Crystal Lake filmmaker launches 'Bigfoot' movie fundraising campaign

Matt Sommerfield has plenty to say about his latest dream, but it comes down to this: “We want to make a ‘Bigfoot’ movie unlike any other.”

It began with a conversation with a friend, Jerad Beckler, inspired by Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot” television series in which four explorers search the country for sasquatches.

“What if we made a ‘Bigfoot’ movie that actually made sense, made him not just a dumb oaf walking around, but gave him some intelligence?” said Sommerfield of Crystal Lake, an actor and producer who’s already made one independent film, “A Shallow Grave,” and has performed on stages throughout the Chicago area as both an actor and comedian.

He’s also known as “the pickle guy,” running the Crystal Lake-based pickle company Sommer Field’s. But most of all, he’ll tell you he’s a dreamer.

In about six months, he and Beckler had written a screenplay for “Bigfoot.”

“No one’s ever really made a Bigfoot movie that isn’t either a slasher or a comedy or something cheesy where Bigfoot is running around killing everyone. There’s such a big market for Bigfoot,” Sommerfield said.

He gathered an experienced crew and cast of well-known actors, including Brian Krause – best known for his role as Leo Wyatt on the popular “Charmed” on The WB television network – and already has shot a trailer, filming scenes at Jasters Craft Beer and Winery in Crystal Lake.

Now, having seen the fundraising success of Zach Braff with "Wish I Was Here" and Kristen Bell with "Veronica Mars," he's created a Kickstarter campaign to raise $200,000 in start-up costs.

“It’s like dreamers helping dreamers,” he said of the campaign, which, if successful, would help him maintain creative control without giving a studio the right to cut down the script and shoot it on the cheapest budget possible.

Through private fundraising, he hopes to raise the rest of the film’s $1.2 million budget, begin filming in August of next year throughout McHenry County and at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and release the film in the summer of 2017.

The story starts like this: “For millenniums, Bigfoot, as The Keeper, silently has protected the environment and man from himself, yet the evil of industry brings him out of the darkness to battle for the complete control of nature.”

Sommerfield describes it as an action-adventure film, more of an origin film than a fantasy, with Bigfoot looking as realistic as possible.

“Our primary goal is to entertain, to give them a film they’re looking for that they might not know they’re looking for,” he said. “My goal is that kids would come out of the theater and say, ‘I want to go find Bigfoot.’ It’s ‘National Treasure’ meets ‘Batman.’ ”

If the Kickstarter campaign is a success, Sommerfield’s goal is to make the film, as he puts it, “Part One of The Legends Anthology.” Similar to films based on the characters of Marvel and DC Comics, future films would address other Western civilization legends, such as The Swamp Monster, Yeti (or Abominable Snowman), Lizardman, The Mothman and others.

Sommerfield has a slate of 12 films in mind, all inter-connected.

Along with Krause, cast members include Michael Joiner (who’s worked as a photo double for Bruce Willis and starred opposite Louis Gosset Jr. in “The Grace Card”), Rachel Hendrix (who played the lead in 2012’s “October Baby”), Cameron Arnett (who’s appeared in film and television, including roles in “Miami Vice,” “China Beach,” “Doogie Howser MD” and other series), Patrick Thompson (an international fashion model and theater actor, who’s appeared in numerous commercials) and others.

Many of the actors and crew have worked throughout the industry. Instead of being attached to projects, Sommerfield said, they’ll have the chance to lead and provide creative input. Along with producing, Sommerfield will direct the film and play only a small cameo role so he can focus on the work behind the camera.

“I love projects that pull people together,” he said. “It’s not about being rich or famous. It’s about, ‘Do you have talents and abilities and want to work on something together?’ ”