INTO THE WEST

TNT / DreamWorks - six part 2hr. mini-series

Produced by: Steven Spielberg

Directed by: Robert Dornhelm, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Jeremy Podeswa, Timothy Van Patten, Michael W. Watkins, Simon Wincer

Starring: Josh Brolin, Skeet Ulrich, Michael Spears, Tonantzin Carmelo, Keri Russell, Wes Studi, Russell Means, Graham Green, Will Patton

EMMY NOMINATION - 2006 - Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, or Movie

ART DIRECTORS GUILD NOMINATION - 2006 - Excellence in Production Design Award - Television Movie or Mini-Series

“I want to tell the story that has never been told”

Steven Spielberg

&nb… — LAKOTA WARRIORS AND WOMAN OUTSIDE A VILLAGE

INTO THE WEST, a 2005 mini-series produced by Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks, with six two-hour episodes. The series was first broadcast in the U.S. on TNT on six Fridays starting on June 10, 2005 and on AMC during the summer (June/July) and fall (autumn, September/October) of 2012.

This dramatic tale of the adventurous exploration of the American wilderness, the clash of two cultures, the rush to riches in a new land and the building of a new civilization. It is about the expanse, discovery, conquer and settlement of the white men in the West.

It starts in 1825 and finishes in 1895 and it is told from a white settler and a Lakota Indian point of view. It demystifies the fables and myths of heroism and symbols of American history. Major historical events like: Jedediah Smith’s Mountain Men, settlers wagons crossing the prairie, Californian Gold Rush in 1849, Indian Wars, Civil War, building of the railroad, Carlisle Indian Industry School, the Sand Creek Massacre, Little big horn and The Wounded Knee Massacre is the prominent backgrounds of this story.

It is told mainly through the third person narration of Jacob Wheeler, Matthew Settle and Loved By the Buffalo, Joseph M. Marshall III, although episodes outside the direct observation of both protagonists are also shown. The plot follows the story of two families, one white American, one Native American, as their lives become mingled through the momentous events of American expansion.

&nb… — SOLDIERS BRINGING ELDERS TO A PEACE TREATY SIGNING

When we meet young Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle) in Episode 1, he’s portrayed as a restless dreamer seeking thrills that can’t be found in the little village of Wheelerton, Va., circa 1825. Jacob runs away to find adventure with frontier man Jedediah Smith (Josh Brolin). He’s pursued by brothers Nathan (Alan Tudyk), who goes with him, and Jethro (Skeet Ulrich), who stays behind until eventually he, too, heeds the siren call of Westward-ho. Meanwhile, a young Lakota brave (Simon R. Baker) has a terrible vision in which all the buffalo are gone and the Lakota are living in square houses.

PEACE TREATY - GENERALS AND TRIBE ELDERS

After a breathtaking scene in which a buffalo hunt goes horribly awry and only he is spared, the brave is renamed Loved by the Buffalo. He becomes a periodically roaming medicine man just as Jacob becomes a restless wanderer. They are the philosophical seekers.

Loved by the Buffalo also has a sister named Thunder Heart Woman (Tonantzin Carmelo), who eventually marries two different Wheeler brothers. Their collective tales and progeny populate — some would say overpopulate — “Into the West.”