Recently I saw a post on Facebook asking who the pilot was that was featured in the movie “The Grace of Jake”. Terry Haynes answered stating that it was him. I thought this was rather fascinating and of course I Googled it and reviewed the trailer. I thought it was so cool that one of my customers (as well as a friend) had been featured in a movie made in a town about 20 miles from my home.
I reached out to him to see if he would let me write about it and of course he was happy to help. Terry owns “Haynes Flying Service” in Palestine, AR. He was asked by writer/producer Chris Hicky to fly for the actor as an ag pilot in a short film that he wrote. Chris was from Forrest City, AR (very close to Palestine) and used “Kickstarter” to help fund the project released in 2015.
The premise of the story is “Ex-inmate and wandering musician Jake travels to a small town in Arkansas intent on exacting revenge from his father but begins to unravel a complicated family history as he befriends the locals.”
The film was submitted to the Short Film Festival. Terry said that he recently happened to see the film show up on the “Starz” cable network for about six months. My husband Jerry and I recently watched it on Amazon Prime Video. Two notable stars were Jordin Sparks (American Idol winner) and Jake La Botz (blues singer, songwriter and actor). Terry mentioned that Jordin was continually coming and going because of other projects. Lead actor Jake La Botz did a good job especially with his musical skills. He also noted that actor Dorian Wilson had a security guard due to his status.
What I found interesting was that most of the crew stayed at a local hunting club and the people of the town helped with the food. Isn’t this just like the south? Of course, they are going to be hospitable and make sure they’re well fed!
Since there was only one camera, they had to take multiple shots. Terry said they also had a camera inside his plane and it showed his beard beneath the visor. Fortunately, the actor he was portraying also had a beard, so it worked out great. He mentioned that the character of the ag pilot was originally going to be “Henry Hayes”, but they decided to change it to “Henry Haynes” to be able to use the Haynes Flying Service logo displayed throughout the movie.
As Jerry and I watched the movie, it was so cool to see many of the areas that we are familiar with in St. Francis County. We have stopped by so many flying services throughout the county and I felt like I was right there with them.
I am proud that Terry Haynes represented our industry well. Terry also works as a deputy for the St. Francis county sheriff’s department in drug enforcement on I-40 when he is not busy flying. He used to play drums in a band, but decided to quit not long ago.
He has four kids ages 11 to 26 (two in college), so he said he will be flying a good while. In 2001 he bought out a Co-Op after flying there for several years. He also added ground rigs four years ago.
I always find it intriguing that our industry has so many talents! From musician, ground and aerial application, finding crooks and being a stunt man, Terry fits them all! Y’all be safe.
