GOODBYE TO A LEGEND We bid a reverent adieu to legendary composer Carlisle Floyd. Considered the "Grandfather of American Opera," Floyd was a deft composer and librettist who elevated regional themes to powerful universal stories. He was also the mentor of composer Craig Bohmler. Craig's new opera "Riders the Purple Sage" is dedicated to Carlise. We are honored Carlisle appears in our "Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera' in one of his last interviews. ​ Carlisle Floyd, New York Times Watch the Riders Film ..read more

WE GOT THE BAND TOGETHER ​Great round table with the Creatives and Cast of "Riders of the Purple Sage," and special guests Laura Lee Everett from OPERA America and Douglas Ramirez from The Actors Fund.  Hosted by our good friend Shawn Jeffrey at ADA Artist Management.  ..read more

Who's got stars, yes we do! ​​https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Peter-Coyote-Karin-Wolverton-and-More-to-Star-in-RIDERS-OF-THE-PURPLE-SAGE-THE-MAKING-OF-A-WESTERN-OPERA-20210330 ..read more

BROADWAY WORLD SINGS OUR PRAISES ​Broadway World said our film is "A soaring and epic testimonial to the creative process." We're grateful for this stunning review of 'Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera."  https://www.broadwayworld.com/phoenix/article/BWW-Review-RIDERS-OF-THE-PURPLE-SAGE-THE-MAKING-OF-A-WESTERN-OPERA-20210323 ..read more

ART DEALER DIARIES - DUEX It was an honor to sit down with Dr. Mark Sublette from Medicine Man Gallery and talk about Ed Mell's stage design for the opera "Riders of the Purple Sage" and how the landscape of the Southwest influences my filmmaking.  https://youtu.be/HUbZvFuHzmc ..read more

ART DEALER DIARIES - Part One Thank you to Mark Sublette at Medicine Man Gallery for having me on his Art Dealer Diaries podcast to talk about my evolution as a filmmaker and Ed Mell's monumental stage set for the opera "Riders of the Purple Sage." We're delighted to unveil the film that explores the creative process of Ed mell, Zane Grey, and composer Craig Bohmler. "Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera" premieres March 25 to April 11th at Watch.RidersOperaFilm.com KRISTIN ATWELL FORD - Art Dealer Diaries, Part 1 ​https://youtu.be/HFS3X0Zzlng RSS Feed ..read more

A YEAR WITHOUT THEATRE ​A year without theatre. It's been tough on a lot of people. Singers, musicians, costumers, stagehands, and audiences.  The climax of our film is when the audience witnesses the opera for the first time. Sharing our film with our audience is what we have been working for the last eight years. We are launching "Riders of the Purple Sage: The Making of a Western Opera" to help singers, musicians, and essential theatre workers make it through to the day we can create art together again. The film’s streaming premiere will benefit The Actors Fund, a national nonprofit ..read more

RSS Feed DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT "Westerns carry meaning and value, codes of conduct, standards of judgment that shape our sense of the world and govern our behavior without our having the slightest awareness of it.” Jane Tomkins – “West of Everything.” Some of the grandest things America thinks of itself are symbolized by the settling of the western frontier. Zane Grey helped define the American character by creating Lassiter, the man in black, the first anti-hero bent of vigilante justice, a man who takes matters into his own hands. Regardless of our heroic notions, the themes in “Riders” - s ..read more

Pipe Spring National Monument Zane Grey's Inspiration for the Withersteen Ranch Last fall, the artistic team of the new opera "Riders of the Purple Sage", set off for fabled landscapes steeped in history. We followed to places Zane Grey visited in Arizona over a century ago that were the novelist's real life inspirations for two key locations in “Riders of the Purple Sage”. We visited Pipe Spring National Monument on the Arizona Strip - a remote sliver of Arizona nestled between the Grand Canyon and the Utah line. Zane Grey visited Pipe Spring in 1908 and discovered the Mormon tithing ranch t ..read more