Over the years, Marshall Stouffer (JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS) had become
accustomed to playing victim to the imaginative and spirited bullying by
his big brothers, Mark (DEVON SAWA) and Marty (SCOTT BAIRSTOW). Mark and
Marty made countless 8mm films for the delight of their friends that featured
Marshall being dropped into pools of water, yanked up into trees, hauled
behind cars and enduring any number of other hair-raising stunts. However,
the summer that Marshall turns 12, all of that changed.
When their father, Marty Sr. (JAMEY SHERIDAN), and their mom, Agnes (FRANCES
FISHER), buy the older boys a used 16mm camera, their eyes are opened to
subjects beyond the light-hearted taunting of Marshall. In the woods around
their home, some extraordinary things come into focus in the boys' lens:
a menagerie of graceful and powerful animals existing in their natural
habitat. Unexpectedly moved by their discovery, the Stouffer boys recognize
a calling to document the vanishing wildlife of America.
Marty and Mark hit the open road with their camera to search out the dwindling
populations of some of America's most awesome creatures. The boys soon
discover an unexpected stowaway -- Marshall, who couldn't let his big brothers
leave him at home while they embarked on such an adventure. The older boys
reluctantly agree to take him along. Marshall's fearlessness, learned over
years of being picked on, proves to be an invaluable addition to the summer's
adventures.
Over the course of the summer, the three Stouffer boys have a remarkable
series of encounters with magnificent, dangerous animals and bizarre, colorful
humans. The boys narrowly survive some of their confrontations in the wild,
but they manage to keep the camera rolling throughout their adventures.
As Marshall is caught in the antlers of an enraged moose, Mark is nearly
devoured by a hungry alligator, and the boys accidentally wake a cave full
of hibernating grizzly bears, the Stouffers record their life-endangering
odyssey with images no one had quite accomplished before.
"Wild America" is a Morgan Creek Production directed by WILLIAM
DEAR and produced by JAMES G. ROBINSON, IRBY SMITH and MARK STOUFFER. The
executive producers are GARY BARBER, STEVE TISCH and BILL TODMAN, JR. DAVID
MICHAEL WIEGER wrote the film based on conversations with the real-life
Mark Stouffer and his brothers.
To capture the Stouffer brothers' trek across the country and their many
breathtaking encounters with wildlife, the filmmakers assembled a top-of-the-line
creative team, including director of photography DAVID BURR ("The Phantom"),
production designer STEVEN JORDAN ("Clueless") and editor O. NICHOLAS
BROWN ("Free Willy").
Copyright 1994-2008 Film Scouts LLC
Created, produced, and published by Film Scouts LLC
Film Scouts® is a registered trademark of Film Scouts LLC
All rights reserved.
