Targeted

Special screenings for “Targeted,” Nicholls graduate Jak Locke’s western film are planned in Houma.

An experiment in guerrilla filmmaking, the period western was put together with a skeleton crew, a shoestring budget and was filmed mainly in Terrebonne Parish over the course of two years.

According to Locke, who wrote, directed, edited and scored the film, the script was initially the base of a joke. Now, it’s a full-fledged feature film.

Most of the 19th century Western was filmed at familiar sites, including Wallace Ranch, Oncale Cafe, Purple Penguin, Mahler House, Laurel Valley Village, Castalano’s and a few Terrebonne and Lafourche residences.

Locke, a 2002 Nicholls grad, majored in government and political science. He has a keen interest in politics, which he told Gumbo last year relates to entertainment.

“There is a lot of persona in politics,” he said. “There are a lot of outlandish situations in politics. It is easy to see being accustomed to the way the news is presented to us.

“When you sit back and think about how nations are personified, it is natural for us to cobble these large nations into single individuals, and we don’t think about it. It is an absurdist thing to think about.”

Entertainment is Locke’s passion. He performs music to earn his keep, and has shot music videos and short films.

“I just did it to where I was making enough money to make a living,” he said. “I have always wanted to be an entertainer for as far back as I can remember.”

Several years ago, Locke came across a script he had written when he was 6-years-old. After reading it aloud to some friends, it was suggested that he should get a crew and film it.

On a whim, the Nicholls grad began reaching out to friends and contacts about putting together a production.

Zach Dufrene, a longtime friend, was tapped to play the lead role of Jimmy Makdon, a Chicago Pinkerton agent who embellishes his prowess at catching bad guys in the newspaper.

“I was on my computer, and he reached out to me via Facebook,” Dufrene said. “I was immediately interested because I have always had a passion for film. The thought of playing a lead character was pretty exciting to me.”

Dufrene’s only acting experience came as a background character in a play when he was 7-years-old.

“I don’t know if that counts as acting experience,” he said, laughing.

In all, Locke’s film has a cast of 31, all with Lafourche and Terrebonne ties.

Filming included two different movies since Locke believed “Targeted” could be a serious film.

“I was looking at the scope of the whole project and thought it would be a shame to have all of these talented people working for

a joke,” the director said. “I took the characters and settings from the film and wrote a new script with a very mature story. It is an action piece with a lot of twists and turns and very different from the script.

“We started calling the script I wrote when I was 6, the B-script, and the one I wrote in 2012, the A-script. Basically, it turned into a project of making two very separate movies. It was about seeing how much we could accomplish with a low budget.”

Locke only had $3,000 to film the 19th century flick.

“As a result, there were very few women cast in the film because to clothe one actress costs about $200 or $300,” he said. “That is why when I sat down and wrote the A-script, I wanted very strong female characters.”

One such character is a bounty huntress, played by Thibodaux native Angelique Riggs. Most recently, she appeared in “22 Jump Street,” which starred Channing Tatum and Johah Hill, and the TV show “Star Crossed.”

“It was a great learning experience. It was a crash course in stunt work,”

Riggs said of her “Targeted” experience. “I had a lot of bruises, but they were worth it.”

The movie teams Makdon (Dufrene) with a bounty hunter named Samuel Barnett (played by Locke) in the hunt for a murderer.

“They end up in a long series of increasingly treacherous situations with a lot of twist and turns. There is a lot of action with fistfights and gunfights,” Locke said.

“Targeted” premieres at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Anelas Community Center, 7720 Main St. A late-night screening will follow at 10 p.m. at The Boxer & The Barrel.

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