Local re-enactors in Roots mini-seriesAngelo Piazza III (front and center) poses with the artillery crew he trained for the Fort Pillow battle scenes in a new Roots mini-series, which will debut on the History Channel on Memorial Day. Others in Piazza’s crew are (kneeling) Chris Becker of New Orleans (far left), Ross Piazza (third from left), Maxwell Bordelon of Marksville (second from right), Mark Stark of Marksville (far right); (standing) Lynn Stallman of Marksville (second from left) and Robert Bonner of New Orleans (far right). The Union fort was manned by black troops and white Southern Unionists and deserters, who were massacred by Confederate forces under the command of CSA Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. {Photo courtesy of Maxwell Bordelon}
Local Civil War re-enactors involved in summer film projects
Mon, 05/30/2016 - 08:10
Raymond Daye
"Roots" mini-series debuts on History Channel tonight; "Free State of Jones" in theaters June 24
Raymond L. Daye
When Hollywood calls for “boots on the ground” for a battle scene, many of those phone calls ring in downtown Marksville. This summer, two major motion pictures will include some familiar faces.
Angelo Piazza III and his Jack’s Powder Keg Company are highly regarded in the Civil War-era movie industry, providing arms and training expertise to an army of extras who often have had no experience with military weapons and maneuvers.
Piazza can rattle off a list of historical programs and films that he and his experienced team of Civil War re-enactors have helped be more historically accurate.
One of the most current projects is the new Roots mini-series, debuting on the History Channel tonight at 8 p.m. Another is the soon-to-be-released film Free State of Jones, starring Matthew McConaughey as a Rebel deserter who declares Jones County, Miss., to be a free state and fights Confederate forces to maintain the county’s right to be left out of the Civil War.
“We have done several History and Discovery programs over the years,” Piazza said. “We have done a lot of what they call ‘canned footage’ of battles. If they are doing a program and they need some battle footage, they can go to these films and use them in the project.”
His group of re-enactors recently did an 11-day maneuver in Arkansas, depicting the northern prong of the 1864 Red River Campaign. He said their work was filmed by an independent film company with an eye toward being included in the planned Long Road Home -- the third part of the trilogy that includes Gettysburg and Gods & Generals. Piazza was not involved in the first, but was involved in the second of those movies.
Provides guns, etc.
Piazza said his company provides muskets, rifles, sidearms, horses, mules and various types of artillery pieces to movies and historical TV programs. In addition, they conduct demonstrations at national parks and conduct “bang and smoke” for re-enactments.
“We are a licensed explosives company,” Piazza said.
The company is “A Rated” for its attention to historical accuracy -- down to a refusal to use plywood or other cheaper material inside trunks that the camera will never see.
About 80 percent of the four-night, 8-hour Roots reboot was shot in Louisiana.
“I trained all of the artillery,” Piazza said.
Free State of Jones was actually shot primarily in an area north of Slidell.
“We spent a couple of weeks doing that movie,” Piazza said. He said he was “engaged to run the army,” training them in how to march and maneuver like the Union and Confederate forces did in the Civil War.
The lessons involved teaching artillery crews a whole new language that cannoneers used while doing their jobs -- terms that nobody else would understand or have reason to utter, but were crucial to the effective use of artillery.
Even when a producer may not need a highly skilled troop of Yankee or Rebel soldiers, Avoyelles Parish may show up in the film as a musket, wagon or other materiel around an army campfire.
“We are not re-fighting the war,” Piazza said. “We are just living historians who see this as an opportunity to bring history to life. I hope that if we can bring the sounds and sights of the Civil War to an audience of young children, it might inspire them to pick up a book and learn more about their American history.”
Movies help economy
Piazza said the movie industry has helped the local economy in several ways. It has provided direct employment as extras for some area residents. It has resulted in work to repair equipment, and there is the rental of the historically accurate equipment to be used as props.
“I am concerned that the recent legislation to take away tax credits to film producers making movies in Louisiana may put a damper on film activity in the state,” Piazza said.
But if Hollywood comes to the piney woods or the bayous of the Pelican State to make a Civil War epic, Piazza & Co. are ready to arm and train the blue and the gray combatants.