The Most Cinematic Book Trailer Ever Produced!

Producers Irl Davis and Randolph Sellars are proud to announce the upcoming release of “Polly, The Mystery of Bonney Canyon,” the highest production value book trailer ever produced. Book trailers are still relatively new as a media form.   Unfortunately, the bulk of them have been made at a glaringly low production quality with cheap graphics, animated stills, and cheesy music.

“Our goal is to raise the quality bar much higher for book trailers” says Davis, who wrote and produced the project. Sellars, the director of “Polly,” adds “we wanted to create something truly cinematic, with the look and feel of an exciting movie trailer that will viscerally engage potential readers.”

The “Polly” trailer is based on Davis’ new adventure novel of the same name. The book is a tale of betrayal, murder, and revenge, loosely based on stories about Polly O’Neal, Davis’ great grandmother, who traveled the Oregon Trail in the 1860’s. Remarkably, the book trailer was photographed primarily on Davis’ sprawling 6000-acre ranch in Tygh Valley, part of the original O’Neal/Davis homestead. Although parts of the land have been cattle ranched in the past, most of it remains pristine high desert – full of hills, canyons, creeks, and springs. Davis plans to promote his ranch as a versatile location for local and out of state film productions.

photos by Kristin Zabawa Photography

“Directing a period western was an amazing opportunity I’ve longed for,” says Sellars, a filmmaker with over 30 years of experience including 23 feature films. “I finally got to check that genre off my bucket list. We even got to film an authentic covered wagon used in the ‘Lonesome Dove’ mini-series.” Davis and Sellars assembled a professional cast and crew from Portland in addition to Tygh Valley talent with western skills like horse riding. Tygh Valley is a two-hour drive from Portland, so the Portlanders all stayed on the ranch during the five-day shoot.  “Our local cast and crew joined us for family style meals, and we all watched dailies in the evening” says Portland actress Mercedes Rose. “It was an incredible bonding experience that I’ll never forget.”

Mercedes plays Siobhan, a present day character, who is Polly’s great-great granddaughter.  Actress Paige McKenzie (Mercedes’ real life daughter) plays the title role of Polly.  Paige comments, “it’s kinda weird on this project.  Usually, my Mom plays my Mom. This time, I’m HER great-great grandmother! It’s cool.”  Paige is referring to her hit Youtube webseries “The Haunting of Sunshine Girl” where she and Mercedes play a popular mother/daughter team.  Paige’s huge success with “Sunshine Girl” recently landed her a feature article in Seventeen magazine.  “Polly is a very different role for Paige” says Davis. “I think that her fans will be surprised and very pleased.”

The public is invited to the premier screening of the “Polly” book trailer, to be shown at The Hollywood Theater on Saturday, Feb 8 at 4:30 PM.  Behind the scenes videos will also be shown as well as a Q&A with cast & crew.  Admission is free.  Chapters from the upcoming novel are available for free at pollyadventures.com.

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