ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A movie, now streaming on Netflix, features St. Augustine and a little-known piece of the city’s history.
Paul Sirmons was the producer for the film, Montford: The Chickasaw Rancher.
The production crew incorporated St. Augustine’s biggest landmark, the Castillo de San Marco in downtown, into the flick.
The film is about a Native American in Oklahoma who becomes a rancher in the late 1800’s.
“It’s based on a true story,” Sirmons said.
In the film, Montford ends up going to St. Augustine where he found many Native Americans from Oklahoma imprisoned in the fort. During that time-period, it was called Fort Marion. Now the fortification has its original name, the Castillo de San Marcos.
Most of the movie is about Oklahoma.
“It was a 28-day shoot, 25 days were in Oklahoma," Sirmons said. "The other three were in Florida."
The Chickasaw Nation tapped Sirmons to produce this film. When he read Montford’s diary, and it mentioned St. Augustine.
“I said, ‘Hey! St. Augustine! That fort still exists!'”
The production crew cast Native Americans from around the First Coast in the scenes at the fort, shot in 2017.
Speaking about re-creating the imprisonment, Sirmons said.
“There’s a famous photos of Indians sitting around the stairs that go up," he explained. "When you walk into the fort, and turn to your right, there are the stairs. You can almost see them there. It was kind of a spiritual thing.”
Sirmons wife, Sherry, is the film’s accountant. She said the vendors in the city were welcoming.
“We came and took over the town for a couple of days, and they were so great.”
“In a few days we spend a few hundred thousand dollars," her husband added.
Paul Sirmons is the former Florida State Film Commissioner in the Office of Governor Jeb Bush. He said an upcoming bill in the legislature would be a conservative incentive to bring more production companies to the Sunshine Sate.
"People want to come here," he noted.
The Sirmons now live in St. Augustine, a featured place in his latest movie. He believes more movies will be made in the old city.
Montford: the Chickasaw Rancher is available on Netflix and will soon be on Amazon Prime as well.