The fictionalized movie tale of a real dolphin helped make a Clearwater aquarium famous.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
But can another animal-based film do the same for an actual horse rescue ranch near Orlando? Michael Bavota says yes, and he’s not only the primary writer for the film “The DreamCatcher’s Ranch,” but he’s one of the stars as well.
“We were completely inspired by the ranch,” Bavota said of DreamCatcher Horse Ranch and Rescue, a large piece of property in Clermont that boards more than 60 rescued horses. “The director and executive producer, Ricky DiMaio, got this idea that he wanted to do a film about what life would be like on the ranch with fictional characters.”
And DiMaio found Bavota, a retired seafood distributor now living in Zephyrhills, to craft that story. Bavota, in turn, drafted actress and writer Kaylea Grace, and the two spent more than 140 hours writing what would become the story of a family struggling to secure the future of their ranch that’s directly in the way of a major highway project.
“We worked seven 20-hour days doing this,” Bavota said. “We would stay at the director’s house in Orlando, starting in the morning, and not finishing until the next morning at 5. We wrote day and night, and it just came out beautiful.”
Bavota and Grace fell in love with two characters they created, Grandpa Jim and Kelly, and decided the film couldn’t go forward unless they could play those roles — something DiMaio had no hesitation agreeing to. Yet, until a few years ago, Bavota never imagined himself ever working in front of a camera lens.
While he was living in Boston, Bavota learned through a member of his church that a local production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” was casting.
“I had no experience, but I was told I should audition anyway,” he said. Bavota’s work impressed the stage director, who cast him not only as Lt. Rooney, but Mr. Gibbs as well.
It was working in film, however, that really appealed to Bavota. There was a freedom of not having to be at the theater each day, and only being allowed to focus on one project at a time. So he worked closely with the Orlando film school Full Sail University, and has appeared in a number of other productions as well, such as “The Business Card,” which appeared on the Christian Television Network.
The usually clean-cut Bavota is sporting stubble and long hair as he gets ready to start filming “The DreamCatcher’s Ranch” this week. The entire production is budgeted for $50,000, small even by independent film standards. But that’s because the crew not only has full access to DreamCatcher Ranch, but many of the primary people — especially the actors — have different crew jobs as well.
“What we did is kind of unique,” Bavota said. “Everybody on the film got a job to act, and everybody got an extra job to fill in holes wherever we needed it. This is a way to ensure everyone feels they have ownership of what we’re doing here.”
Although the film is fiction, the stories of some of the various rescued horses on the ranch are real. Bavota has fallen in love with one mare, Blac, that the ranch won in an auction for $10 just minutes before Blac was headed off to a meat-packing plant.
Others have heartbreaking stories of abuse or abandonment, finding a home in Clermont when no others were available.
The ranch itself spends $3,000 a year to care for each horse, Bavota said, with most of those funds recouped by riding lessons and donations. The hope is the film will connect with younger audiences, especially girls, who typically have a fondness for horses, and could help champion the cause of caring for rescued animals.
“We want to help the ranch to attract more volunteers and more funds,” Bavota said. “We want to attract people who can help the owners expand the ranch, so that they can take care of even more rescue animals. And we want to give them a story that will make them stop and think.”
The cast and crew of “The DreamCatcher’s Ranch” are still raising money for the production through the online crowdfunding site Indiegogo. And the hope is to have the film completed by winter so that it can start appearing in film festivals as early as Christmas.
To donate to the project, visit tinyurl.com/DreamCatcherRanch. And to learn more about the actual horse rescue ranch in Clermont, visit DreamCatcherHorses.com.
Published July 9, 2014
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