Buck (2011)

Director:

Cindy Meehl

Release Date:

16 February 2012 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

There's no wisdom worth having that isn't hard won

Plot:

An examination of the life of acclaimed 'horse whisperer' Buck Brannaman, who recovered from years of child abuse to become a well-known expert in the interactions between horses and people. |

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Horse | Cowboy | Documentary Subject's Name In Title

Awards:

8 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Buck Brannaman	...	Himself
Gary Myers	...	Himself
Bibb Frazier	...	Himself
Betty Staley	...	Herself
Gwynn Turnbull Weaver	...	Herself
Shayne Jackson	...	Himself
Annette Venteicher	...	Herself
Robert Redford	...	Himself
Reata Brannaman	...	Herself
Nevada Watt	...	Herself
Mary Brannaman	...	Herself
Johnny France	...	Himself
Betsy Shirley	...	Herself
Paige Morris	...	Herself
Bill Seaton	...	Himself
Ray Hunt	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tina Cornish	...	Herself
Britt Long	...	Herself
Dan Gunter	...	Himself
Julie Hueftle	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Scarlett Johansson	...	Grace MacLean (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sam Neill	...	Robert MacLean (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Cindy Meehl

Produced by
Kate Andrews	....	field producer: France, North Carolina; Washington & Wyoming
Julie Goldman	....	producer
Alice Henty	....	line producer
Lisa Hepner	....	field producer: Red Bluff/Chico, California
Andrea Meditch	....	co-executive producer
Cindy Meehl	....	executive producer
Sofia Santana	....	associate producer
W. Wilder Knight II	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
David Robbins

Cinematography by
Luke Geissbuhler		(as Luke Geissbühler)
Guy Mossman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Toby Shimin

Production Management
Nicole L. Karczewski	....	production manager: Montana
Stacey Offman	....	production manager: Red Bluff/Chico, California
Mark Steele	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lisa Hepner	....	field director: Red Bluff/Chico, California

Art Department
Rose Lowry	....	illustrator

Sound Department
Jose Araujo	....	audio mixer: Red Bluff, California (as José Araujo)
Jim Choi	....	audio mixer: Northern California
Andy Day	....	audio mixer: Montana (as Andrew Day)
Lee Dichter	....	sound re-recording mixer
Don Hooper	....	audio mixer: France, North Carolina; Washington & Wyoming
Benjamin Lowry	....	audio mixer: Texas (as Ben Lowry)
Jacob Ribicoff	....	supervising sound editor
Joe Savastano	....	second audio mixer: Montana
Ralph Thiekötter	....	dubbing mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Joy E. Reed	....	photo enhancement

Camera and Electrical Department
Skip Brand	....	camera: France, North Carolina; Washington & Wyoming
Joseph Brown	....	jib technician: Texas
Christopher Clements	....	camera operator: Montana (as Chris Clements)
Rob Curtin	....	assistant camera: Montana
Dick Deats	....	grip: Montana
Charles Debold	....	camera operator: Montana
Mark Eveslage	....	gaffer: Northern California
Derek Gildersleeve	....	assistant camera: Texas
Vance Holmes	....	jib operator: Texas
Darren King	....	grip: Northern California
Emily Knight	....	still photographer: Montana
Paul Marbury	....	assistant camera: Red Bluff, California
Ezra Olson	....	second assistant camera: Montana
Rob Rainey	....	camera: France, North Carolina; Washington & Wyoming
Dyanna Taylor	....	cinematographer: Red Bluff, California

Animation Department
Anthony Kraus	....	photo animator: Noisy Neighbor

Editorial Department
Jimmy Choi	....	digitizer
Will Cox	....	colorist
Anthony David Fitzgerald	....	digitizer (as Anthony Fitzgerald)
Dina Guttmann	....	additional assistant editor
Drew Oberholtzer	....	digitizer
Chris Pecoraro	....	digitizer
Joy E. Reed	....	assistant editor
Owen Rucker	....	on-line editor
Jennifer Stamps	....	second assistant editor
Mathieu Reid	....	color timer (uncredited)
Caitlin Tartaro	....	digital intermediate producer (uncredited)

Music Department
Liz Gallacher	....	music supervisor
Kathleen Hasay	....	assistant music supervisor
Peter Rundquist	....	composer: additional original score
Joel Goodman	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Nancy Adams	....	production accountant
Jonathan Argudo	....	transcriber
Anne S. Atkinson	....	legal counsel
Matt Baker	....	production assistant: Red Bluff/Chico, California
Michael Debach	....	transcriber
Becky Di Lallo	....	production coordinator: Montana
Kathy England	....	insurance: Taylor & Taylor
Lesley Gibson	....	assistant to director
Libertad Gills	....	transcriber
Rebecca Israel	....	transcriber
Jill Landaker Grunes	....	production coordinator: Red Bluff/Chico California (as Jill Landaker)
Terry Laslo	....	website designer: Wingcat Wed Design
Traci Lawson	....	transcriber
Brenda Longstreth	....	transcriber
Rogger Lopez	....	production accountant
Jerry Mamuzich	....	helicopter pilot: Montana
Jordana Marie	....	transcriber
Gwen Maynard	....	assistant to director
Gwen Maynard	....	production associate
Brian McMorrow	....	transcriber
Andrea Meditch	....	creative consultant
Allison Moore	....	title designer
Ariel Poster	....	transcriber
Stacy Ring	....	transcriber
Stephen B. Rodner	....	legal counsel
Carlye Rubin	....	transcriber
Tammy Soto	....	insurance: Taylor & Taylor
Robert Stein	....	legal counsel (as E. Robert Stein)
Michael Trainor	....	transcriber
W. Wilder Knight II	....	legal counsel
Joshua Zuckerberg	....	legal counsel
Louis Zwiebel	....	transcriber

Thanks
Neda Armian	....	thanks
Jessica B. Lee	....	thanks
Robert Redford	....	very special thanks
Mary Tobler	....	thanks
Connie Wethington	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Back Allie Productions
• Cedar Creek Productions
• Motto Pictures

Distributors

• NFP Marketing & Distribution (2012) (Germany) (theatrical)
• EuroVideo (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Falcon Films (2012) (Lebanon) (all media) (Middle East)
• IFC Films (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• IFC Films (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Madman Entertainment (2011) (Australia) (all media)
• Sundance Selects (2011) (USA) (all media)

Special Effects

• Noisy Neighbor Productions (photo animation) (as Noixy Neighbor)

Other Companies

• Final Frame  on-line services
• Pryor Cashman  legal counsel
• Sound One Corporation  post-production sound services (as Sound One Corp.)
• Taylor & Taylor  insurance services
• Wingcat Web Design  website

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, mild language and an injury

Runtime:

USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Red Bluff, California, USA

Company:

Back Allie Productions

Movie Connections:

Features The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Soundtrack:

THE KILLER IS CAUGHT

Nice Message of Over Coming Abuse

Buck (2011)

*** (out of 4)

Nice look at Buck Brannaman, the man best known as being a "horse whisperer" and was seen in the Robert Redford movie. This is a pretty interesting look at a man that many people might not have known about but after watching this it's pretty hard to forget him. Now, I should mention that I'm in no way, shape or form a "horse" lover so I'm probably not the best person for a film like this. I'm sure those horse lovers will be even more interested in the subject so I'm sure they'll connect with it even more than I did. Still, I think the real key to the film is that it shows someone who was able to work through the horrors in their own life and try to show compassion for another person or animal in this case. Buck talks about the horrors that his father put on him as a child, which included a lot of physical abuse. There's a damning story of Buck being so afraid of getting a beating that we slept out side in freezing temperatures just because the cold was better than going into the house where his father was. I really thought it was fascinating hearing how Buck takes the violence that was put upon himself and knows how to turn it around to show compassion towards others. Of course, many people are going to want to see him work his "job" and we get some pretty good shots of him working with horses and trying to cure them of whatever the problem might be. At just 87-minutes the film never overstays its welcome and for the most part I thought it was a nice look at a rather interesting man.