by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Jax provides background for judge’s film
Orders are part of life for Circuit Court Judge Jeff Morrow as he signs off on them regularly from the bench in the Fourth Judicial Circuit. But the word took on different meanings during his movie shoot at restaurant 11 South in Jacksonville Beach recently.
The staff at the award-winning restaurant is used to taking food and drink orders, but they watched as Morrow gave actors orders, or direction, during the filming for his movie “Hemphill’s Gift” Dec. 23.
“I need you to be a little more grrrr, a little more pissed off,” said Morrow to retired Naval Commander Greg Van Dyke explaining a restaurant scene where his character is arguing Naval policy.
Van Dyke didn’t have a difficult time finding a costume for his role as a Commander in the U.S. Navy. The dress whites were in the retired commander’s closet.
“This has been a great experience,” said Van Dyke. “It’s great to work with Jeff. He is so passionate about his work and makes it fun.”
Morrow’s experience with theater dates back to his undergraduate days as an English literature major at Davidson College. The 1977 graduate participated in the school’s film program with fellow Davidson thespian Tony Snow, former White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush. The two developed three films as students at Davidson. This passion led Morrow to develop a script based on the interesting stories and people he has met through his life.
The main plot revolves around a “competent lawyer who is in financial trouble and trouble with the bar.” The lawyer’s neighbor is an elderly woman who tries to help him financially and also gives him advice on his love life. The neighbor is Emily Hemphill, who was a fictional character who existed in the mind of one of Morrow’s employees when he owned a restaurant.
“He would leave phone messages in this woman’s voice and he called her Emily Hemphill,” said Morrow. “That’s where the name of the film was developed from.”
The subplots of the movie involve Morrow’s other passions, the courthouse and fishing.
“There are just so many interesting stories that occur at the courthouse,” said Morrow. “I incorporated some of them into the movie.”
Stories from the courthouse weren’t the only items from Jacksonville in the movie. Morrow has filmed scenes in the Duval County Courthouse, 11 South and Whiteway Delicatessen, as well as shoots near Cancun. The shoot in the islands helped provide footage for the second subplot, the practice of shark finning. Shark fin soup is a Chinese delicacy and, in order to obtain the main ingredients, fisherman catch the sharks, cut off the pectoral and dorsal fins and dump the fish back into the ocean.
“I’ve shown footage of the practice of finning to some people and they have cried because it is so horrible,” said Morrow.
Jacksonville attorney Bill Sheppard will be arguing an appellate case on the issue in the film.
“He’s got a great voice and presence,” said Morrow.
He has used the talents of about 40 actors, two professional and one semiprofessional, throughout filming and countless extras.
He plans to wrap up filming by February and edit and finish the film for a late March release.
“We’ll put it out there and see what kind of response it gets,” said Morrow, who hasn’t ruled out sending the film to the Sundance Film Festival.
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