Baldwyn businessman directs movie about the death of Meriwether Lewis
Clark Richey hopes to make North Mississippi a hub for the arts
BALDWYN, MISS. (WCBI) – A North Mississippi businessman is bringing the story of a well known explorer’s death, and the mystery surrounding it, to the big screen.
For years, Clark Richey has researched and read everything he could about the death of Meriwether Lewis, along the Old Natchez Trace.
“It was very much wilderness, very remote, you had this national figure, Meriwether Lewis, who at the time was governor of Louisiana, and he was only three years back from famous Lewis and Clark Expedition and suddenly he supposedly commits suicide in the middle of nowhere,” Richey said.
Richey is an engineer, who is also a writer, and musician. He has helped revitalize downtown Baldwyn, his hometown, and six years ago, opened “Six Shooter Studios” to make videos and movies.
Richey wrote the screenplay for “Mysterious Circumstance The Death of Meriwether Lewis” two years ago.
The cast features John Schneider, best known for his role Bo Duke, in Dukes of Hazzard, and Amye Gousset, an actress from Tupelo with many screen credits.
The movie was shot over 14 days last year in North Mississippi.
“I would say we fully investigate the mystery of Meriwether Lewis’s death and we show, I feel like, several different possibilities as to how it could happen, I think in the end we give a strong indication of what we think and we leave it to the viewers to see if they agree with us,” he said.
This past weekend, the movie was named “Best Feature” at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival in Iowa.
Mysterious Circumstance, the death of Meriwether Lewis will be shown at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival and as the film gets more exposure it will make it somewhat easier for Richey and Six Shooter Studios to attract investors for future projects.
“I would like for this film to be a springboard and catalyst for the creation of more films, certainly my own films, but other people’s films, let’s make North Mississippi a little remote wilderness, southern Hollywood,’ Richey said.
Richey is working on a Mississippi premiere for the movie this summer in Jackson.
And Richey has just finalized distribution deals for the movie in the US and Canada.
