stranger
Director Dennis Rockney pushing the dolly during a pickup shoot months after principle photography ended.
Two wannabe filmmakers were making local TV ads for a small Oregon production company in late 1980s, but wanted do something bigger. From that desire, A Stranger in Time was created.
Cover page. Added after writing was complete in April of 1989.
The Screenplay
The movie, written in pen in a lined notebook by Dennis Rockney, took roughly 5 weeks start-to-finish. Very few edits were made to that first draft before shooting—for better or worse, most of the final movie is in that initial handwritten draft.
Eventually it was retyped on a computer, but since no one owned one, that was done after hours at the workplace of a friend.
Page one. The original title (scratched out) was The Kids Club.
The Cast
Heather Kottek, Amy Seely, Jennifer Comer, Stephanie Saddler, Amie Nichols, Jennifer Roth: five young girls who had never acted professionally before and with no idea of what it meant to make a movie. But it was what they would end up doing the summer of 1989.
The first day of shooting was meant to be an easy one, but ended up lasting 12 hours and wrapping after midnight. It got better. Or at least a bit shorter.
And after the initial excitement wore off on that first day (probably in about 20 minutes), they stuck with it—and showed up for each shooting day, ready and willing to keep at it, without even really knowing where it was leading, or if it was leading anywhere.
And by summer’s end when the movie wrapped, they knew how to hit a mark, the difference between a closeup and a wide shot, how to tap into feelings outside of their own and also that when the director said “one more time” it probably really meant at least five more.
The cast of the movie 30 years ago (L to R): Jennifer, Stephanie, Amie, Jenny, Heather and Amy.
July 8, 1989 kicked off what was supposed to be an easy the first day of shooting, but it ended up wrapping after midnight.
Doug Zabroski and Dennis Rockney rocking the late ‘80s and the notion that opposites attract.
Doug, Dennis and Jeff Hart during a reshoot.
Doug shooting in Alan and Brenda’s house.
The Production
The happy collision of two aspiring filmmakers seeking to make their first feature-length movie and a group of teen girls who were taking acting lessons for the first time ultimately led to “A Stranger in Time.”
Doug and Dennis shooting a commercial in Salem, Oregon.
Dennis Rockney and Doug Zabroski were two self-professed video nerds who met at a local production company in Salem, Oregon in 1987. Collaborating on the creation of local TV commercials they discovered that they worked well together. They’d often stay late into the night shooting and editing. But at some point, they wanted to do something bigger.
Dennis, to be a better director, had been taking acting classes. When a family friend asked him to teach acting to her daughter Jenny and some friends, he agreed. This group of girls ended being the cast of the movie.
Pre-production began in May of 1989, with filming starting a few weeks after summer break started in 1989. Since Doug and Dennis kept their full-time jobs, shooting only happened in the evenings and on weekends.
Doug’s and Dennis’s wives—Lori and Cindy—took on the roles as producers, production managers, wardrobe, makeup and, most essentially, teen wranglers. Initially, all the movie’s funding was from the Rockneys, with a small portion from the Zabroskis.
A flier seeking crew was posted at the University of Oregon with the vague promise of college credits (not sure how that would have worked) garnered 3-4 stalwarts who showed up without fail—and without pay—every shooting day.
Executive Producer Alan Roth.
Alan Roth and his wife Brenda, became the movie’s biggest advocates and supporters, offering their home, land and so much more, that it’s impossible to list it all. It’s unlikely the film could have been made without their support.
Principal photography wrapped on Sunday, September 3rd and editing began immediately after, taking much of the fall, winter and into the spring of 1990. During that time, two small reshoots ensued to fill in some missing parts of the story.
