Talking with Devon and Scott

July 9 1997

We saw a screening of the new movie Wild America, a true story, which is based on the early life of the Stouffer brothers — who were the producers of the Wild America TV series. In the movie, the brothers went on an amazing adventure they would never forget. They brought along a camera their father bought them and tried to capture much of the excitement of the wild animals they saw along the way. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best) we give this movie a 9. It has lots of scenes that will make you jump. It was an exciting adventure that said a lot about family, growing up and the wilderness.

After seeing the movie, we interviewed Devon Sawa (Mark) and Scott Bairstow (Marty) who star as two of the three Stouffer brothers (Jonathan Taylor Thomas is the third) at Warner Bros. offices in Manhattan. Here is our interview.

Q. How much of the movie was based on fact?

A. Scott: I would say pretty much all of it. The writers sat down with the three brothers. They told stories and then they made a movie out of it. It didn't happen over one summer, it happened over four years.

Q. What do you like about Wild America?

A. Devon: The swamp scene.

Scott: Just hanging out with Jon, Devon and myself, and being out in the wilderness. A lot of great scenery.

Q. Did you like working with the animals?

A. Scott: I didn't get to work with the animals as much as Jonathan and Devon did. I know it's a big animal movie, but I liked working with the actors — they talk.

Q. How much of the footage from the film was from the Stouffer brothers?

A. Scott: Only the end credits.

Q. Where was it filmed?

A. Scott: Much of the movie was done in Savannah, Ga. All the mountain and desert scenes was filmed around Alberta, Canada.

Q. What was it like filming the bear scene?

A. Devon: The real bears were intense. I never knew how big bear were, but they were well trained.

Q. Did you meet the real Stouffer brothers?

A. Scott: Yes. My character (Marty) came on three weeks after we started filming the movie. His character (Mark) helped produce the movie.

Devon: I sat down with Mark, who produced the movie, and discussed what life was like when he was 16 years old in 1960.

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