Loni Workman

All photos by Loni Workman
Loni Workman, the film's official Still Photographer and Associate Producer, has been along for the ride since Day 1. She moved to Missoula in September for the production on her own dime and has tolerated our crankiness, disorganization and poverty. She gets paid in hugs and beers, and frequently Elisabeth and I "let" her babysit for us. Not only is she an extremely talented photographer, but she conquered her fear of water to become a fantastic Mermaid at the Sip N Dip (see earlier post), and let go of her public speaking fear when she played the part of the Bar Slut in a hilarious scene. Loni has proven herself to be a crazy-hard worker, top-notch drinker, music connoisseur, and most of all, a great friend. By the way she also happens to be the girlfriend of Gregory Collet (Tex)!

Here is an assortment of some of her fantastic pics:

Lights! Camera! Ackroyd!

David Ackroyd, who plays the wise old character "Northway" in the film, recently dedicated his weekly two-hour internet radio show, "Lights, Camera, Ackroyd," to his latest experience on the set of "The Best Bar in America." You can listen to his hilarious and detailed behind-the-scenes account of independent guerrilla filmmaking at its finest.

Click on David's photo to listen to his podcast.

David Ackroyd brings you Lights! Camera! Ackroyd! every Tuesday at 10 a.m. David has spent over 40 years in the sometimes wonderful and sometimes really strange world known as "show biz." He's done everything from major features to low-budget films including his latest, "The Best Bar in America."

Montana Mermaids

Photos by Loni Workman and John Ansotegui. We recently returned from the famous Sip N Dip Lounge in Great Falls, Montana. Even though we talked to a ton of people about this place and were aware that GQ Magazine rated it as the #1 Bar in the world, nothing could quite prepare us for what we experienced. We shot for two days in the lounge, starting at 6 am and ending in the early afternoon. The wonderful management at the O'Haire Motor Inn (where the lounge is located) let us film in the bar outside business hours. Tim Huffman, (who plays a cowboy bartender in the beginning of the film) rented us SCUBA gear and built a giant bubbler out of PVC pipe and a scuba tank. Using our underwater housing, Eric recorded some amazing footage of our mermaids.

The Sip N Dip is an authentic tiki bar will bamboo walls and ceiling, the house drink is a blue-colored fish bowl that contains something like 10 shots of booze. Most evenings Piano Pat comes out and plays classic hits from the likes of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond.

Here's the kicker. Behind the bar are two large windows that look underwater into the swimming pool. At 9pm the mermaids appear and the place gets packed, everyone drinking blue drinks, laughing and dancing to Piano Pat's tunes.

Several key scenes in the film happen at the Sip N Dip. Including the meeting of two the film's main characters: Sanders and Eden.

Check out the pics and youtube mermaid montage.

"Best Bar in America" Trailer

Here is the recently-completed trailer for the film. Let us know what you think. For a high-res version of the trailer click HERE

More Production Pics

Entering the "Golden Circle" on
Going to the Sun Road

Credit where credit is due

BEST BAR IN AMERICA CAST

Sanders.......................................Andrew Rizzo
Northway....................................David Ackroyd
Tex...............................................Gregory Collet
Eden............................................Lee McAfee
Daria...........................................Monique Lanier
Trucker.......................................Steve Hodgson
Jersey Lilly Bartender..............Tim Huffman

Jim Harrison!

Photos by Loni Workman

We recently returned from shooting a scene at the Old Saloon in Paradise Valley, Montana where legendary author and poet, Jim Harrison (Legends of the Fall, Dalva, Saving Daylight, etc.), met us for a cameo in the film. Harrison's general view on life, combined with his love for the land, the drink and the road, fall in line with many of our personal sentiments. In our limited encounters with Jim, he has been quite supportive of the project. During our last meeting with him over many drinks in Salt Lake City, Eric and I pitched him the idea. We also somehow convinced him it would be a good idea for him to appear in the film. Harrison appears near the very end of the film so you'll have to watch it in its entirety to hear his joke, laugh and profound wisdom.
On the set, we were also very pleased to be joined by the great author and activist Doug Peacock, as well as Dennis Sizemore, Executive Director of Round River Conservation.

Production: The First Month

Wow. What a long strange trip this has already been. We've only been shooting our film, The Best Bar in America for less than a month or so, but time has become a meaningless blur. We've clocked nearly 6000 miles throughout Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Montana. We've shot 500 gigs of amazing footage, witnessed countless sunrises and sunsets. We've visited a fantastic variety of dirty saloons, rowdy bars, smokey taverns and crowded pubs. We've drained an easy dozen bottles of "prop" Wild Turkey 101 and gallons of cheap American brew. We've laughed, cried, fought and puked together. We've handled scorpions and rattlesnakes, dug a grave, stole a sheriff's truck, fired guns and have met more good people than I thought existed in the entire world.

This journey is well underway and there is no stopping now. Thanks for coming along for the ride. I'll try to keep you posted as best I can. For now enjoy some of these production pics by the lovely Loni Workman.