SORAL LLC, in association with the Oklahoma Film + Music Office (OF+MO), is pleased to announce that production of the feature film “The Scent of Rain and Lightning” has commenced. Based upon the best-selling novel by Nancy Pickard, the adaptation is being entirely filmed in Oklahoma and began production on October 27. The film is being produced by Jeff Johnson and Oklahomans Casey Twenter and Jeff Robison, all of NoCoast Entertainment, fellow Oklahoman Kevin Waller of Gerson Productions, actor/producer Maggie Grace and producer Michael Davis. Additionally, Executive Producers/Financiers Dan Koetting and Carolyn Paul have been instrumental in bringing this project to fruition.
“I am honored to be working with such a committed production team and an amazingly talented cast and crew. We are grateful to the OF+MO for their support and for providing an attractive rebate program that allows us an opportunity to film in our home state,” said Waller.
“The Scent of Rain and Lightning” focuses on a young woman forced to confront old wounds and the destructive power of hate when she learns that the man who killed her parents has been released from prison.
Using the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate, “The Scent of Rain and Lightning” will star Maika Monroe (“It Follows”, the upcoming “Independence Day: Resurgence”), Mark Webber (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”), Will Patton (“Remember the Titans”, TV’s “Falling Skies”), Bonnie Bedelia (“Die Hard 1” and “Die Hard 2”, TV’s “Parenthood”), Justin Chatwin (“The War of the Worlds”, TV’s “Shameless”), Aaron Poole (“The Samaritan”), with Brad Carter (TV’s “True Detective”, “Black Mass”, “The Revenant”), Logan Miller (“The Stanford Prison Experiment”, “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse”) and Maggie Grace (the “Taken” franchise, TV’s “Lost”) rounding out the stellar cast.
The feature film is the second directorial project of 20-year acting veteran Blake Robbins (“The Office”, “OZ”), whose first feature, “The Sublime and Beautiful”, debuted at the prestigious SlamDance Film Festival. “Nancy Pickard created a fascinating and beautiful world with her phenomenal book, and the script adaptation captured it perfectly. I couldn’t be more excited to film this amazing material in Oklahoma,” said Robbins.
Comprised of a crew made up of primarily Oklahomans, this is the third feature Johnson, Twenter and Robison have filmed in the state utilizing the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program.
“We are very excited to host the production of ‘The Scent of Rain and Lightning’ in Oklahoma,” said OF+MO Film and Locations Coordinator Yousef Kazemi. “Not only is this the fourth film to consecutively utilize the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program within the last three months, but it is also the third film this team has produced in Oklahoma utilizing the cash rebate. This is a testament to the effectiveness of the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program and its importance in continuing to grow our industry. The program is not only bringing in business from out-of-state, but also keeping business in Oklahoma and creating jobs for our talented, local crew.”
“Simply put, we couldn’t make movies here, couldn’t hire all of these fantastic Oklahomans, without the Oklahoma Film and Music Office. As more and more movies are filmed in Oklahoma, the quality of the crews, which were already great, keep getting better and better, and more films shot in state mean more opportunities for talented Oklahomans to work and continue to prove themselves to be some of the best in the film business,” said Robison.
For more information and to see behind-the-scenes photos and videos, please visit their Facebook page.
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About the Oklahoma Film + Music Office:
Created in 1979, The Oklahoma Film + Music Office strives to share all that Oklahoma has to offer by welcoming filmmakers and music professionals to the state and by creating a network of support to develop Oklahoma’s film and music industries. For more information about the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program or the Oklahoma Film + Music Office please visit www.okfilmmusic.org.
