come away from the movie with, the appreciation of what it takes to do this. And I don’t mean necessarily the physical skill, but on an emotional level, what is the commitment? That is why we have taken on this story, is because we are awed by what they do and how they do it. ”…
Lionsgate, the studio producing the film, which has been re-titled “Granite Mountain”, has selected a September 22, 2017 release date.
