Jeff Shaara

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - After more than a year in delays to secure financing and make distribution deals, filmmaker Ronald F. Maxwell said he is within weeks of making a major announcement on the local filming of the movie, "Gods and Generals. " [cont. from front page ] "It should make everyone very happy," Maxwell said about the announcement, following his poetry reading Sunday night at Shepherd College. Maxwell would not elaborate on specifics of the announcement but said it would include detailed time lines on when filming will begin in Washington County.

"Gods and Generals" author Jeff Shaara announced Monday he would match up to $5,000 in contributions to help fund a documentary about the Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination. Former Hagerstown resident Michael Wicklein is producing a feature-length documentary about the annual December illumination and the stories behind the luminarias. During the annual December event, volunteers place 23,000 luminarias at Antietam National Battlefield to represent the casualties from the bloodiest single-day battle on American soil.

HAGERSTOWN - Director Ron Maxwell has made a first payment on the $300,000 he owes Washington County after being unable to begin production of the Civil War movie "The Last Full Measure," Commissioners President Gregory I. Snook said Tuesday. Snook said Maxwell's first payment was made two or three weeks ago and was just less than $20,000, part of a series of payments he is to make over the next five years. Commissioners Vice President William J. Wivell prompted the discussion at Tuesday's County Commissioners meeting by questioning whether Maxwell had begun paying back the money.

The producers of the planned Civil War movie "Gods and Generals" are close to finalizing a deal with a major motion picture company, Jeff Shaara, the author of the book of the same name, said Thursday. The name of the company that will fund the project probably will not be made for two to three months, said Shaara, associate producer of the film. Shaara, who wrote the book "Gods and Generals" upon which the movie will be based, said the motion picture company's name probably won't be made public until after the major cast members have been hired.

The making of a Civil War movie in Washington County has been delayed again, this time for six months, filmmaker Ronald Maxwell said. Filming of "Gods and Generals" had been scheduled to start this summer, but has been postponed until early 2001, Maxwell said Tuesday in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "It's just had a life of its own," Maxwell said of the project, which was first made public in August 1997. Maxwell said he been rewriting the script. He has been traveling between Los Angeles and his Antietam Filmworks office in Hagerstown.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer Robert E. Lee's great-great-grandson was a surprise special guest Friday night during a retrospective of the 1993 epic movie "Gettysburg" at The Maryland Theatre. Among the other participants were Patrick Falci, the actor who played Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill, and Kevin Conway, who played Union Sgt. Buster Kilrain in the film. Actor Sam Elliott, one of the film's biggest stars, joined the forum by telephone. Several of the movie's lesser-known actors joined Dennis Frye, president of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites on the stage before an audience of 1,000.

ryant@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Despite the box office failure of Ted Turner's "Gods and Generals," director/screenwriter Ron Maxwell said he "fully intends" to adapt "The Last Full Measure," the final book in the series that includes the films "Gettysburg" and its prequel, "Gods and Generals. " "The Last Full Measure" is the third and final book in the series of novels by Michael Shaara and his son Jeff Shaara. It follows the action after Gettysburg to the Battle of the Wilderness, the siege of Petersburg and ends with the surrender at Appomattox Court House.

Jeff Shaara likes to tell people things they don't know. And he has found a way to make quite a lucrative living doing so. The author of eight New York Times best-selling historical novels spoke of his passion for sharing unknown stories Saturday at the 150th anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Antietam. A crowd of about 400 people overflowed a tent at the re-enactment site off Bakersville Road. “I like it when people read my books and say, 'I didn't know that.' They've heard of it, but they don't know the story,” he said.

In November 2002, the Washington County Commissioners voted 4-1 to offer director Ron Maxwell a $300,000 loan if he would film his third Civil War movie here. The vote, with Commissioner William Wivell opposed, was taken just before the opening of Maxwell's "Gods and Generals," which did not do well at the box office. Commissioners President Greg Snook said then that production had generated $10 million for the county's economy and that the next film would be even more lucrative.

By LAURA ERNDE Staff Writer Filmmaker Ronald F. Maxwell has leased a house in southern Washington County and may open an office in Hagerstown's Public Square by January, officials said Friday. "This is not a fanciful dream. This is reality. Hollywood is coming here," said Dennis E. Frye, who helped recruit the movie as president of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites. Maxwell is still looking for $30 million to $40 million to make "Gods and Generals," his second Civil War movie.

"Gods and Generals" author Jeff Shaara announced Monday he would match up to $5,000 in contributions to help fund a documentary about the Antietam National Battlefield Memorial Illumination. Former Hagerstown resident Michael Wicklein is producing a feature-length documentary about the annual December illumination and the stories behind the luminarias. During the annual December event, volunteers place 23,000 luminarias at Antietam National Battlefield to represent the casualties from the bloodiest single-day battle on American soil.

Jeff Shaara likes to tell people things they don't know. And he has found a way to make quite a lucrative living doing so. The author of eight New York Times best-selling historical novels spoke of his passion for sharing unknown stories Saturday at the 150th anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Antietam. A crowd of about 400 people overflowed a tent at the re-enactment site off Bakersville Road. “I like it when people read my books and say, 'I didn't know that.' They've heard of it, but they don't know the story,” he said.

HAGERSTOWN - Director Ron Maxwell has made a first payment on the $300,000 he owes Washington County after being unable to begin production of the Civil War movie "The Last Full Measure," Commissioners President Gregory I. Snook said Tuesday. Snook said Maxwell's first payment was made two or three weeks ago and was just less than $20,000, part of a series of payments he is to make over the next five years. Commissioners Vice President William J. Wivell prompted the discussion at Tuesday's County Commissioners meeting by questioning whether Maxwell had begun paying back the money.

In November 2002, the Washington County Commissioners voted 4-1 to offer director Ron Maxwell a $300,000 loan if he would film his third Civil War movie here. The vote, with Commissioner William Wivell opposed, was taken just before the opening of Maxwell's "Gods and Generals," which did not do well at the box office. Commissioners President Greg Snook said then that production had generated $10 million for the county's economy and that the next film would be even more lucrative.

tarar@herald-mail.com WASHINGTON COUNTY - It's been about two years since the Washington County Commissioners loaned director Ron Maxwell $300,000 to shoot much of his next Civil War movie in the county, but there's no clear answer as to when or if the film will be made. A Dec. 18 e-mail from Maxwell's production company to The Herald-Mail stated the script for "The Last Full Measure" has not been completed and that preproduction wouldn't begin before 2006. According to a promissory note between Maxwell and the County Commissioners, Maxwell has until December 2005 to begin production of the movie, or he'll be required to repay the loan with interest over five years.

ryant@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Despite the box office failure of Ted Turner's "Gods and Generals," director/screenwriter Ron Maxwell said he "fully intends" to adapt "The Last Full Measure," the final book in the series that includes the films "Gettysburg" and its prequel, "Gods and Generals. " "The Last Full Measure" is the third and final book in the series of novels by Michael Shaara and his son Jeff Shaara. It follows the action after Gettysburg to the Battle of the Wilderness, the siege of Petersburg and ends with the surrender at Appomattox Court House.

Rob Gibson thought he had a short, sweet gig on a movie set. He'd swoop in for a few days, take a handful of pictures and slip out. At least, that was the plan. Instead, he developed a project in lockstep with the "Gods and Generals" 2001 shooting schedule. Of course, Gibson is not an ordinary photographer, forsaking digital gadgetry for 1860s-era authenticity. As such, the "Gods and Generals Photographic Companion" is not an ordinary text. Pairing the photographer's glass plate images with historian Dennis Frye's narration, the result is a ghostly marriage of words and visuals echoing an era silenced by time.

tarar@herald-mail.com The New York Post summed up the nearly four-hour movie "Gods and Generals" in two words: "Gods Awful. " The Christian Science Monitor stated, "'Gods' is nothing to worship. " Roger Ebert gave the film a star and a half in his Chicago Sun-Times review. But the verdict of residents living in or near Washington County? According to those asked Friday at Hagerstown's R/C Theatres in Valley Mall, they loved it. "It was wonderful. It didn't seem like it was (almost)

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Call it a cruel twist. The West Virginia premiere of the Civil War movie "Gods and Generals" was held Wednesday night before a sold-out crowd of 550 at the Apollo Civic Theatre, but scenes that had been shot inside the building were cut. A block away at the reception in the Gateway Inn, 350 men and women in gowns and ties mingled, ate and asked for autographs. Scenes shot there also were edited out of the movie. Both the theater and Gateway Inn were used to film a subplot involving John Wilkes Booth.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Civil War movie "Gods and Generals" is better than its prequel, "Gettysburg," two re-enactors said Tuesday night during the intermission at the film's Maryland premiere. Both films were directed by Ronald Maxwell. "The battle scenes are very good and more personal" than "Gettysburg," re-enactor Dennis Ebersole of Chamberburg said. "It is absolutely fantastic. It is more emotional. The music is very touching," said his wife, Nancy Ebersole, also a re-enactor.