After a decade, locally-filmed movie Cold soldiers is finally completed
Ten years is a long time to wait. For anything. But a handful of moviemakers and actors with West Ashley roots and addresses have waited long enough.
Cold Soldiers, an action film that tells the story of a secret government facility for trained spies and soldiers who cracked on the battlefield, has finally been released. Shot largely in North Charleston, the film is currently available for festivals.
In 2008, West Ashleyians Nick Smith and Trevor Erickson first combined their love for film and their creative talents, taking the first steps to making the film. But there were obstacles, like cars.
Seriously, on top of the difficulty of writing, shooting, and editing an indie film, Erickson got hit by a car while riding a moped.
Local Actor R.W. Smith (no relation) remembers that night:
“He literally totaled the other car; he got hit while on the moped by the car and was severely injured,” says the actor, who lives in West Ashley and has helped run Pure Theater downtown for the past 12 years, and stars as the hero of the film, John Dance. “We’re lucky to still have him.“
I did my best,” says Erickson, demurely of the job he did to the other car and to editing the film after his injuries.
Erickson discovered his love for making films after studying at Trident Tech after having served in the military. He acts in the film as Max Taylor, and coordinated the fight scenes, and was at Smith’s side for the writing and directing.
Smith, who has since moved on to Florida, says there weren’t a lot of spots in West Ashley used in the film, but one in particular stands out.
“We had soldiers coming out of the water for a photo shoot, right by the Northbridge” for a publicity still for the movie’s poster, remembers Smith. “And then suddenly, the cops pull up behind them. Someone had seen all these guys with weapons and were obviously concerned and called in a complaint.”
But when the officers found out the benign reason, they asked to pose with the fake-armed actors for a picture for their collections. The crew, of course, obliged.
“It’s surreal, to be honest with you, to think that we started on this 10 years ago; I don’t even recognize myself,” says R.W. Smith, who would put on shows at Pure at what is now the revitalized Cigar Factory building downtown.
After the shows, R.W. Smith would let the others into the upstairs of then-vacant building on East Bay Street, where they would shoot interior scenes of the “institute.”
“Johnson and Wales had abandoned the building, so we’d go in, start setting up in the shutdown empty building and film until about four in the morning,” says R.W. Smith. “It was guerilla film-making at its best.”
When exterior shots were needed, the actors and bare-bones crew would sneak up to the old naval base in North Charleston at night. “Then someone would say, ‘Hey, this gate’s open; let’s go in here,’” says R.W. Smith. “It was sketchy but there was nobody around to bother us.”
Veteran actor Jimmy Hager, who stars in the film as Major Coleman, has moved to the Columbia area, but still calls West Ashley home.
“I grew up in West Ashley, in and around Charlestowne Estates,” says Hagar, who dominated local theater for years before his hair went completely white and he turned to film. “I went to school at both St. Andrews junior and high schools … the years I grew up in Charleston I would not trade for anything.”
Filmmaker Smith wasn’t so sure Hagar would take the part. Smith had been a theater reviewer for another publication, and didn’t “pull any punches of what I thought” of one of Hagar’s performances years ago.
“I invited Jimmy to be in the project, and we sat in my living room, he said, ‘I hated your guts,’” remembers Smith. “But he said yes, and I was amazed that this guy who didn’t like that review would still consider looking beyond his feelings and hurt. He did a great job. This guy’s incredible.”
“But that was a scary moment.”
A lot of other locals chipped in, with local car collectors lending one-of-a-kind automobiles, from a Ford GT to an enormous Force Protection truck used in a “Transformers” movie, for free.
Currently, Cold Soldiers is only available on pre-order on Amazon, but will soon hit shelves in Wal-Marts.
“If there is a market to show it in a cinema around here, we’ll do it,” says Smith.
