By Kerri Rempp
Discover Northwest Nebraska
“Everything’s going great for Ross Ryler. He’s a few weeks away from becoming a deputy for the honorable sheriff Liam Colson, but when his predecessor is viciously killed and left in the woods, all eyes turn to Ross. Fleeing town to avoid wrongful arrest, Ross must figure out how to survive and clear his name.”
That’s how the producers of “Ross Ryler” describe their newest film, set in Northwest Nebraska. Eagle Theatre in Chadron hosted the theatre debut for the movie in August, but there were no Hollywood stars walking the red carpet for the premiere. Instead, the cast and crew were members of the local Butler family, ranging in age from 10-21.
The youth wrote, directed, starred in and produced the full-length feature film on their own. After a one-week run in Chadron, the group successfully screened the movie at the Sandhills Drive-in and the Alliance Theatre, both in Alliance, during September.
Ethan and Clayton Butler acted as directors for the film, the group’s second full-length endeavor, which they filmed during the summer of 2024. Ethan, who lives in Maryland, has been coming to visit his relatives in Northwest Nebraska for years. During a trip with his older brother several years ago, Ethan thought earning a Boy Scout merit badge in movie making sounded more interesting than any of his other options.
In 2015, with the help of his relatives, they made a short film and continued the tradition in 2017 and 2019. By the time he came back in 2022, they decided they were ready for a more challenging production.
“We decided to do a feature film,” Ethan said. “‘Fatal Snakes’ was our first ambitious projects.”
Ethan and Clayton co-wrote that film and produced it with no budget and little professional equipment. The film clocked in at 1:40.00 and they showed it at a family reunion in 2023.
“That was very encouraging,” Ethan said. “It was the first time we showed it to a large group and people responded.”
The feedback inspired them to make a second movie, and Clayton wrote “Ross Ryler” by himself.
With “Fatal Snakes” behind them, Ethan also wanted to raise funds to invest in professional equipment to improve the finished product. He shared “Fatal Snakes” online in the spring of 2024 to spark interest and launched a Go Fund Me with the goal of raising $3,000.
“I wanted (people) to see we were serious about improving,” he said.
They met their goal, purchased their equipment and Clayton scouted locations for “Ross Ryler,” settling on land around their home in Northwest Nebraska for the outdoor scenes, and the Dawes County Historical Museum in Chadron and Dobby’s Frontier Town in Alliance for the indoor scenes.
“They were super generous,” Ethan said of their location partners, allowing the group to use the locations at no charge and during off-hours.
Connor Butler, who played the title role of Ross Ryler, said it has been fun to create the films with family because the small-scale production means less pressure. He particularly enjoyed this film because Clayton wrote it with the intention of giving each cousin a more substantial role to play. In previous films, some of them were simply parts like “dead guy number 7,” Connor said.
“I think everyone enjoyed (having a larger part),” he continued.
At the time of shooting the youngest cast member was 9 and Ethan at 20 was the oldest. It was a lot of work and hours in the summer heat to film the scenes. When any one of them weren’t in front of the camera, they were doubling up to run sound and lighting equipment or operating a camera.
They also pulled in friends and other family members to serve as background extras, and Pete Butler, a Northwest Nebraska musician who is a staple at many area live music events, wrote and performed “Side By Side” as a featured song in the film. The music video can be found on You Tube.
The group’s earlier films have taught them how much more there is to movie-making than simply having the actors portray a story. The short films included some cut off heads due to inexperience, Ethan said, and he’s learned a lot about perspective and how that translates to character interpretation on screen.
Sophie Butler, who played Gary, said the process can be intimidating, but she wouldn’t mind studying some aspects of film-making, as she particularly is interested in lighting and how that can convey emotion.
“Ross Ryler” was the first family movie production Sophie took part in.
“It was really cool (to see “Fatal Snakes”) at the family reunion so I wanted to try it out this time,” she said.
Sophie also works at the Eagle Theatre and mentioned to her employers that she and her cousins were making a movie. Once Ethan completed the editing process earlier this summer, she brought it up again and asked if they could screen it at the Eagle Theatre, which is part of the Chadron Open Frontier Creative District.
“They were really supportive of it,” she said.
The movie premiered Aug. 15 for a one-week run complete with that red carpet walk for the Butler crew.
“It’s insane to me how many people showed up,” Sophie said. They estimate approximately 300 came out to support the film; friends and family of course were in the theatre seats, but so were plenty of strangers, some of whom didn’t realize it was a locally produced and starred film by kids until after the credits rolled.
“I just appreciate the encouragement and support,” Ethan said. “It’s pretty awesome there was that much excitement and passion.”
Cast List
Connor Butler – Ross Ryler
Gus Butler – Henry Benton
Clayton Butler – Sheriff Colson
Sophie Butler – Gary
Lenore Butler – Terry
Craig Butler – Doug
Caroline Butler – Primrose
Cooper Butler – Deputy Tanner
Written by Clayton Butler
Directed by Ethan and Clayton Butler
Music by Christian Litster and James Thiriot