12 Movies in 12 Months: E.C. Residents Participate in Western Movie Mission
longtime friends Kevin Myers and Tim Carter traveled around the country to be in film project
It’s safe to say that everyone at one point in their lives has dreamed of working on a real movie set, but not very many people actually get to do it. Eau Claire natives Kevin Myers and Tim Carter traveled far and wide to be able to be in films.
Being huge fans of Western movies, Myers and Carter were always interested in being a part of one. A casting call went out looking for extras in a movie project created by prolific filmmaker Travis Mills, whose goal was to make 12 Western movies in 12 months.
With their own custom costumes in hand, Myers and Carter traveled all the way to southern Arizona in June 2020 to participate in the first movie of the series, titled A Guide to Gunfighters of the Wild West. They had originally planned to venture out that April, but filming had to be postponed due to COVID-19.
“It’s a learning experience,” Myers said. “I was talking to another extra on the sideline and I asked, ‘What are we doing here?’ And she said 'We’re here to cover things up,’ then she stepped off a manhole cover.
I had never thought of how they hid those things in movies.”
While on the set of A Guide to Gunfighters of the Wild West, Carter got a call requesting their presence on the set of another movie, The Righteous Twelve, that very day because one of the outlaws hadn’t shown up. Carter ended up filling in for the outlaw, getting to partake in a faux shootout.
After that, they went back to shoot the second movie for Travis Mills, titled Heart of the Gun. Mills ended up completing his project, despite the setbacks that COVID-19 has caused.
While their main objective on their trip was to be in these movies, they also took the opportunity to travel around and learn about the West; they even traveled back that way months later.
“It’s unbelievable how much history is out there,” Carter said.
The duo participated in two of the 12 movies from the project but said
they would’ve done all of them had their work schedules allowed it. They are now avidly searching for casting calls to continue on their journey as movie extras.
The 12 Westerns in 12 Months movies can be viewed on Amazon Prime and Tubi. More info can be found at runningwildfilms.com. The Righteous Twelve was released in theaters in January 2022.
