Filmmaker documents stories of Cabarrus County

Joanne Hock loves the historic Gem Theatre. But unlike many fans of the old movie theatre, Hock is a director who plans to make a movie there.

She is currently raising funds for her script, “Wednesdays at the Gem.” She filmed a promotional trailer that showed at the Gem when her feature film, “Redneck Roots” screened there last year.

For Hock, who has loved the Gem Theatre since she shot a commercial there in the mid 1990s, the experience of showing, “Redneck Roots” at the Gem, was a fantastic moment.

“It was fun for me, because I had a box of popcorn and a Cheerwine and a hundred and some people laughing at the right places,” she said. “You’re seeing the impact your story is having on others.”

 “Wednesdays at the Gem” hasn’t been made yet. Hock is working with the Emulsion Arts production company to develop the trailer just to raise money. But the response to the trailer that screened at the Gem has shown promise.

“So far everybody says, ‘I want to see that movie!’” she said. “I had a lot of people approach me.”

The story of, “Wednesdays at the Gem” is about the Hollywood glamour and racial tensions fatally collide at the all-white GEM Theater after unlikely friendships develop in the Depression Era South.

And Hock knows she has a solid script to shoot from. Her script for, “Wednesdays at the Gem” won a Nicholl Fellowship grant in screenwriting, which is awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Hock won the award around 2006 and had people wanting to purchase the script for a production company. But they wanted to attach another director and Hock said this was one movie she had to direct herself.

“It was like my child and I didn’t want it to go out to the world and to the wolves,” she said. “It really needed my guidance. I just felt it really needed my touch.”

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

The story of, “Wednesdays at the Gem” is also a very personal one for Hock. Her grandfather used to manage a 5,000 seat theatre for Warner Bros. in Pittsburgh and before that used to be a pianist for silent movies.

Her grandfather’s stories led to Hock’s interest in film and she went onto becoming a director and screenwriter.

It’s one of the reasons she decided to film a period piece, setting the story in the 1939. And the Gem Theatre is perfect for capturing that time period, she said.

The Gem Theatre originally opened on Dec. 31, 1936. A few years later, in 1942, The Gem Theatre was gutted by fire and was reduced to ashes. The theater was rebuilt in 1948 and featured a beautiful lobby and 916 seats, including the balcony.

“The whole idea behind this was being able to weave in some of the wonderful stories I heard from my grandfather,” she said. “A lot of those stories ended up in this screenplay.”

But Hock knows it’s going to be an expensive venture to tell that story. Between the costumes and vehicles needed for a period piece, as well as the talent she wants to hire for the film, she is looking to finance a budget ranging from $2.5 to $5 million.

This is a dream project for Hock, and she knows it. She also knows top line directors like Stephen Spielberg sometimes have trouble getting a movie they want made. And they have the name recognition that helps open wallets.

“Joanne Hock is going to have to work pretty darn hard to get this,” she said.

ONE MAN’S JUNK, ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE

“Wednesdays at the Gem” is not the only movie that Hock is shooting in the Cabarrus County community.

Hidden in a run down bowling alley in Midland is one of the greatest collections of movie camera equipment. And hardly anybody knows about it. But Hock has been filming a documentary about the collection and its owner, Martin Hill.

Hill, 75, of Midland, said he has grown close to Hock after their years of filming together. But proving his humble nature, he questions Hock’s choice for filming material.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “I question if I’m worth of that much attention, but she thought there was a story in there.”

And Hock still believes that fact.

“Martin is an eccentric gentleman who tried his hand at filmmaking and decided he was a better person selling the cameras than working behind them,” Hock said.

Hock said Hill’s collection is one of the largest in the world. The dilapidated bowling alley is crammed full of camera gear and lights and bits and bobs of Hollywood relics.

“There’s a lot of movie history in Martin’s bowling alley,” Hock said. “There’s seven or eight Academy award winning cameras.”

Hock said Hill’s collection includes the cameras used to film “Gone With the Wind,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” as well as the camera used for all of Charlie Chaplin’s movies.

Hill would often rescue cameras that were spray painted with the word, “scrap” on them, Hock said.

“He spent his entire life collecting this,” she said.

But now that Hill is 75 years old, it is becoming more difficult to maintain the massive collection.

“I love the equipment, but I’ve had my time with it and we have to pay attention to the financial aspects,” he said.

Hock said she has reached out to the American Film Institute about receiving help to preserve the collection Hill built. She has known Hill for five years and has been filming his story. But with the future of his collection uncertain, Hock has just kept on filming.

“That’s why I’ve been doing it for five years,” she said. “I haven’t found an ending.”

And Hock knows there is value in the cameras that Hill has saved. Just one camera that was in Hill’s collection at one time was used to shoot the original, “Star Wars.” Hill had preserved the camera and eventually gave it to a friend.

The Panavision PSR 35mm camera that George Lucas used for principal photography on the first, “Star Wars” movie in 1977 was sold at a recent for more than $600,000, Hock said.

Hock knows that if more people get involved and see what Hill is trying to save, there is a good chance of preserving that history. She has watched people’s reactions to seeing his collection.

“I’ve had people go, ‘Wow!’” she said. “They are breathless when they walk in there. The scope and scale is overwhelming.”

The scope and scale of Hock’s footage is a bit overwhelming as well. She has hours of interviews and hired a person just to go through the footage. She said there are hours of interviews and she needs a fresh view of the footage.

“I can’t sit month after month to baby sit that,” she said. “I’m too close to it.”

She said Hill’s story is an important one, because he has preserved a bit of cinema history that would be lost without him.

“People had no respect for the tools that were used to craft some of the greatest movies of all time,” she said. “I hold him completely responsible for holding that equipment together.”