Blake Eckard : Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Editor.
Born February 4, 1980, Blake Eckard grew up on the Glaciated Plains of Northwest Missouri where he spent time building countertops, driving trucks, drinking beer and making movies. He shot his first feature, "A Simple Midwest Story," while a senior in high school. Following three years of post, it premiered at the Anthology Film Archives where the New York Press wrote of the film, "Think a bleaker 'Fargo' on a shoestring."
In the summer of 2004, following four years on a film about Bigfoot hunters in Ore
gon (a film that remains in progress), Eckard shot "Backroad Blues," a no-budget, narrative about two drifters in search of work in rural Missouri. The film itself was shoton re-canned 16mm, in seven days, with no crew, and a cast of locals. Post-Production took place, on and off, over the course of the next 2 years, as access to necessary equipment became available for free. The film was eventually completed in 2006.
The following year production rolled on "Sinner Come Home," a story about a young, rural marriage that has crept close to the breaking point. For this film Eckard cast his friend Ryan Harper Gray (a regular in recent films by Jon Jost) for the role of Eddie Farnim, while "stock" members of past films filled the rest of the cast (including Tyler Messner, Christiana Hansen, and David Blair). Like "Backroad," this film was edited over an extended period as free time with necessary facilities was made available. Full completion came in late 2007.