Wildomar Movie Ranch

01/10/2024

Back in 2019, Wildomar Movie Ranch was granted a personal tour and filming of The "then closed" Hotel Jeffery and Magnolia Saloon in Coulterville CA.
Coulterville, in the1850s was considered the west coast gateway to Yosemite, and the Jeffery, its only hotel.
The hotel entertained a U.S. President, a Queen, Novelists, Poets, Statesmen, Outlaws, Hollywood Celebrities, and even author, Helen Keller.
And most currently, the Jeffery is occupied by 17 individual spirits. Yep, the hotel is considered one of the most haunted places in the U.S..
After I had the cameras set and the realtor for the hotel and previous owner, an actor gentleman, and me, were ready to head inside, a county official appeared and said we could NOT go in, the location had just been "Red Tagged".
Great, a 400-mile trip for nothing!
So, I was directed to go over to the diner and wait. Oh boy. It appeared I was to be a part of a covert op!
I got a call on my cell phone directing me to a rear "non red tagged entrance".
Anyway, you can find the tour on YouTube under, CK Sussman, Celebrity Ghost Hunting inside The Hotel Jeffery, Coulterville, California.
But at the end I took the opportunity to sit down at the piano the entertained many, including Jesse and Frank James, and play for a few minutes!

11/24/2023

As we prepare for festivals we need to follow their guidelines.
(for the program)
In the role of Edgar Allan Poe, Dylan M. Walker.
Mr. Walker has been a professional actor for over two-decades.
Dylan can be seen in the major motion picture "Moneyball", with industry icon Brad Pitt, TV's "The Shield,', "Charlie's Angels Full Throttle," the AMC series, "Madmen", and many more.
In his youth, Dylan's face could be found in TV commercials for the Southern California Theme Park, Magic Mountain, a Six Flags Corporation park. Dylan was involved with Six Flags productions for nearly seven years.
Mr. Walker, for many years worked with theatrical coach, actor and director, Billy Gallo.
In his thirty-years in front of the camera, Mr. Gallo’s talent has been viewed millions of times through starring roles in TV's "Boys Will Be Boys," with co-star, "Friends”, Matthew Perry, and in the motion picture blockbuster, "Pretty Woman", where he starred as Carlos, Julia Roberts' pimp.
And for the year of 2023, you can see how Gallo’s training has paid off, as Dylan has delivered a standout performance as Edgar Allan Poe, the man, in the film "You may call me Reynolds."
Dylan's performance mastery in this pre-release has won him praise from many industry professionals.
Billy follows Dylan’s career very closely to this day.

11/18/2023

This Kudos is long overdue!
Whether David will acknowledge it or not, if it hadn't been for him, there's no way, You may call me Reynolds would have had a chance.
David knows most anything and everything about making movies, either in front or behind the camera!
On the first night of filming in 2021 everything was going wrong. As a first time director, the professional crew wasn't making it easy for me. They knew I was green, but some insisted on belittling me, and making sure they looked good at my expense.
When I was ready to explode, David pulled me aside and said he'd take over directing, getting across what my vision was until I was ready to step back in. '
David wouldn't take the assistant director credit, so he became the movie's production advisor.
David as an actor plays BAD as well as GOOD, but he still freaks me out a bit as the killer in the Borrower. (shown in clip.)
David's a busy guy, he runs his family's business, Main Street Candy in Historic downtown Lake Elsinore, but he still found time to help me through to the end.
And FYI, there is nobody better as far as a dialect coach than David. People who've worked with so-called professional dialect coaches, once introduced to David will go nowhere else now.
When I couldn't make the premiere of The girl in the backseat at Hollywood's Chinese Theater, the first movie to feature my original music, I asked David if he'd take my ticket and go in my place.
David kept me in the loop through texting and recordings all night.
I don't know how I got so lucky as to have an industry professional like David in my corner, but when very few gave me the chance of finishing Reynolds, David never doubted me.
And I'm proud to have David (McElroy) Ross as a friend!

11/13/2023

Dylan and I met through his father, Michael T Walker.
My Biz partner and I had a meeting with Gary Troy one morning back in 2019. Gary was one of the original Jet's in the movie, West Side Story, along with being a regular in tons of TV shows and movies from the 1950s thru the 1980s. (Including being, Clark Gable's Godson.)
After our meeting at Starbucks in Menifee, we took a couple of pictures.
Enter Michael. Michael said he'd take a picture of all three of us together.
After Gary left, I went up to thank Michael and we got to talking.
Michael had heard of Wildomar Movie Ranch (WMr). Interesting.
WMr had started in 2018, and we had one newspaper article written about the company.
It just happened that the man that took the picture was an actor himself.
Michael it turns out had been in many films. In fact, he's the only one of our friends that has been directed by Steven Spielberg.
He can be seen in the movie "Always". He was one of the firefighters and in a dance scene, danced right beside Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss.
Michael was a great advisor for the ranch, and one day said, I'm going to bring my actor son, Dylan, by someday.
Well that day came, and the rest is far from history yet!

11/10/2023

Without a doubt, over the next few years you'll be seeing Mr. Dylan M. Walker in more and more starring roles for major motion pictures to come. Mr. Walker for years was professionally coached in acting by Actor and Director, Billy Gallo. Mr. Gallo is a longtime veteran of film and TV, where he had starring roles in TV’s “Boys will be boys'," with co-star "Friends," Matthew Perry, and in the motion picture blockbuster, “Pretty Woman,” where he starred as Carlos, Julia Roberts' pimp.
Mr. Walker, with guidance from Gallo, has landed roles in the major motion picture “Moneyball” with industry icon Brad Pitt, TV’s “The Shield," "Charlie's Angels Full Throttle," and in the AMC series, "Madmen." As a boy, Dylan was chosen by the Six Flags Corporation to be a face in their commercials for nearly seven years.
But for the year of 2023, Dylan has delivered a standout performance as Edgar Allan Poe, in the soon to be released,"You may call me Reynolds."
Dylan's convincing performance as Poe has won him praise from industry professionals, including the highest admiration in a written letter from Mr. Jeffery Savoye, the director of the prestigious Baltimore chapter of the Edgar Allan Poe Society, who called his performance "Very Stylish, Polished, and Professional!”
Mr. Dylan M. Walker can be contacted through the Wildomar Movie Ranch office of Ravens Entertainment at (888) 976-0086.
by CK Sussman
https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm12888180
https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt15320754

11/04/2023

Ace Fillmore, a friend and one of the three RED cameras on our Edgar Allan Poe movie, "You may call me Reynolds", was the photographer for almost every picture featured in this book, "The Art of Canine Cuisine".
When most just point and click, I've watched Ace take as much as 6 hours (but that's only what I've seen) prepping a single shot.
If you want Ace on your project he can be reached through Wildomar Movie Ranch. (888) 976-0086.

09/05/2023

Edgar Allan Poe had a best friend in real life, his name, John Pendleton Kennedy.
In the movie You may call me Reynolds, John is portrayed by Rob Crisell.
Rob and Wildomar Movie Ranch became friends in 2019, as Rod signed with us to represent his Wine Country Estate and Vineyard as a film production property.
His property was used for the final scene in “The girl in the backseat”.
Rob, besides being a retired attorney, is an author, a teacher, an actor, a leading authority of William Shakespeare, Temecula’s speaker of the year, and the list goes on from there.
I went to Rob’s home yesterday to re-record some dialog for “Reynolds”, and as I was leaving Rob presented me with his newest book, “Temecula Valley Wineries”. A wonderful read where he gives the history of every wine producer in Wine Country Temecula, from Callaway, to his own brand.
Here’s a link, just in case. (get it! Like in a case of wine 😀)

In the early 1800s, Spanish missionaries were the first to plant vineyards in the area now known as Temecula Valley. Over the next two centuries, the region became known for raising cattle, farming, and as a stop for stage and rail. In the late 1960s, Temecula began to attract a new breed of pion...

08/02/2023

So, in around 2019 we filmed a little western clip to showcase our 107 acre Wildomar Movie Ranch contract property.
When this was viewed by the published children's book author, "Professor Kids-brary" or Heidi Simmons I received a call.
Heidi asked, "When did you start working with Poe's Great Grandson?
"My response, "Heidi, what are you talking about???
"When she explained, she told me to look at the face of Dylan Walker, and then compare to Poe's face.
She went on to say, the bone structure, the cleft in his chin, even the facial lines were the same.
There it was!
Unbelievable!!!
That night I wrote the concept for "You may call me Reynolds", giving Dylan the role of Edgar Allan Poe!

07/14/2023

Wildomar Movie Ranch(WMr) was called on to supply extras for "The girl in the backseat".
One of these extras was the wonderful actress, Ashley Mangione. Ashley has been acting since she was 11 years old.
Ashley and her father Anthony have been very proactive in helping to form WMr.
Ashley was even seen in the movies trailer.
Below is a movie review and interviews.

Girl in the Backseat- Wrong Turn
By Valerie Milano - July 4, 2023
The Hollywood Times
Inspired by True Events, a young immigrant, Sofia, fights for her survival against her predator, Ryan, in an involuntary road trip through the vast and mysterious landscape of a worldwide human trafficking ring.
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/4/23 – An estimated 27.6 million people are victims of vicious crimes of human trafficking; many causes have attempted to spread awareness to end its societal crushing effects. Director Nick Laurant, writers Kika Magalhães, and Chris Marrone have collectively brought this awareness to the big screen illustrating a young woman’s life-threatening experience of being trafficked.
“The Girl in the Backseat”: (esq. para dir.) Chris Marrone, Kika Magalhães, Nick Laurant, Jasmine Akakpo e Helen Day. © Ana Rita Guerra
There are many tactics that traffickers utilize to conquer and control. The most common method brilliantly depicted in Girl in the Backseat was the use of kindness from the abuser to their victim. Star and co-writer of the film, Magalhães explained to THT during their interview, “[Kindness] is a technique that traffickers use; they pretend that they’re nice to their victims. It’s a strategy that they have to ‘work’ victims; sometimes girls believe that their capturer is their boyfriend.” The repulsive technique is shown smartly throughout the film to really capture how easily these acts of violence can happen and to highlight the precautions one can take to avoid trafficking and ultimately survive.
Extremely education-forward, The Girl in the Backseat aims to change the trajectory of the horrific status quo of human trafficking. Co-writer Chris Marrone states, “There is an importance to our own lives that a lot of people can grow accustomed to what they think the world is. They might paint this picture in their mind that the world is this sort of Pleasantville bubble with some hardships in realities out there that affect very few people, but in reality, there are 8 billion of us floating on this rock together and there are horrific stories going on affecting millions of human beings. If we can collectively come together as a society and talk about these things more the sooner, we can find a solution or find ways to prevent trafficking from being possible.”

07/08/2023

I normally would not post something this personal, but you'll see why.

The subject came up "why Hollywood" with my 1st Cuz, Two-time Emmy award winner, Chris Godsick. I thought it worthy of a post.
Chris
My love for Hollywood didn’t just happen when Lois and I formed Wildomar Movie Ranch, in fact my roots go back to when Hollywood was Hollywood!
In a roundabout way it even involved Lew Wasserman, yep, the CEO of Universal/MCA.
In late 1975 I went into the USAF. After completing Basic Training in TX, while waiting to be transferred to my permanent duty base, tests taken while in basic had come back and said that I had what they called, “exercise Induced Asthma”.
As it wasn’t a draft year, if they deemed you weren’t physically fit to go anywhere in the world, they gave you an honorable discharge and your service was finished. Personally, I felt fine.
Anyway, when I returned home I was floundering, so my Mother got me a job as a salesman with the Buick agency she worked as an office manager for. They also had GMC and Executive brand Motorhomes.
It turns out that at 19 I was the world's worst salesman, so the Sales Manager threw a phone book on my desk and said for me to call everyone in the area and tell them about our specials.
And since I was only 19-years-old I didn’t take directions well, but I did what the Sales Manager had ordered me to do, except, I started at the back of the book with “Z” and worked toward “A”. 😉.
(Yeah, I was a rebel🧐)
While finding people to call, “Z” through “U” in the phone book took only a few hours, but while I was in “U”, WOW there it was, *Universal Studios*!
I don’t know what I thought I’d get out of calling them, but I did.
“Universal MCA, where may I direct your call?”
(heck, I didn’t know) “uh, Transportation?”
“I’ll put you right through".
-my thoughts were, Now what? Now you’ve done it, just hang up!
“Transportation, may I help you?”
I,I,I wanted to talk to someone about transportation vehicles."
“Hold for Marlo Hellerstein”.
The next few minutes were responsible for the next year of my life.
The personal driver for Lew Wasserman had the exclusive rights to supply motorcoaches for the stars. (like Star coaches today).
Well, the line he supplied, “Sportscoach”, apparently had a shortage of coaches, enter Craig Sussman and his Executive line of coaches.
They brought me down to the backlot to show Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) one.
Wow, my foot was in the door!
But Majors didn’t care for it, so just as quickly as it got in, my foot was right back out.
But I got to meet him. 😊
Three weeks later Marlo calls me. “Lindsay Wagner” (The Bionic Woman) was told by Majors about the coach.
My foot was back in, and it stayed in for 12 months!
Lindsay wanted it.
A week-to-week lease was signed for $3,500 per week.
Next, Brenda Vaccaro saw Lindsay's and wanted one for her series, “Sara”.
Next, Bill Bixby, TV movie of the week (four months to film).
I was called on to be on different sets three to four days in a week.
I received my own backlot pass to Universal Studios, WOW!
Mr. Wasserman’s driver was not a happy camper and he knew my name.
He worked to get my coaches out of Universal and finally did, but it took him one year. And in that year I sat on more sets, met more A-List celebrities, and lived a dream.
I even read lines with Brenda.
I was just one of the guys, talking with Richard Anderson, Robert Mandan, Larry Hagman, James Garner, and lots of actors that started off as extras and went on to fame.
I was the coach’s liaison, but that turned into, "Hey Craig grab that tape, Craig bring us one more milk crate for Lindsay to stand on."
And during lunch I headed out on Celebrity Safari, meeting Robert Blake, Eddie Albert, even Ellery Queen, Jim Hutton.
I guess the one moment that stuck with me was when I was inside Brenda’s coach getting something for her and a call came in.
“Miss Vaccaro’s coach.”
“Is Brenda there?”
“She’s on set right now.”
“Have her call Michael when she’s done”.
Brenda’s coach was loaded with roses for her Oscar nomination the night before for Best Supporting Actress in, “Once is not enough”.
And the call was from her boyfriend, actor Michael Douglas.
Brenda was the best, and even called my Mother looking for me on occasion. (as no beepers back then).
Well, I never made it past the “U’s” in the phone book, but traveling through the backdoor got me all the way through the front door, and I wasn’t leaving without a fight!
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
And as far as the picture.
When Marlo first met me he said, You're just a kid"🤱
And I heard from more than one person, "That's the only reason I made it out alive"!!!
**The previous story is true, the name wasn't changed cause I wasn't that innocent. (Those my age will get that)🤣*

07/04/2023

Wildomar Movie Ranch premiere’s at Hollywood’s Nostalgic Chinese Theater!

5pm, on July 1st the feature-length film, “The girl in the backseat” had its worldwide premiere at the most well-known theater in Hollywood, TCL Chinese Theater, formerly, Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Wildomar Movie Ranch (WMr) could not have wished for a better venue, for a better time, or for a better date to be introduced to the world!

In December of 2020 when for the most part Hollywood was shutdown, the girl in the backseat’s producers learned of WMr through another Hollywood producer. Following a scouting trip by the movie’s writer, lead actress, and director, three of WMr’s location’s were chosen for the movie.

Besides the locations, WMr was called upon to help with casting. WMr was able to help cast nine extras and one featured actor. More than that, the director and writer contracted composer CK Sussman for one of his original musical compositions to be featured in two scenes of the movie. Wildomar Movie Ranch’s owner’s, CK Sussman and Lois E Hoyt did stop and were credited as co-executive producers for all their work.