The directors and judges of The Wild Bunch Film Festival (TWBFF) held in Wilcox, AZ have had their eyes on Calf Rope for over a year now. Our very first award for Calf Rope was presented to us one year ago on October 9, 2019 for Best Modern Day Screenplay with the award going to Jake Stetler and Bradley Hawkins who co-wrote the screenplay based on Hawkins' childhood memories of his relationship with his Grandad Mac from Oklahoma back in the 1960s. TWBFF awarded Stetler and Hawkins for their collaboration strictly from the 18 page working script since at that time Dadley Productions had just been begun the process of assembling a director's rough cut for the film.
One year later, on October 4, 2020 our award-winning lead actor, Gorman Ruggiero attended the three-day film festival and at the end of the night was captured clinging to the TEN trophies that the film had won just minutes after the TWBFF award ceremony had ended:
Calf Rope dominated TWBFF 2020 with wins for Best Family Film, Best Modern Day Western, Best Produced Modern Day Western, four other wins in the Modern Day Western genre
(Best Director (Bradley Hawkins), Best Actor (Gorman Ruggiero),Best Supporting Actor (Lukas Barnett),and Best Cast Ensemble), as well as two wins outside of the genre for Best Young Actor (10 yr-old Lukas Barnett and 8 yr-old Logan Donaldson), and the Festival Director's Choice Award for Best Rodeo Film.
Along with the ten wins, Calf Rope was honored with nominations for Best Drama as well as for Best Actress (Avery Kellington),Best Supporting Actress (Jackie Walker), and Best Cinematography (Sofia Monzerratt) in the Modern Day Western genre.
The Wild Bunch Film Festival (TWBFF) definitely lives up to its name in that this unique western genre film fest is held in conjunction with the 70th Annual Rex Allen Days which includes a rodeo, parade, car show, gun show, carnival & more! Look for a posting coming soon by award-winning Best Actor,Gorman Ruggiero, who wrote a nicely-detailed personal reflection of experience at this world class western-themed film festival that ranks among the very best of its kind in the world.
