Kathy Stewart of Phelan produced a film based on the Beach Boys Sloop John B.
SARAH ALVARADO, FOR THE DAILY PRESS
Filmmaker to bring Beach Boys song to the big screen
December 08, 2013 3:36 PM
PHELAN • A High Desert filmmaker has been asked by the Beach Boys to bring a children’s book based on the song “Sloop John B” to the big screen.
Kathy Krantz Stewart said the band contacted her out of the blue to work on a screenplay for a movie based on the children’s book “Sloop John B: A Pirate’s Tale,” which was written by Alan Jardine, a member of the original Beach Boys.
“The movie is a pirate adventure based on the kids’ book, which came from the song,” Krantz Stewart said from her Phelan home. “Kids’ books are small, so we expanded the story. The animated movie should be a hit.”
The song was on the 1966 album “Pet Sounds” and was originally a traditional West Indies Folk song about a young man and his grandfather’s sailing adventure in the Bahamas.
After speaking to the band, Krantz Stewart discovered that she was selected because she had written children’s books and because of her musical background, her ability to play multiple instruments professionally and her musical composition in films.
Krantz Stewart and her husband, Colin Stewart, who operate StewArt Productions and Good Book Films, recently released “Master Race from Mars,” an 1880s period piece that was filmed in Philadelphia and California over a 10-year span.
“Distribution takes time,” said Krantz Stewart, an actress and producer of various films and plays. “It’s a long tedious process of filming, editing, mixing the soundtrack and waiting for a distributor, especially when you don’t have a big crew. We had to wear a lot of hats.”
In 2012, the Stewarts’ “Mama & Me” was nominated for best feature documentary at the San Diego Black Film Festival. The 83-minute documentary stars director Lamont Coleman, who travels around the country as a filmmaker while finding out his mother has the early stages of dementia.
The couple became friends with Coleman 17 years ago in Los Angeles and they have been working together ever since. They co-produced the religious suspense movie, “In the Closet,” which won best religious film at the 2009 San Diego Black Film Festival.
“We’re looking forward to working with the Beach Boys and bringing this wonderful story to life,” Krantz Stewart said. “The song’s story has enough material for a wonderful movie.”
Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com.
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