Video interview: Pearl filmmaker King Hollis and star Elijah DeJesus

by John P. Meyer

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This family-friendly, made-in-Oklahoma movie hearkens back to simpler times. (Plus, it features cool vintage airplanes!)

Director King Hollis and star Elijah DeJesus dropped by PegNews World HQ Wednesday afternoon to talk about their new movie, Pearl. It's been making the rounds of film festivals, but in provisional-edit form; the film now sports its final edit and is currently on a roadshow screening schedule, with a show set for Dallas' Studio Movie Grill (SMG) tonight (Thursday). There are upcoming shows planned for Houston, Kansas City, and elsewhere.

Dallas filmmaker King Hollis and one or two of the stars of the movie will attend each screening.

Here's the complete tour schedule as it currently stands:

May 6, 7:30 PM Dallas-SMG

May 20, 7:30 PM Houston-SMG 805 Town & Country Ln.

June 3, 7:30 PM Kansas City-SMG 7430 NW 87th Street

June 10 Indianapolis

June 24 Minnesota

July 8 or 15 Denver

TBD Phoenix

TBD Portland, Oregon

TBD Sacramento

TBD Little Rock

Pearl chronicles the adolescence and young adulthood of Pearl Carter Scott (Elijah DeJesus, in her first film role), who became the youngest licensed pilot in the U.S. when her dad, George Carter (played by Andrew Sensenig), sort of stretched the truth and bamboozled her an application. She was only 12 or 13 years old at the time, but she'd been driving her blind father around in their Model T for some time by then, and thus had demonstrated an aptitude for operating mechanical conveyances. At least in two dimensions.

Pearl's mom (played in the film by Angela Gair) was full blood Chickasaw, while her father was Anglo. George Carter, in fact, was one of Marlow, Oklahoma's most prominent businessmen at the time (1929), and thus had the resources to encourage his daughter's pursuit of her flying dreams once she'd been exposed to the experience by pioneer aviator Wiley Post, who happened to have family in the neighborhood.

Pearl's real-life story provides ideal fodder for an inspirational, family-centric film adaptation involving dreams, ambitions, sibling rivalry, young love, and the quiet kind of courage that comes with maturity. Plus, it's replete with gratuitous flying sequences featuring marvelous vintage aircraft.

In my conversation with King and Elijah, you'll hear them say:

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