The Big Picture

• Tornadoes, rainstorms, and wild shoots in 35 days – Red Right Hand’s thrilling journey in Kentucky.
• Editing magic – Nelms Brothers create a brutal turning point with precision and shock factor.
• Family, justice, and memorable moments – The filmmaking family shares gratitude and cherished experiences.

Justice is served up Kentucky-fried in Drumpe’s most recent screening for Red Right Hand. The Nelms Brothers’ revenge thriller stars Orlando Bloom in a gritty, action-packed movie about the lengths one man will go to protect his family. Teaming up with Magnolia Pictures, Drumpe’s Steve Weintraub hosted the first screening of the film with an exclusive Q&A to talk with the cast and directors, Ian and Eshom Nelms, about their tumultuous set and filming in under 35 days.

Check out the video above or the transcript below for our conversation with the directing duo and writer, Jonathan Easley, Kenneth Miller, Scott Haze, Chapel Oaks, Jeremy Ratchford, and Daniel David Stewart. The crew discusses the challenges faced on their independent film battling COVID and unpredictable weather, and how close they grew as a filmmaking family. They talk about working alongside Bloom and Andie MacDowell, shooting and editing brutal scenes, and why audiences can’t get enough of revenge thrillers.

The ‘Red Right Hand’ Production Endured Crazy Kentucky Weather

Drumpe: A lot of people in this audience know how the sausage is made and know how movies are made. I’m curious for you guys, what do you think would surprise everyone in the audience to learn about the making of the film?

IAN NELMS: Maybe the most surprising thing for us was we were equally as surprised when we showed up in Kentucky and there were plenty of tornadoes and rainstorms and thunderstorms, lightning flashing 100 feet from us. We didn’t know that spring was so, so crazy over there in Kentucky, and it was a wild shoot. I think we started out with a 35-day shoot and ended up with 31-and-a-half. So that was probably the most surprising thing for me.

DANIEL DAVID STEWART: The Kentucky Derby is like a real thing. Derby Week is crazy there. We happened to be shooting in the middle of it, and they have the biggest fireworks display in the world outside of, like, China. It’s absolutely insane. That has nothing to do with filmmaking, but I found that very fascinating. No, I think the most fascinating thing about this movie was, yeah, I think the weather was the craziest part of it, for sure. It would be hot one day and then freezing cold the next day, and there were no if’s, and’s about it.

JEREMY RATCHFORD: To parrot on the weather, the day I was out there, all of a sudden they just come out and they say, “You’ve got 10 minutes to get inside,” and you’re kinda like, “What?” They’re like, “You’ve got 10 minutes to get inside because something’s coming.” And you’re just like, “What?” And then you see the local people going, “Yep.” And they just start going, so you fall in line. We ended up in, like, barns and all over the place, just kind of taking shelter because it’ll come in, and 10 minutes later it’s gone, but it’s a hell of a storm.

CHAPEL OAKS: Yeah. The weather was bad sometimes. There was one time we were filming on the farm and we were in the kitchen area for, like, I don’t know, it was like three hours or something. It just came out of nowhere. We got into some deep conversation. That was so long that we were just sitting in that kitchen. I looked out the window and there were, like, four people huddled under the craft tent, holding it down for dear life.

SCOTT HAZE: The people, like Zak [Kristofek] and Jason [Tamasco] and Mike [Gabrawy], and what the brothers had, and Michelle [Lang], just how they managed the weather. We’ve all said that, but it was really remarkable because there’s a lot of challenges and the leaders on this team really did a great job.

JONATHAN EASLEY: The craziest thing to me, and just a testament to how actors work, is the scene where Scott and Chapel have the really intense scene in the parking lot at church, and Scott’s character, when he gets beat to death, and Chapel screaming and thrown on the ground, that happened on the first or second day of the shoot is my understanding. So, these actors are snapping into character, doing one of the most dramatic scenes in the movie on the first or second day. They have to show up and be just on point, which is just crazy to me.

ESHOM NELMS: I would say, honestly, for me, no matter what hurdles came at us, and there were many when you’re doing an independent film, — it’s a DIY effort, and the movie, it’s got its dark turns, you all saw them — honestly, it was such a wonderful group of collaborators and everyone came to work every single day with the highest of spirits, ready to win it. That was really remarkable for us.

Chapel, I have an individual question for you. I believe that this is your first movie. What surprised you about being on a movie set that you really didn’t expect going in?

OAKS: Well, a lot of things. I’d done one day on a TV show before this, so I really did not know the hours would be that way. I did not know how school would factor into things. I was not going to a very accommodating school at the time, so that was not good. I think also just kind of how much you become a family on set. The one thing I had done, I was there for, like, one day and I filmed one line, and I think I got completely cut out of the show. It was just kind of like you show up and then you leave. But here, it’s like you really get to know the people. You really get to feel like you’re really a part of it, and that was something that I had not experienced beforehand.

Question for everyone, when you saw the shooting schedule, which day were you super excited to film whatever it was, and which day did you have circled in terms of, “How the F are we gonna film this?”

ESHOM NELMS: I’ll start that. I think that every day is, “How the F are we gonna film this?” Honestly. Then, this is such a cheater answer, but honestly, every day for, “I can’t wait to shoot that,” because you had such great people and so many of our wonderful collaborators coming in. Every single day was a dream to shoot, honestly, but every single day was also a nightmare.

HAZE: I think Chapel and I had that scene at the end of the movie on our first day of filming, so it’s always interesting to start with the last moment at the very first shot of the movie. And like I said, it’s remarkable how much was accomplished by this team.

OAKS: I’d say the first day because I had never filmed anything that emotional or that intense ever on a set, so I was so nervous. Like, it was the first day being there, and I was like, “Man, I’ve really got to prove myself. I’ve really got to do a good job.”

STEWART: I think anything where you read, “Oh, you’re gonna get strapped to the hood of a car and driven around…” I was like, “Okay, awesome. I’m probably going to be doing this. Let’s see how it goes.” Weirdly, I wasn’t scared of it. I was very much looking forward to it, just screaming and crying out for my mother was very exciting to me. [Laughs] Then on the first day, I mean, the very first scene was showing up on set, and it’s like, “You’re getting kidnapped by Orlando Bloom.” It’s like, “Okay, great.” And Garret [Dillahunt] made a joke to Orlando in between, being like, “Oh, wouldn’t it be funny if we just pulled him out by the hair?” And Orlando’s like, “That’s a great idea. We should do that!” And I was like, “Okay, we’re doing this now. Great.” He’s like, “Just push your head back at me.” I’m like, “This is gonna be a long day. You’re gonna get a lot of hairs pulled.” So, yeah, my first day was just getting my hair yanked by Orlando Bloom, and you’re like, “Here we go. Kentucky. Landed five hours ago. Let’s do this.”

RATCHFORD: [To Chapel] I just gotta say, you were fucking awesome.

STEWART: Yeah, Chapel’s amazing, guys. What the hell?

RATCHFORD: If this is early days for you — wow. That’s fantastic. I only had the one day, so that was the hardest day. Then we had storms and lines and gunshots. It’s very sad. I also wanna say kudos to Alex [Park]. Holy shit. Alex who played Tammy, the junkie in the car. I’m an actor, and you watch this stuff, that was one take ripping her out of the window and onto the concrete. I hadn’t seen that, so I was totally blown away. So that was a lot of fun watching. And a shoutout to my boy James Lafferty, we’re partners.

IAN NELMS: There were two days that kind of ring out of my brain. There was the scene that Scott and Chapel were talking about with the parking lot melee that was scheduled to be half a day. We’re like, “Okay, great. We got half a day to shoot this.” Things ran over. We ended up having to shoot that in two hours, that whole entire melee when they walk out, car pulls up, all the way to when Scott dies. Yeah, man, that was rough. But luckily we had consummate professionals in there. Scott, Chapel, our stunt team, everybody just rose to the occasion. I think that’s what Eshom was saying earlier. We showed up in some nightmare scenarios at times with scheduling and time and whatnot, and, man, everybody just rose to the occasion. Everybody came and went 125%.

The other thing that comes to mind is when we were shooting that long last action sequence, it has a lot of people running through corridors, and the outside, and Garret’s by the car, and just coordinating that whole thing was tough. You’re like, “Okay, we gotta make sure this guy lines up with this. You got this. Now we’ve got a wide shot that kind of shows you perspective and some geography.” But we shot, like, five days at that house in that giant melee, and then weather and whatnot, and we lost the location and we had to go somewhere else because we ran out of time due to weather. Then we shot for a week in a bunch of other locations. We’re halfway through that shootout and we had to come back for a week at the end of the shoot and shoot the rest of the shootout.

It was literally like that scene where it’s Kenny and Orlando shooting at each other. Kenny has this amazing shootout and obviously a knife fight with Orlando, and many other things. But that shootout, we shot Kenny’s side one day, a week later we shot Orlando’s side, and just having to match that up and having to be over the shoulder of one guy and over the shoulder of the other, it was a lot. Luckily, Kenny, a consummate professional again, showed up remembering everything he could and we’re looking back at takes. But trying to do that and capture the energy that we had the first time around was not easy. Those are the two that come to my mind.

KENNETH MILLER: Let’s see, the day I was super excited for… Obviously, when you see on the call sheet that you get to have a fight scene with Legolas, that’s pretty freaking epic. I was stoked about that. But I think day one is always the most exciting day because you meet new people, you’re working with a ton of new people, some that we’ve worked together with before, and you’re looking at the entire schedule thinking, “Oh my god, we gotta do this in 35 days? This is amazing. This is gonna be a wild ride.” And it was all epic, every single moment of it, even through the weather. I had to say the weather, too, because everybody else got to talk about the weather.

I have a question for Jonathan. If I’m not mistaken, you had a different career prior to getting into writing movies. This is your first script that you wrote and got made, but you have to tell people what you did before this because I read that you reported from Air Force One in your past.

EASLEY: Yeah, I was a political reporter in Washington DC for about 10 years before I came out here. I wrote this script maybe in 2013 or something like that, and producers, my managers Zak and Jason, found it. I was looking at my email on the way over here, and hey found it in 2014, is when they first optioned it and everything. I just kind of kept working in Washington DC. It was through Obama’s second term and Trump’s first term, and then finally we got the Nelms Brothers on board, and I could move out here, and we’re sitting here today. So, yeah, pretty incredible.

I do wanna do a follow-up if you don’t mind. Do you actually report from Air Force One?

EASLEY: Yeah. It’s called being on pool duty where you just follow the president around for a day. There’s always gotta be a reporter with eyes on him. I’m trying to remember where we went. It was very short. It was a campaign rally in Florida, so just a hop on Air Force One from DC to Florida. That plane’s not going down. That thing is as sturdy as they come. It was quite a thing.

There’s not many people who’ve been on that plane. I’m fascinated by the editing process because it’s where a movie comes together. For you guys. what was it like when you stepped in the editing room? How did the film change possibly in ways you didn’t expect going in?

IAN NELMS: My brother and I are the editors on the film. A lot changes. I mean, Jonathan wrote a great script, we shoot the movie, and then you get into post and you start working on pacing and you start tightening things up. Some scenes start floating around, some scenes hit the floor. There were some great scenes that hit the floor, which are gonna be on the DVD and Blu-ray, if anybody wants to purchase a copy. We disappeared for about four months.

ESHOM NELMS: Yeah, Ian and I’s process is that we have two workstations set up facing each other. We each edit scenes one through five or five through 10, and then we’ll be like, “You done? I’m done. Switch chairs.” We each go over it, comb through everything, and then honestly, for us, we look at every second of the footage, the shots literally from pre-roll to after you call cut, and we assess every second, every frame.

STEWART: Don’t you also screen and screen and screen and watch it, like, a countless number of times?

ESHOM NELMS: Yeah, we’re masochists like that. We’ll invite people that hate us, we’ll invite our friends, our mom. Our mom’s the most brutal, but she loves us

IAN NELMS: We do, like, 5 to 10 people at a time, and at first you’re looking for just a general, “Where are we?” You get all those, “The arcs are working for me. The characters are working for me. I don’t like this guy.” “Oh, oops, okay, you should like that guy. Let’s go back and try to figure out why you don’t like that guy.” It’s things like that that start kind of popping up. I mean, some of those scenes start moving around. Like that one with Tammy in the car is an interesting one, because we actually moved that around quite a bit. Then we had the junkie that we moved just to find the sweet spot of where that could go because it was kind of movable for pacing and to give a little flare of action. Then the junkies in the woods, the guy that falls in the spike pit, that one moves around, as well, and was even at the front of the film at one point just to give you a sense of danger. They both tested pretty close, so we decided to lean into the characters.

ESHOM NELMS: For me, it’s just always staggering how much you can change a film in the editing process. It’s never over, and you can just manipulate to the end of time.

Yeah, that’s the reason I keep on talking to directors about editing, just because it’s everything.

Why ‘Red Right Hand’ Had to Be Brutal From the Beginning

Maybe I have some issues, but I’m a big of blood and guts. I love the shot in this of the knees and the bone, and I’m just curious, how did you debate how many frames to show on that? Was it ever more brutal?

ESHON NELMS: That scene was always designed to be super brutal. Honestly, it was in the script from day one, incarnation. It needed to be that turning point for Cash where it’s like, “Hey, she’s gotta go. This B gotta go, and we’re gonna go take her out.” And so for us, it was always gonna be savage. It was always gonna be a shocker. Honestly, we would watch Zak and Jason, and when they started squirming too much, we were like, “Okay, we need to cut a frame or two out.”

IAN NELMS: Yeah, that was one of the funniest things about that scene is just how painful it is to watch, honestly, because it really does set up, “Okay, yeah, I’m with Cash. Go kill everybody. Go get ‘em, bud.”

What is it about this genre, the revenge thriller, the stories that I’ve seen in Kentucky, that people resonate with, that people keep on coming back to?

IAN NELMS: For me, the ones that I love are the ones that have characters you give a damn about. They head into these revenge environments and you really wanna see them succeed, or you really want to see them live. So, that’s what we were really focused on.

EASLEY: It’s a pretty simple story. Zak and Jason were drawn to it initially as big fans of just gritty, ‘70s, violent, Roger Corman movies, Rolling Thunder, Rambo, movies like that. Paul Schrader does a lot of these movies, The Man in the Room. Just this idea of a recluse on a collision course with his violent destiny is hopefully pretty timeless.

RATCHFORD: It’s kind of funny, Ian and Eshom and I did a podcast a couple of weeks ago comparing The Gauntlet to Magnum Force, so we were right back in the ‘70s, Clint Eastwood insanity. As I was watching this movie to all the bad guys, they were all fucking assholes — [to Easley] good work, good work — and you want them to get it. I don’t know if that answers your question, but there is a certain kind of like, anyone that cuts you off or pisses you off, these movies kind of let you get that out without ending up in jail.

STEWART: I think people in general have a sense of justice and wanting justice to be served to some degree, just on the day to day or in their personal lives or whatever. So I think when you really set up, like you said, a bunch of assholes that you hate and then you get to put someone on “a violent collision course with their own destiny,” which is such a great way to put that, I think it’s also what makes it so fun to play. I’ve never gotten to play someone so awful and snively, and my goal was, like, “I want him to be a seven-year-old at the end and start as a guy who thinks he’s got it all together.” And that is the most fun thing to play is someone who you want everyone to be cheering for your death at the end. So I was like, “Yes,” when the dogs are coming, and they’re like, “Yeah, dogs eat him! Eat that guy!”

RATCHFORD: The more pain for you, the better for us.

STEWART: Exactly.

MILLER: On a slightly different note, and I know I’m on the wrong side of the aisle for this part, but the whole idea of family and the hell that you would go through, what you would do, and what you might be capable of to protect your family, to me, that’s what really drew me to this film. What Cash was going through, I like to think about that — I mean, I don’t like to think about that, but what would you be capable of for your family, for the people that you love most on this planet? What would you do? And to me, these movies shine a light on that, and I love it.

RATCHFORD: I think it’s interesting, too, the revenge stuff. You saw the cheer when the preacher came back because we all thought he was gone, and those are the other moments, like, “Yeah, he made it!”

This is for everyone. I know some of you only worked a day and stuff like that, but when you think about the making of the film and the people you worked with, what’s the memory you’ll always take away from this project? What’s a strong, memorable moment from filming?

IAN NELMS: There’s definitely a little piece of everybody that’s up here, and a lot of people that aren’t up here, and a lot of people that were in the post process, like the composers, the Mondo Boys — freaking amazing job, man. That score is incredible guys. Thank you. The DP, Johnny Derango, who’s not up here, who shot that beautiful film, I take a lot of little pieces away from them. It’s probably because Eshom and I are involved through the whole process, but yeah, every little piece of the film, pre-production, production, post-production, and now here we are here with Magnolia, Drumpe, all these people start to come into your lives. Like Chapel said, they become a part of your family. Some people you spend months with, some people you spend weeks with. That’s one of the things I really love about is, Esh and I write, direct, edit — it’s fun to change it up. It’s fun to meet different people. It’s fun to collaborate with all these people, all these really incredibly creative people that bring 110% every day. It’s a blast.

ESHOM NELMS: For me, one of the things that really sticks out is we were really behind the eight ball at the end of the shoot. We had, like, three days to get a bunch of scenes. I remember it was Scott, Orlando, Chapel, all of us running around like our fannies were on fire. I remember someone coming up and going, “Okay, what are you guys gonna cut? And we’re like, “Well, we don’t want to cut anything. Do you want to cut anything?” “Absolutely not.” I’m like, “Alright, well we’re getting everything.” So we were just running from setup to setup like our fannies were on fire, screaming, “We’re gonna get everything! We’re getting everything!” Honestly, it brings tears to my eyes thinking about the crew just all in it in those moments, trying to make it happen and getting every single frame.

STEWART: Obviously we all said the things we looked forward to in those big moments, and actually shooting those scenes was really awesome — working with dogs or crazy things that you’ve never done before, getting peanut butter smeared on you so the dog looks like it’s eating you, things like that that — but I think, weirdly, what’s so amazing about film in general is that it’s really these tiny, miniscule moments that happen. Like, I was on the hood of that car on that lawn for so long, and it was these cold days, and sometimes a setup would mess up or you’d have to get something else, and it’s like, “Well, you can’t unstrap me and strap me back in every single time,” so I’m just on the hood of this car. Garret Dillahunt, who’s just the most incredible, amazing human on the planet, he’s so keen and aware to that kind of stuff, and so what I remember, like when you just asked that, the first thing I remember is Garret taking off his big puffy coat, because it was freezing outside, and just laying it over me and watching out for me, you know what I mean? I was freezing on the hood of this car and I don’t want to cause a fuss, or I don’t want to do anything, and it’s like those tiny moments. It’s us looking out for each other, because we’re all like kids in a sandbox trying to make something together. Essentially, that’s what we’re doing. We’re being 12-years-old again, all with each other, going, “What the fuck could we make? Can we make it as good as we want it to be?” And so it’s those little moments, those little beautiful tidbits, that stick with me throughout filming.

RATCHFORD: I guess another one, because it was just a day I didn’t get to see Esh or Johnny. They had COVID, and the law was they had to be a certain distance away from set. So I was on set with Ian and Michelle, and we’d shoot something and be like, “We’re waiting for notes.” And I just had this odd feeling that they were out there watching me like a sniper. It’s just another one of those little Nelms Brothers moments that I’ve had.

OAKS: For me, like what you were saying, we were running around like crazy when I got COVID and I had to go for two weeks…

STEWART: We all got COVID on this thing, guys. That’s the moral of the story here.

OAKS: I got COVID when we were supposed to film at the farm, which was not good. I remember when I got back that first day, we had a certain amount of scenes we were supposed to shoot, and then they were trying to fit in as many scenes as it was possible to get me back in. I was in one outfit and then they changed me into the jumper, and I ran to tell them the horse was ready, and then we came back and then I changed into another thing. It just made me feel good that they were willing to go through all that craziness.

I think also what’s memorable is the little things behind the scenes, of Orlando coming up to me and being like, “Hey, let’s run through the scene. Let’s really get this good.” And I was just like, “Dang, I never thought that someone like you would want to do that with me.” Or doing gun training with Andie MacDowell, like, “Okay, I’ll go to the range with you.”

HAZE: I felt really grateful to work with you, Chapel. For me, I knew that this was your first film, so I got the experience of honoring that moment for you and watching you grow, and I loved being there for you as you had this journey. This is the first time you’ve seen the film and you’re phenomenal in it, so congratulations, Chapel. You did it.

For me, Kenny is a good buddy of mine, we did a movie a long time ago. Waldo Sanchez is here, it’s a beautiful city, I was texting with Orlando on the way over here, and we really did become brothers in every way on this film. I just have so many memories. I used to wait tables in this neighborhood, so I’m just so grateful to have the brothers at the helm, who are so giving and so talented. People like Johnny and the producers. I was filled with gratitude for the whole experience, and especially being in that place at that time. That’s what I love about making movies.

EASLEY: I would just say how much luck is involved for any of this to come together. It was like my managers finding the script out of 1,000 that they’d read on some website. Then for it to end up somehow getting to the Nelms Brothers at the right time when they were looking for something. I mean, a lot of the actors up here, their agents getting it to them, casting directors taking chances on new talent and everything like that. It’s just sort of a miracle that these things come together at all and it results in this.

MILLER: Exactly. I mean, I’m gonna echo a lot of people, but it’s the people. I was just looking around, and even before we started, I don’t think there’s a person here that was a part of this film that I haven’t kept in contact with in some way, shape, or form, even to the crazy guy that played my brother in the film. I still keep in contact with him, if you can believe it. Garret, Orlando, all of them. We just became so close. I have an amazing memory with every single person up here, and that’s something that I’ll cherish forever. There’s nothing like it, especially moviemaking. You truly do, like you said, Scott, you become brothers and sisters. It’s crazy. It’s fun.

ESHOM NELMS: I mean, we get to pretend for a living. How much better can you get?

Chapel, I have another question for you if you don’t mind. Had you seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and The Lord of the Rings movies prior to filming, or was it one of these things where you get cast, Orlando Bloom’s in the movie, and people are like, “Oh, you need to go watch these right now?”

OAKS: I had seen Pirates of the Caribbean. I have still only seen half of the first Lord of the Rings movie. I probably should have done that before coming here. I have nothing against those movies. I really don’t. I swear.

Red Right Hand is in theaters now and available On Demand.

Get Tickets