Burning the midnight oil takes on a whole new meaning at the Pruitt household in Overland Park.
Stephen, 52, is a tenured professor of finance and economics at the UMKC Bloch School by day; by night he’s a filmmaker, writer, director, producer and musician. Mary, 48, is the other half of the eclectic husband-wife team that’s currently finishing a sophisticated feature-length motion picture and writing a second one. They collect art (The Pruitt Collection is composed of etchings and photographs from the mid-1800s to 1975 and has been shown in galleries around the country) and Victorian antiques and have raised two daughters.
Together the Pruitts, married for 27 years, comprise a dynamic couple truly emulating the American dream with resumes that don’t read like those of typical suburbanites. They’re chasing their soulful passions with a gritty focus, a vibrant attitude and solely on their own merit.
“We don’t have many backers or investors,” says Stephen. “This is pretty much our gig.”
The ambitious couple works far away from the Hollywood machine and industry heavyweights.
“We’re not aiming for the big crowds,” stresses Stephen.
“And we’re not going for a Titanic-like romance,” adds Mary.
Works in Progress is a PG-rated romantic comedy with roots dating back to a 1993 comedy-tragedy the Pruitts wrote and shelved during their child-rearing years.
The satirical and funny screenplay was shot last summer primarily in Kansas City’s hip and burgeoning Crossroads Arts District and the world-famous Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art —appropriate locations given the film’s subject matter of art collecting. Centered on three main characters, the artistic film has high production values, a witty script and a happy ending. The title itself, Works in Progress, is a double entendre; it speaks both to the art world that the film examines and interpersonal relationships. It’s bereft of gratuitous cursing, sex, drugs and violence.
“We wanted to do an entertaining film that anyone could watch without relying on the cheap tricks,” says Mary. “Not everyone will get it, and that’s okay.”
“Mary wrote some terrific and compelling dialogue,” says Stephen.
The Pruitts gathered Seth Iliff, a young cinematographer based in Kansas City; four fresh-faced actors that fit their respective parts like gloves (Greg Brostom, Ben Jeffrey, Christina Blodgett and Kate Bartholomew); first-time film editor Kevin Harlan, who also titled the movie; hundreds of extras and an eager crew poised for the rigors and challenges of shooting a movie on a budget.
“The people that have worked on this movie inexplicably share Mary’s and my vision to make this a piece of art,” says Stephen.
Harlan recalls that when Stephen first approached him about the film, he thought it was a pretty lofty dream. When he saw the quality of the equipment and read the script, it made sense.
“I realized there were two people committed to the beauty of the story they wanted to tell,” says Harlan. “It’s amazing for me to see Stephen and Mary not inhibited by the message of our culture that mid-life is too late to start something new. The experience has energized me, too.”
David Greusel, assistant cinematographer, says he’s a dreamer like Stephen but on a smaller scale.
“When you reach mid-life, you’ve worn a pretty deep groove in your chosen path,” says Greusel. “So when you do something as creative and wonderful as making a movie to realize your dreams like the Pruitts, you can’t argue with that.”
Stephen acknowledges everyone was on a high learning curve during the production of Works in Progress.
“Most people make a short film before they dig into a feature-length,” he explains. “But we didn’t make a short. In a nutshell, the audacity of hope is my leading talent. I knew we could produce something excellent.”
“It was hard,” says Mary. “We didn’t have back-ups for any of our crew or actors, and we had to work around everyone’s schedule.”
“But everything good is hard,” reasons Stephen. “Very few things fall from the sky with little effort.”
Along with Kevin Harlan, the Pruitts are in the final tedious stages of editing the footage, laying down the soundtrack and planning to re-shoot some scenes in June. Once Works in Progress is wrapped, the Pruitts will submit it to the prestigious Sundance Film Festival that celebrates the best of independent filmmaking. The quarter-million-dollar budget the Pruitts worked with is a mere shadow of most Sundance contenders’ ledger sheets, which can be in the millions. But Stephen feels that Works in Progress is good enough to play in Park City.
One of the reasons the Pruitts feel confident about the quality of their product is due to the camera they used during shooting. They secured two of the revolutionary RED One digital cinema cameras, the most in-demand camera in the movie and television business, by getting on a waiting list and then finding someone willing to sell his place in line.
“It’s the first digital camera that has the look and feel of film,” says Stephen. “There aren’t many RED Ones out there. We feel extremely lucky.”
The couple’s next project, entitled Terminal, is a deeply personal drama that tells the story of a man dying of a brain tumor.
“Essentially, the movie will be three stories woven together with a theme of the triumph of hope,” says Stephen. “It is redeeming in the end.”
Stephen’s music is another passion he pursues after hours in a custom-built recording studio in the couple’s Overland Park home. On the verge of releasing his first studio-quality rock CD, the vocalist/guitar player reunited with his college bandmate, San Franciscan Geoff Wilcox, to form Never2Late. Not your average rock band, Never2Late’s songs feature lyrics written by the insightful collaboration of Stephen and Mary.
What’s up Stephen and Mary Pruitts’ collective creative sleeves is anyone’s guess. Just know their next project, their next story, their next song will be first-rate and fueled by unmitigated devotion and determination.
To view rough-cut scenes from Works in Progress visit http://www.filmlook.tv/wip.mov . To hear Stephen’s band go to NVR2L8.com.