El Campo grad using courthouse for next filming project
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Barry Halvorson Setting The Scene El Campo High School Graduate Jon-Michael Foshee sets up a potential scene outside the Wharton County Court house. His movie production company, Gut Check Productions, will be in the county starting April 7 to do filming as part of an upcoming film. Wharton County commissioners gave the film company permission to shoot a "shoot out" scene inside the newly renovated courtroom.

"And Action!"

That simple two word phrase is among the favorites for Jon- Michael Foshee, a man with a pretty conventional Wharton County upbringing pursuing the unconventional dream of being a film actor and maker.

His movie production company - Gut Check Productions based in Richmond - will soon be shooting their second film, Mindsight, using locations in Wharton County. Among the most dramatic scenes in what Foshee describes as a "psychological thriller" will be a shoot out in the district courtroom of the Wharton County Courthouse - a scene already approved by the county commissioners.

Foshee said he always felt the courthouse would make a great location for a film, adding he jumped at the opportunity to bring something back to the county where he was raised.

"We're going to have 20 to 30 people on location for most of the shoot," he said. "That's people staying at local motels, eating in local restaurants and shopping at local businesses. When we started, my thoughts were we could shoot this in Houston or shoot it in Wharton County so I went with Wharton County."

Those actors, photographers and other employees will spend a week in the local area. The production calls for shooting to begin in April 7 with the Wharton County filming taking place between April 19 and 24. He added family was the biggest reason he went with Wharton County.

"That's the influence of my dad (Carl Foshee)," he said. "He was always big on economic development in Wharton County. He was a great business man, but more than that he was the most selfless person I've known in my entire life. He ran a business, seemed to be on every board of every organization, but was still home for dinner and saw everyone of my games and activities growing up."

Like his father, Foshee has his own philanthropic side. In addition to his commitments to his acting career and production company, he is also a member of the board of directors of the Justin Hurst Foundation. He said he was approached by local interests to help organize a "celebrity hunt" fundraiser and was just pulled into working with the foundation with the idea of raising money for scholarships for students pursuing degrees in wildlife management and related fields.

After graduating from high school in El Campo, Foshee followed the normal path and went to college, majoring in business at the University of Houston. He eventually switched to theater and then switched again to economics and is still pursuing a degree in that field.

"But I always wanted to be an actor and in the film industry as opposed to television or the stage," he said. "I'm enjoying the production part of the process, but I'm an actor at heart."

Within the first eight months of starting his acting career, Foshee landed a part in the independent film The Man Who Came Back shot in West Texas and currently in negotiations for distribution.

While the script for Mindset is totally different, Foshee said the story of getting it to the big screen will be similar.

"We're in talks with a couple of distribution companies," he said. "But the decision won't be made on their part until they see the final product after editing. We'll also submit it to as many film festivals as we can get it into for some exposure."

Among the festivals the production company, made up of Foshee and two other partners, submits to is Worldfest in Houston. While not as highly publicized as Sundance or South-by-Southwest, he said it is the third largest festival in the world and a "hidden gem" in the Houston social whirl.

And once this project is completed, Foshee said he's got more than enough on his plate to keep him busy. He said between the partners, the company has five or six screenplays written, including two penned by Foshee, one of which he is currently novelizing.

"And I've got my agent looking for acting jobs for me," he said. "I do have a part in Mindset and I want to work in other films and continue to hone my craft. I want to work on some of the nuances of creating a character. Some of the smaller movements and motions that really bring a character on the written page to life."

He said his experiences in other films gave him a real insight into what happens in front of the camera while his business background from college helps him with aspects of being behind it.

"The one thing I learned on that first movie was that film is teamwork purest sense," he said. "A lot of what ends up on film is going to be ad-libbed. The actors will take what the writer did and expand on that to create complete characters. One person will throw something out and then someone else will and you can get a good collaboration working while still sticking to the original intent."

Foshee said setting up a production company in Texas makes getting films distributed more difficult, but added that the state growing as a film location.

"If I were to put the atmosphere in Texas in a single word it would be 'Progressive,'" he said.

"A majority of the films in Texas are being made by smaller independents like ourselves without studio supports or distributors. But the state has passed some laws that add some incentives to filming in Texas and I have some good friends in the industry lobbying the legislature for more positive changes.

"If you look at the Houston and Austin areas, you have so much to choose from in the immediate area from rural settings to really urban."

FUEL Admitting he's been fortunate to pursue the start of his career in Texas, Foshee said he eventually will have to move to L.A., at least temporarily, to achieve all of his goals.

"I'm the kind of person who shoots for the top in what I do and to be at the top in this game you've got to go to L.A.," he said. "If you're into investing, you have to go to Wall Street to be considered among the best and in films it is Hollywood."

He said making money is one "perk" of being a successful actor, but that he is driven by the creative process.

"I've always learned by soaking up as much as I could," he said. "That's one of the draws of the profession. You have the opportunity to experience so many different lives in one lifetime. You get to travel, see the world, live in different environments and if you make it believable, then you know you've arrived. I've got a thirst for knowledge and learning all I can."

And while young to be a role model, Foshee said he would recommend Wharton County students pursue their dreams with their whole heart.

"I'm in this business all or nothing and plan to continue to act until I die," he said. "My plan is to pursue this no matter how long it takes.

"I started doing this now because it was a goal and I wanted to get started before I got too old. A lot of people set up a time limit on when they are going to be a success or decide to move on to something else. I feel you have to jump in with both feet and never look back. If you set a time limit on your possible success, you're setting yourself up to be a failure."