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  Picture Long Island Film Festival July 15-21, 2005 Navel Film Festival Tahoe-Reno Film Festival August 24-28th Confederate love story finds an audience at N.Y. filmfestival Staff Writer July 15, 2005 After more than three years, Columbia filmmaker Julian Adams’ Civil War movie, “Strike the Tent,” is ready to be showcased. Its first public showing will be Friday at the Long Island International Film Expo. It also is scheduled to be screened Aug. 10 at the Navan Film Festival in Ireland and Aug. 24-28 at the Tahoe-Reno International Film Festival. Other film festivals also have shown interest. Based on a true story, the film unfolds during the latter days of the Civil War and focuses on the romance between Confederate captain Robert Adams and a Northern girl, Eveline McCord. Despite the bloodshed around them, Adams fought hard to keep the couple’s love alive. Julian Adams is proof that it did survive. He is their great-great grandson. Julian’s father. Weston Adams, a local lawyer with a political background that includes a stint as ambassador to the South African country of Makawi during the 1980s, was the catalyst for the film. “My father is the true keeper of the family genealogy and his knowledge of our family history was the foundation for this entire creation,” Julian Adams said. The extensive cast boasts the likes of Amy Redford, Mickey Rooney, Tippi Hedren, Bob Dorian and Lee Majors, but it is Julian Adams himself who plays the lead role of his great-great grandfather. Adams also co-directed the film and wrote the screenplay. “I have been incredibly lucky to be a part of this,” Adams said. “To be able to honor those who created the world you live in — this is what we did here.” Much of the filming took place where the actual events unfolded, including the Civil War-era Wavering Place Plantation, near Hopkins. Other locations included Lenoir and Wilmington, N.C. Adams never really thought about being involved in filmmaking until his college days. He graduated from the University of the South with a degree in fine arts and got his masters in architecture from Georgia Tech. “I began to explore acting and filmmaking while in grad school and began to work on independent films as I practiced architecture in Columbia,” Adams said. At Weston Adams’ urging, father and son began thinking seriously about telling the story of their ancestors. By early 2002, a script was completed. Weston Adams, a lifelong film buff who was a producer of “Strike the Tent,” also has a role in the movie and contributed to the script. The film’s title is another phrase for an order to break camp. And according to historians, “Strike the tent” were the last words uttered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee before he died in 1870. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the movie,” Weston Adams said. “There have been several cable channels who have contacted us, but we are also engaged in talks with several companies about releasing the film theatrically.” Movie resumes filming at Ft. Defiance By LAURA BEACH, News-Topic Lifestyle Editor Posted: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 HAPPY VALLEY - Filming continued Monday at the historic location of Ft. Defiance in Happy Valley yesterday for the movie, “Strike the Tent,” a civil war film being produced by Solar Filmworks. The production company was formed by Julian Adams and Eric Holloway who have worked on more than 14 films together during the past five years. “Solar Filmworks was formed to have a platform to produce projects under,” said Holloway. “This civil war film is the first full-length feature under Solar Filmworks. We have four other projects already in development.” The three lead actors are played by Adams, Holloway and Wendy Edwards with a cast of over 50 actors, including Mickey Rooney, Lee Majors and Amy Redford, daughter of Robert Redford. The movie is based on the real life of Adam’s great-great-grandparents Robert and Eveline McCord Adams. The movie begins with Robert being in a northern prison. Adams plays the part of his grandfather. Edwards is a Charlotte stage actress who plays Eveline. Holloway, who calls Hickory home, plays the role of Benjamin Young in the film. He will also be scoring the music for the film. Holloway has won seven awards for composition from the “American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers” over the past eight years. He plays piano, sax and guitar and has shared the stage with musicians such as Chick Corea, Bertie Higgins and Kris Kristofferson. Redford plays Sylvia McCord, sister-in-law of Eveline. Lee Majors plays Dr. Jack Lee a family friend of the McCords. The film shows the men and women’s perspective of what they endured during the war in the 19th century. Scenes were originally shot over Memorial Day weekend at Ft. Defiance. The home of revolutionary war hero Gen. William Lenoir was used to depict the character David McCord’s plantation house in Pennsylvania. McCord is played by Rooney. Shooting for the movie is also being done in Columbia, S.C. at Wavering Place, a plantation house that is still in the Adams family. Adams is very complimentary of Becky Phillips, executive director of Ft. Defiance. “Becky has made Ft. Defiance a home to us.” Phillips has been present for all aspects of the filming, and has acted as a historical adviser and costume adviser for the movie. “Strike The Tent” is expected to be released in March 2003.
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