When actress Karen McCann put out a casting call for her new movie, Step Away From The Stone, 300 actors and would be actors, diverse in both age and race, showed up at Little Rock’s Rep theater for tryouts.
McCann, who heads Rock Productions, a movie production firm, chose 150, and the shooting began three weeks later.
McCann, who, in addition to producing the movie, wrote the script and is the leading lady, is not what you’d call your average Hollywood producer. In fact, in early conversations with Hollywood moguls, they suggested that she would not find the talent she needed in Arkansas and should come to California to make her movies.
She said, “You don’t think I can find the talent? Watch me!”
McCann says, “I got exactly what I expected with the actors and the crew. They all brought their ‘A games’ to the set everyday, and you can see it when you watch the movie. I would stack these people up against anyone and look forward to working with them again.”
Another thing that the Hollywood types might have found disquieting about McCann is how she operates.
“My goal,” she says, “is to do what God tells me to do.”
Step Away From The Stone is about addiction and recovery, and here, briefly, is the plot:
Brooke (played by McCann), a successful Los Angeles music producer, uses drugs, alcohol and work to block her pain. After a series of bad decisions places her job in jeopardy, Sam, Brooke’s boss, sends her on a mandatory vacation to pull herself together, and Brooke returns to Little Rock to visit friends and family.
Little Rock is the scene of Brooke’s hurtful past. Soon after arriving home, she becomes overwhelmed with emotions and memories. She numbs the pain with drugs and alcohol. One bad decision leads to the next. She steals a car, has a near-fatal accident, ends up in rehab. Ultimately there is a happy ending, but the going gets tough before it gets better.
Nick, played by Will Koberg, is Brook’s ex-boyfriend and a pivotal character in the story. Despite the tension of past hurts, Nick is there to take her to rehab and encourage her to get the help she needs.
Another role is Gram, played by Pat Harris. She has raised Brooke and has always been there for her. She has been the one constant throughout Brooke’s life, but never a pushover.
Actor Harris, who was teacher of the year last year in the Bryant School System, brought a unique perspective to her role.,
“My role as ‘Gram,’” she says, “was in some ways a reflection of my own life. My son became addicted to meth about 9 years ago. The scenes we filmed with the self centered Brooke, the hospital scene, and the visit in rehab mirrored moments my family experienced.
“I will always remember how many of our friends and neighbors came forward to comfort us and share their own stories of faith, hope and forgiveness in the face of drug addiction in their families.
“My son is healed now. He is healthy, productive, and drug free. Just as Brooke’s character in the movie had to forgive herself, my son had to forgive himself before he could move forward.That is just a reminder that with faith, friends and forgiveness, even drug addiction can be conquered.”
McCann, who has never had a problem with drugs and alcohol herself, has experienced it in her family and understands that true recovery has a strong spiritual component. This is reflected in her choice for the title of the movie.
The title ‘Step Away From The Stone.’ she says, “comes from John 8:7 where Jesus told the people who wanted to stone Mary Magdalene that he who is without sin cast the first stone. It’s about not judging others and ourselves for not being good enough. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. We need to forgive, learn from our mistakes and do better next time.
“Step Away From The Stone,” McCann continues, “is a story that all the cast and crew wanted to be involved with because of the message. As we were auditioning the actors at the Rep we heard story after story of people’s struggles with addiction and why they wanted to help us tell the story.
“I thought it was so brave of them to tell their stories. This confirmed to me the message that God wanted me to convey. That there is hope, and He is it. I told God early on I just wanted a front row seat to watch Him change people’s lives. That’s the best part for me.”
McCann has three adopted brothers, and her oldest brother, Dennis Hamilton, is a recovering drug addict and the director of New Beginnings, a “spiritual boot camp” for men in Conway.
“Dennis,” she says, “was very helpful advising me on what mannerisms the main character would have with addictions, since he was an addict himself. He knew all the hurt and shame that people face as well as the bitterness. He has a very touching story and parts of it are told in the movie..”
Making movies, McCann says, is something she’s always wanted to do but didn’t know where to begin. Ten years ago she contacted the film commissioner at that time, Joe Glass, and he walked her through the steps.
“I made my first film in 2000,” McCann says. “Everyone liked the story, but the technical part of the movie wasn’t great. I began to meet people who had similar dreams along the way, and we now have a great team in place with all the technical knowledge we were missing before.
“Since then I’ve been a part of several local film projects and a television pilot in Boston starring Donna Douglas, Elly May, from the Beverly Hillbillies.”
McCann has worked on several projects as an actor, Blinded By The Darkness, Red Blood Cedar, Satisfy My Soul, and Specimens. She has also produced and written Blinded By The Darkness and Step Away From The Stone and a pilot for television, Mirror Mirror, starring Donna Douglas.
“I want to make more movies in Arkansas,” she says, “and the common theme is ‘hope’. There is so much pain out there.”
