One of the most interesting characteristics of the production of the film Doonby was the unique role the town of Smithville played as part of the film. Producer Michael Mackenzie added that what really made the production such a success was the role that Smithville residents played in making the film a reality. The film was written and directed by Mackenzie’s father, Peter Mackenzie.

It’s the story of a mysterious, yet talented, drifter who shows up in a small Texas town and changes everyone he comes in contact with.

The character stirs envy, suspicion and jealousy in many people in the small town, all played against a backdrop of classic country and blues music performed at Leroy’s Country Blues Bar. The movie’s website says, “The powerful message contained in its unexpected ending will inspire furious debate across America and in a wide international market.”

Mackenzie stopped by The Times office and answered a few questions about the film.

Thanks for coming by Michael. How are things wrapping up?

Well, we wrapped up within budget and that’s something every filmmaker can be happy with.

Tell us about the movie – what is the story about?

It’s really an analysis of what everyone means in the world and how everyone interacts with their fellow man.

I think deep in everyone’s hearts, their worst fears would be, do I matter? When I live my life will I leave a lasting impression? Peter very much wanted to explore that. Peter is a man that very much believes you’re only here once and to make the most of life whilst you’re here.

When I first read the script when I was about 14 I was totally blown away. Seeing it go into production and getting to work on this – and now, finished, it’s an emotional thing.

The Sam Doonby character played by John Schneider seems to be both loved and hated – what is he about?

The Sam Doonby character is almost a holier than thou kind of guy – he’s absolutely brilliant at everything.  He’s a fantastic musician, a great cook, great mechanic and even an interior designer – he’s almost too good to be true.

Peter is asking the audience to entertain the fact that if this man had never existed at all – he’s taken it to an extreme – if he had not existed at all how would that have affected everyone around him.

There are various characters in the story that live in the small town that on the surface are all great upstanding citizens but as soon as you scratch the surface, everyone’s got their problems

It’s really a tale about how important everyone is to everyone else. We live in such tight knit communities that if you remove one person it can have a significant impact.

Your accent says English, right? Is Peter English or Irish?

Well, you’re right, I’m English. Peter’s grandmother is Irish and his grandfather is half English and half Scottish – that’s where the Mackenzie comes from.

Peter loves Galway in Ireland and a little village called Spittle. We set up our production company Riverhorse there as a tax incentive. Peter has dual English and Irish citizenship.

What do you think of Smithville?

We absolutely loved Smithville, its fantastic. In terms of a film location it provided absolutely everything we needed: the bar, police station, library, the homes and it was a great place for stunts.

When Peter first came here over a year ago when he was looking for locations – as soon as he arrived he just got that feeling, he saw his imagination literally coming to life before his eyes.

There were quite a few Smithville residents involved in the production. How did that work out?

In terms of the people – again fantastic. I could go so far as to say this film could not have happened without them.

So I think certain members of this community need to be mentioned.

Certainly Sheila Tamble – her contribution has been nothing short of miraculous. Anything that we needed, Sheila has been my first port of call in terms of filming permits or clearances, getting roads shut down for truck stunts, to getting in touch with Rudy (Supak, chief of police) so we could get a police escort on the highways and all those places. We couldn’t have done it without her. Her husband Robert even came down and cooked. He baked cookies and threw the old barbecue. The Tambles were fantastic.

Tex Middlebrook and Vicky, who worked in the hair and makeup department for us. And, of course, everything Sheila needed she ran by Tex, so he was around a lot. As a matter of fact he’s an extra in one of our scenes

And of course the film commission and Skeeter Sewart.

Troy Streuer who was one of the actors – he more than provided a few meals from Pocket’s.

Particia Wolf is a terrific designer and was wonderful with our costume design and as wardrobe mistress.

Sylvia Gee Paisley provided so many props and antiques and we filmed outside her location – her flat.

I’m trying to think of names of the top of my head, but really – everybody. Everybody got involved in this film. And that was our main goal – to involve the town as much as possible – to use the name Smithville, because it very much represented what we needed to get for the film.

How was working with John Schneider?

I was always a bit hesitant – how will he fit in, do I need to look after this man, is he going to be precious? And he wasn’t any of those things. He would go jogging or riding his bike down the street and everyone was his friend.

He would even organize his own golf games with the locals. He went with Tex a number of times. I remember him coming to set one day and saying, “That Tex Middlebrook is really good.” John likes to think himself quite handy on the golf course and I think Tex quite took him apart.

The first day shooting with John – I was tasked with getting him to and from his hotel. And he had wrapped and finished and vanished. I got a text from him saying “I’ll get a lift whenever you can.” And I was running around town asking everyone – where is John Schneider? And then I found him having a party on one of the flats overlooking Main Street. He shouted out the window to me, I’ve got food, I’ve got drink, I’m happy.” He did come down to advise on the stunt at the end of the day.

Music seems to be a big part of the movie. How did the connection with AC/DC singer Brian Johnson happen?

Brian Johnson is a friend of Peter’s from way back. He agreed to come on and write the score for the film. Negotiations are still ongoing but we hope to have it wrapped soon. He introduced us to Scottie Hill (guitarist from Skid Row) who came and played for the film. He has actually provided us four songs for the soundtrack. Scottie came down for a few days and absolutely rocked out in one of the scenes at Leroy’s (Huebels). He was so kind and generous with his time. He was fantastic and he’s definitely going to be a major theme in the Leroy’s scenes.

Another unique aspect of the film was shooting digital. How did that work out?

We were using the Red One and shooting in full 4K HD resolution. The release will be in full 4K.

Another advantage for us was using Confidence Bay and working with Michael David Weis. They had the ability to take the data off the cameras every single day and upload it to their editing bay where they could put a rough cut together so Peter could see how the film was feeling as we went along.

This is revolutionary – no one really does this. It’s only possible because we are shooting digitally. They had a lovely sofa setup in there (a converted recreational vehicle) and Peter would go and watch the daylies.

One of the great things about Confidence Bay was the package that we went with. They bought a whole editing system – computers, hard drives, all the editing programs. We own it. So he will upload everything on to this one system and then he’ll just take it out of his trailer and it’s ours. Which normally doesn’t happen – normally you have to fight to get the data from the company’s computers. But we bought the computer.

When will the film be released?

Our expected release is early 2011, hopefully at least by Easter. Mark Joseph from Spiderwood Studios is shopping the film now. Peter will be around the area editing the film for a few months.

More information about Doonby can be found at doonbythemovie.com.