The Little Ones

Jack and Danielle Bennett’s film is untitled, but it could be called “CCAZ News” because it is presented as a sort of local TV news program with Jack and Danielle as co‑anchors. In three locations, they interview three people about Cave Creek–past, present and future–with Jack doing the introductions and Danielle asking the questions.

In the first segment, longtime Cave Creek resident Bill Payne talks about when he was a kid in Cave Creek and what it was like going to school. When asked what he did for fun, he answered: hunt rabbits with his BB gun and ride his horse to Seven Springs. At the end of the opening third of the film, Payne summarizes, “It was a good place to grow up.”

The second segment features Herb Pierpan of the Cave Creek American Legion talking about camping and sports in response to a question about what kids like to do now in Cave Creek.

And as for the future: In the last interview Pam Sitton, the principal at Black Mountain Elementary School identifies problem‑solving skills, using the Internet, and good character/citizenship as being important qualities that children should be developing for the future.

The kids end the short film on the school playground with a fun sign‑off: “Children just like to play.”

The Auteur

The oldest brother, Bud Bennett, is a guy who likes to do things. He’s the incoming student body president at Cactus Shadows High School. He’s got his own band, Silhouette Skyline. He wants to be a filmmaker and is currently shopping for film schools to attend upon graduation from high school, (so far he favors U.S.C.). In June, he attended a national summit on Internet safety in Washington D.C. sponsored by Cox Communications and hosted by “America’s Most Wanted” star John Walsh. And, oh yeah, he’s throwing out the first pitch at the Arizona Diamondbacks game on August 6. When asked if there was anything he didn’t do, Bud thought for a while and then said, “I don’t play football.”

As a filmmaker, Bud admires the “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill” director Quentin Tarantino and creepy horror wunderkind M. Night Shyamalan (who has “Lady in the Water” in theaters now). In true indie fashion, he does it all. He writes, directs, films, edits and even writes his own music, much like Tarantino buddy and collaborator Robert Rodriguez (“Desperado,” “Sin City”). In addition to composing and performing the music for his own film, he supplied the score for his mother’s film by stripping the vocal track from one of his band’s songs, “In Your Arms.”

Titled “Along the Way,” Bud’s film follows his band mate, drummer Jason Beck, with whom he used to attend Cactus Shadows, from alarm clock to appointment– he gets out of bed and drives to band practice, stopping at well‑known watering holes along Cave Creek Road–Cave Creek Coffee Company, Big Daddy Mojo, the Circle K and finally Harold’s Cave Creek Corral–from his house to the edge of town, purchasing a beverage at each establishment. At the Circle K, he drinks two bottles simultaneously.

“When you’re early for an appointment,” Bud sums it up, “what do you do along the way?”

The Joker

“Nick sent me out with a prop list,” his mother Carol says. “I didn’t know what he was going to do with any of the stuff. Then I was barred from the garage.”

An ominous beginning, perhaps, but the end result, titled “Creek’d,” is a hilarious one‑note joke that Nick says “just kind of hit me.” Literally, because the entire film is Nick seated in a chair listing off some of the things he likes while pelted from off camera with those very things.

First, he identifies a few sports and a football, basketball, baseball bat, soccer ball and track shoes fly in and bombard him. Extreme sports? He’s pelted with a skateboard, roller blades, a pogo stick and a scooter. Some of those must have smarted. How about outdoor activities? A bike rolls in and when he says “swimming,” he’s drenched with a bucket of water. It doesn’t take long before he’s laughing so hard it’s difficult to understand what he’s saying. That’s when the subtitles start.

And then he lists the “great places to eat.” He enjoys “the fine Mexican cuisine at El Encanto, so he’s peppered with tortilla chips. He likes the burgers at the Satisfied Frog ... splat. A Hoagie sails in from Bad Donkey. Bubble tea from Big Daddy Mojo ... splash. Then one, two, three pieces of fried chicken in a row from The Horny Toad. And for dessert, a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Plop.

“All in all,” Nick says at the end of the film, “I love Cave Creek because there’s a lot to do in a small town.”

Nick’s poor mother, when she saw the film, describes her initial reaction as “Hilarious ... and then, ouch!” But at least she found out what all the props were for.

The Mother

“I love photography,” Carol Bennett says. “So I thought this was a great opportunity to try film. At first I came up with a lot of ideas, but they were all too complicated.”

One morning at 5 a.m. while hiking up Black Mountain–something she likes to do two or three times a week–she saw “the most beautiful sunrise. And then I saw my neighbor Martha (Davis) and her dog, and the idea just came to me.”

And a star was born–Zoe the Golden Retriever, the only character in Carol Bennett’s first‑place film “A Golden Morning.” The film shows Zoe’s Lassie‑like journey up the side of the mountain, which, when she reaches the top, reveals a beautiful panoramic view of the town of Cave Creek below.

“Zoe cooperated beautifully,” Carol says. “She was perfect.”

“I was completely shocked,” she said about winning first‑place. “I couldn’t believe it.” Although maybe she should have had an inkling of the fate of her film from the audience response during the screening. “They clapped and cheered when Zoe made it to the top. It caught me off guard. I was very pleased,” she says.

The Prizewinners

With $2,250 dumped into the family coffers, Carol’s husband and the kids’ dad, Howard Bennett, the only member of the family who did not enter the film contest, describes the aftermath of the Cave Creek Amateur Film Festival as “Christmas in July.”

Nick says he has no idea what he’s going to do with his $250 prize money–but maybe some padding and protective gear might be advisable if he’s planning on making a similar film for the competition next year.

Jack and Danielle, in a rare moment of single‑mindedness, are shopping for a trampoline that costs less than $500, so they can have some money left over.

Bud knows what he wants. Or needs, rather. A good digital video camera that he’ll be taking to film school.

The $1,000 first‑place prize money for Carol comes with picture perfect timing. “I’m going to buy the nicest camera I can get,” Carol says, explaining that when she was in Washington D.C. a couple months ago with Bud for the COX Internet Safety Summit, she left the 35mm camera she had used for 22 years in a taxi.

The Future

“I already know what I’m going to do for next year,” Carol says, with a big smile. “Something completely different.”

Reach the reporter at cmoore@thedesertadvocate.com.