I’m Just an Okie Filmmaker in Muskogee

I spent two weeks of September in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

I knew the song growing up, of course. But I don’t think I ever really considered whether Muskogee was an actual town. The name just sounded silly to me. And I can assure you, at no point in my younger life did I think, “Someday I’m going to spend two weeks there shooting a feature film.”

Yet here we are.

Two years ago, I moved to Tulsa to be a full-time filmmaker. And here, it’s surprisingly easy to do just that. Since moving to Oklahoma, I’ve filmed in several uniquely named towns and visited even more of them. Muskogee was one I’d actually been to a few times because they have an amazing Renaissance Festival. But until now, my experience with the city didn’t extend much beyond turkey legs, jousting and people walking around with swords.

Turns out there’s a lot more to Muskogee.

The city even launched a film incentive not too long ago, which somehow disappeared before anyone actually got to use it. But incentive or not, we came to town and shot a feature film there, and the whole thing went remarkably smoothly.

Muskogee is an interesting place. It doesn’t take long to see that parts of the town have been in decline. There are empty storefronts, abandoned houses and places that clearly had a different life not that long ago.

But there’s also something really great about what remains.

There’s unique architecture, some incredible old homes and locations you just don’t find everywhere. More importantly, everywhere we went, people greeted us with open arms. The homeowners who let us film on their properties were incredibly accommodating. The people whose homes we rented were great. Nobody seemed annoyed that a small army of filmmakers had suddenly invaded their town.

Everything went surprisingly smoothly.

Well, except for the constant 100-degree temperatures. Those sucked.

Muskogee is only about 45 minutes from Tulsa, but rather than make that drive back and forth every day, we rented a few Airbnbs and basically moved the production there. Cast and crew lived together, worked together, ate together and sweated together for more than two weeks.

Muskogee became home.

And while I think every single one of us was very happy to finally sleep in our own beds again, it was also a pretty great experience.

We have an incredible crew. They aren’t just PAs, grips, camera people and production people. They’re family. Spending two weeks together making a movie felt less like being away for work and, at times, more like a weird friend vacation where everyone had to wake up early, carry heavy equipment and make their days.

We were also lucky enough to cast a lot of our friends. I’ve said it before, but there is a ridiculous amount of talent in Oklahoma. Actors, crew, artists, filmmakers. It’s one of the biggest reasons I’m happy I ended up here.

For our lead, we brought in my comedian friend Melinda Hill from Los Angeles. She was fantastic, and she also got a two-week crash course in watching Okies in action.

We still have a little more to film, and now begins the long adventure of post-production. But the bulk of the movie was made during those two hot, exhausting, funny, occasionally ridiculous weeks in Muskogee.

A town I once knew only because of a song.

Then because of turkey legs and jousting.

And now because we made a movie there.

Not bad, Muskogee.

More updates on the film soon.