On Aug. 21, 2017, thousands of people from across the world gathered in Scotts Bluff County to witness one of nature’s most breathtaking sights: a total solar eclipse. South of the monument, local landowners Lisa Betz-Marquez and husband Frank Marquez, prepared to welcome eclipse lovers to their Gering farm for an unforgettable weekend. Little did Betz-Marquez know, it was about to become even more memorable.
“We were busy preparing to receive campers from around the world, not knowing quite what to expect,” said Betz-Marquez. “I was thinking of every conceivable safety issue I could and determining tent sites, when two unexpected opportunities popped up,” she said.
The first of those opportunities was to host a South Dakota-based member of the Lakota tribe, Ricky Grey Grass, for drumming, storytelling, and communal meals. The second, was to host a feature film cast and crew for a location shoot on the farm.
“Frank had National Guard duty in Wyoming that weekend, so my friend Rae Ann Schmitz offered to co-host. It was Rae Ann who reached out to the Lakota.”
Together, Schmitz and Betz-Marquez worked hard to cook meals that would be shared among the many visitors to the farm that weekend.
“We were crazy managing all of those details, and then I received a call from local filmmaker Becky McMillen, who was scouting locations for a film about the eclipse.” McMillen was working with producers Debra Lord Cooke and Elissa Piszel, also the movie’s leading actresses, to find the perfect location for the film’s main characters in the pinnacle scene, the viewing of the Great American Eclipse.
“How could I say no?” said Betz-Marquez.
With Dome Rock and the South Bluff as a backdrop, Valley View Farm offered the perfect site. With only two days to prepare, Betz-Marquez also agreed to include the cast and crew in the communal meals.
An actress herself, Betz-Marquez was offered the bit part of a Nebraska farmer offering directions to the main characters when lost on the back roads. Chief Gray Sage and his companions also were added to the film. The scene that featured Betz-Marquez fell to the cutting room floor after the Maine Film Festival requested the film be shortened but she was pleased to earn an actor’s listing on the IMDB database for film professionals.
In The Moon’s Shadow (ITMS) is a comedic drama about two estranged sisters, Lisa and Karen. Older sister Lisa is a workaholic from New York City, and Karen is a recent widow holing up in the family’s summer cottage in Maine. In response to Karen’s plea, Lisa joins her at the cottage, where the two decide to go to Nebraska to witness the upcoming rarity of a northern hemisphere total eclipse of the sun. Karen’s deceased husband Tom had been an eclipse chaser and their estranged daughter Emily joins the two women in Nebraska to distribute her father’s ashes.
“It’s a gorgeous film, full of heart and authenticity,” said Betz-Marquez. “It is a huge thrill to see the local landscape featured so prominently and beautifully in the film, she said. “My favorite scene is the eclipse scene. It’s like being there and reliving the eclipse all over again, complete with goosebumps.”