{"id":25203,"date":"2024-10-23T18:47:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T00:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-modern-western-filmed-in-cortez-premieres\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:12:00","slug":"a-modern-western-filmed-in-cortez-premieres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-modern-western-filmed-in-cortez-premieres\/","title":{"rendered":"A modern western filmed in Cortez premieres"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The \u201cHorsepower\u201d poster. (Courtesy Joe Sernio)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The first \u2013 of what its creators hope will be many \u2013 episode of a modern western screened at the Canyons of the Ancients Guest Ranch, where it was filmed last summer.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called \u201cHorsepower,\u201d and on Friday, Oct. 18 people paid $8 to see the premiere of its pilot episode at the ranch.<\/p>\n

The pilot is what they\u2019ll show to streaming services and festivals in hopes they like it and will continue the show, said Joseph Sernio, a lead actor, producer and co-creator of \u201cHorsepower.\u201d<\/p>\n

It rained steadily that night, but people made their way out to the ranch anyways, which is nestled in the scenic McElmo Canyon about 20 miles west of Cortez\u2019s city center.<\/p>\n

Puddles peppered the dirt road that snaked through the property, and homemade signs barely legible from the all the rain pointed guests to the Ranch House, which was part of the set during filming and decorated with string lights for the occasion.<\/p>\n

People parked their cars there, and walked to another cabin where they screened not only the pilot, but a behind the scenes video, trailer and a special thank you message from the cast and crew.<\/p>\n\n

Though it was cold outside, inside was cozy. Not a single chair was empty, and adults stayed warm with a choice of wine from Sutcliffe Vineyards just up the road.<\/p>\n

Dan Robertson, the assistant director, said a few words to the crowded audience before the show began.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery frame felt like a painting,\u201d said Robertson. \u201cThe ranch was undeniably a main character of the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robertson told the audience that this viewing was the first and it would be the only for some time to come.<\/p>\n

And with that, the show began.<\/p>\n

The pilot was just over 30 minutes long. It centers on a guy named Fletcher Miller, who Sernio plays. Miller is running for governor \u2013 or so he thinks. He ends up making a big mistake and things sort of unravel for him from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is violent!\u201d a child squeaked mid-showing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an action-packed thriller of a show, akin to \u201cYellowstone\u201d and \u201cBanshee.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not geared to developers taking land away and subsequent blackmail; \u201cHorsepower\u201d is more about characters, consequences and politics, Sernio said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got a different feel,\u201d said Sernio. \u201cIt\u2019s still modern, with a western feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fletcher
Fletcher Miller by the fire, played by Joe Sernio. (Photo by Christian J. Boho)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sernio told The Journal<\/em> that he doesn\u2019t really like Fletcher Miller, who he plays in the show. He called him cocky, the kind of character with a \u201cyou can\u2019t touch me\u201d attitude.<\/p>\n

But it was fun to lean into a persona that\u2019s completely opposite of who I am, Sernio said.<\/p>\n

Costner Hernandez, a 14-year-old actor in the show from Cortez, said he had a lot of fun in the filming process, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d never done anything like this before,\u201d said Hernandez. \u201cIt was really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though his moment in the limelight was brief, Hernandez said it took a while to get \u201cthe perfect shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

All those involved \u2013 including Ming and Garry Adams, the ranch owners \u2013 agreed filming at the ranch was a great time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were such a respectful, professional group,\u201d said Ming Adams. \u201cIt didn\u2019t feel serious at all. We were all having fun, building family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Some
Some of the Horsepower cast. From left to right: Charles Malik Whitfield, Robert Davi, Erin O\u2019Brien, Joe Sernio and Peter Dobson. (Photo by Christian J. Boho)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ming went on to say how exciting it was to see how things are done behind the scenes, and what it takes to make things like fight scenes and shootings look realistic.<\/p>\n

Last April, Sernio and Peter Dobson, a producer and actor in the film, came out to see the ranch for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said they were trying to find a western ranch to film on, I didn\u2019t know them at all,\u201d Ming said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe noticed Canyons of the Ancients Guest Ranch and totally fell in love,\u201d Sernio said.<\/p>\n

The whole crew came out in August 2023 and filmed what would become the pilot over a five-day period.<\/p>\n

Robertson, in his role as assistant director, said he had to keep people in line and figure out when and where to film things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a puzzle,\u201d said Robertson. \u201cI thought of it like one big Disneyland campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his brain, he divvied up the different areas of the ranch into different parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job is make-believe,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n

Their job is also to make things believable, and since Sernio isn\u2019t a cowboy by trade, he came out early to train on horseback.<\/p>\n

But right before shooting the scene of him on the horse, the horse got sick, so they had to bring in a new horse last minute. Sernio had little chemistry with the new horse, something the audience of locals picked up on and mentioned when the crew asked for feedback at the premiere.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know how to brush a horse,\u201d someone said when Sernio called on them.<\/p>\n

Another person from the audience said, \u201cI don\u2019t watch a lot of movies, but you captured my interest. I\u2019ll certainly vote for you as governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pilot was really to show people what they can do, and the private showing was a big \u201cthank you\u201d to the community of Cortez and Ming and Garry, Sernio said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really hope to be back, making episodes. It\u2019s hard to leave a place like this,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n

Since filming, Sernio said he\u2019s been back to the area every month since, and he always stays with Ming and Garry at their ranch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canyons of the Ancients Guest Ranch, \u2018Horsepower\u2019s\u2019 pilot episode screened on Friday, Oct. 18 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78842,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25203\/revisions\/78842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25203"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}