Franklin artist in residence helps bring Hollywood to Hoosiers, proving ‘dreams aren’t dumb’

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument served as the backdrop for the world premiere of “The Duel” at Hilbert Circle Theatre in Indianapolis Sunday. A brass band, Swing Shift Indy, played for the line of people that stretched around the block—but of course, some in attendance didn’t need to wait in line. They used the red carpet, where cameras flashed and fans whooped for the celebrities walking inside.

Gordon Strain, co-owner of Pigasus Pictures and a key figure behind “The Duel,” wore a jacket with “Dreams Aren’t Dumb” in rhinestones on the back. He has been a theatre professor and an artist in residence at Franklin College since 2006 and lives in Franklin with his wife, Dianne Moneypenny, and their 14-year-old daughter, Josephine; he also has a 26-year-old daughter, Darian.

“The Duel” is a feature-length movie about best friends Colin (Dylan Sprouse, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody”) and Woody (Callan McAuliffe, “The Walking Dead”). After Colin sleeps with Woody’s girlfriend, Woody challenges Colin to a classic—albeit recently unconventional way of settling differences—a duel. Their adventure leads them to an antique/dueling emporium owned by a man named Christof (Patrick Warburton, “The Emperor’s New Groove”) and all the way to a drug baron’s estate in Mexico.

In 2016, Strain joined Pigasus Pictures when his former Indiana University peer, Zachary Spicer, was in need of a talented scene designer and asked Strain to help on a movie.

“Pretty quickly in that process, we figured out that I was more useful and doing more than just designing,” Strain said.

In 2020, many years—and films—Strain and Spicer began production on “The Duel”—another opportunity for the two Indiana natives to bring a film production to their home state.

The work begins

Filming began in Indiana during the pandemic, which had its challenges. Strain said they administered around 1,500 COVID-19 tests with no positive cases. Even so, the challenges of quarantine may have helped the chemistry between actors.

“They left us in a house together to quarantine, and [Dylan Sprouse] brought Super Smash Brothers,” said Callan McAuliffe during the after-premiere Q and A. “So maintaining the chemistry was pretty easy because I have a burning hatred for him—because he would beat me every single time,” he joked.

Because of the pandemic, Strain’s daughter was in e-learning, which meant he could bring her to set, which he loved.

“One night [Patrick Warburton,] spent hours playing a game with Josephine,” Strain said. “And you know, she could care less who he is, she just knew that this nice guy was willing to play games with her while she was sitting around so, you know, I just have a lot of little memories like that, that it was like, oh yeah, this was just a good fun time where everything sort of clicked.”

Strain said the cast and crew made the entire experience enjoyable, but it was still not without some unforeseen hiccups.

He got a call one day that they needed a 400-pound pig for filming, which he thought was impossible, but he eventually landed on Bashi, a pig from Spotted Pig Farm in Franklin. Only one problem, they didn’t have permission to have pig at their filming location.

“You know, we would rather ask forgiveness than permission for this one. So we snuck the pig into the catacombs under [Indianapolis] City Market, and we sort of had a little makeshift-like pen for him,” Strain said.

Local mission

Part of Strain and Spicer’s mission as an Indiana film company is to show that movies like this can be produced in the state. If you look closely, you may spot a few Indianapolis favorites in “The Duel,” like Fountain Square’s Inferno Room tiki bar, the catacombs beneath City Market, Midland Arts & Antiques, and Asherwood, the former estate of Mel and Bren Simon in Carmel.

“Zach is from Greencastle originally, and I’m from Indianapolis originally. So part of our mission is to get people to not leave the state, to prove that we can do this kind of work here,” Strain said, “and to make it exciting for other people. … So like, [to show] kids who are going to Franklin or IU or wherever they’re going, if they care about filmmaking, hey, it can happen here.”

One of the reasons other film production companies have struggled to make films in Indiana has to do with taxes. Until 2022, when the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 361, filmmakers were fighting for tax credits for media production in Indiana that many other states already had. Still, the credit needs work and has issues with outside investors that are still limiting filmmakers’ budgets.

Part of filming in Indiana on a small budget meant being creative in choosing locations, like the Blue Springs Cavern posing as an underground waterway to Mexico.

“My favorite part [of the movie] was definitely when we filmed on the underground river. You know, it’s probably like 10 or 15 seconds in the film. But we have a small budget, we don’t have tons of money on these, and it was the first time that I really felt like we had a huge budget,” Strain said.

“We’re in an underground river, and we have all the camera equipment on these boats, and we’re doing all this stuff, and I was like, man, this is like an Indiana Jones movie right now. It really felt like we were much bigger than we actually are at that moment.”

Students on and off-screen

Strain’s dual role in the film industry and Franklin College, allows him to give students opportunities, like Katy Thompson, a 2021 graduate who served on the art team and is now house manager for the Indiana Repertory Theater.

As a senior taking a full course load, Thompson couldn’t be part of every day of filming, but she tried her best, staying up all night on some shoots and still making it to class the next morning.

“I thought the overnight shoots were a lot of fun,” she said. “We did several overnight shoots, and so I would go to my classes during the day, and then as soon as those were over, I would drive up to set, and then I would be there all night long, just hanging out with people, learning things about the film that I’d never known before. And then get home maybe 4 or 6 a.m. take a little nap and go to my classes the next day.

“My team was very understanding of the fact that I was still in school,” she added. “So they definitely gave me the time that I needed to work on my classwork because that had to come first. But I was, I was able to manage it pretty well … It was very much worth it.”

Thompson even played as an extra in her favorite scene of the film—though moviegoers might only see her ponytail.

“I enjoyed the Peppy’s Grill scene because I think it’s very funny and also because the entire art department was extras for that scene,” she said. “We didn’t have any extras that day, so the entire art department just decided to be the extras. You can see my ponytail just barely over [an actor’s] shoulder.”

Ticket of a lifetime

Other Franklin College students were also given the chance to be involved as attendees of the premiere. They ditched their college sweatshirts for suits and floor-length gowns.

“The premiere was so much fun. I love theatrics, and this whole event was just built around theatrics, and I wish that I could do something like this every day of my life,” said Erin Bruce, a junior at Franklin College and co-news editor of The Franklin.

“I am honestly still in disbelief. I got pictures with Patrick [Warburton]. My sister got pictures with Cole [Sprouse]. It was pretty amazing, like shook hands and everything,” said Trinity Whitted, a sophomore at Franklin College. “ It was spectacular. Like definitely, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for sure.”

During a reshoot, a small scene was filmed at Franklin College between the President’s House and Dietz Center for a nighttime shot that was originally at another location. “Movie magic” makes it nearly impossible to identify which scene it was, says Strain.

“I think we’re providing great experiences for our students. And you know, Franklin has given me a lot of opportunities to experiment and push myself in my own work, I think because I’m willing and eager to involve students in it,” Strain said.

“The Duel” premiered nationwide July 31, at over 500 theaters, and will continue to play at select theaters for the next two weeks.