SHASTA COUNTY, CALIF. — TheSanta Monica Film Festival award winner for Best Picture "Yellow Bird", recently hit the Amazon Prime's streaming service with a 4.7 out of 5 stars rating, according to viewer review scores.
Shot locally in the town of Palo Cedro, the film follows "a once successful P.R. Specialist (Jake Rush) who deals with the trials and tribulations of managing a local grocery store known as 'The Yellow Bird' while struggling with his loveless marriage, an unhappy stepdaughter and his own sobriety." according to the official IMDB page.
Along the way, Jake discovers that despite the challenges he may be facing, there is in fact more power in himself and those who are close to him, teaching him, along with the audience, that family can mean more than being related by blood. Additionally, the film highlights many of the common struggles folks encounter in their lives, making it relatable and personal.
KRCR's Christian Biaggi had the chance to speak with co-writer and producer Tony Jerris, who expressed great joy in making the film a reality with director and star Angus Benfield, and despite taking over a year to find a grocery store, he is proud of the passion his colleagues brought to the table:
We looked for a year in Los Angeles and it was like, it was impossible like to find a grocery store...we got the producer Angus Benfield, also the director and star of it who plays Jake Rush, he contacted Redding and we got with the Shasta Film Commission and with Redding, and they found the grocery store, one of the Holiday Markets, and they said yeah come up and shoot. The true meaning of yellow bird means the one passion or person or people that you can't live without in life, so I said 'Okay, I'm gonna set this in a grocery store and call it the Yellow Bird.'
For those wanting to check it out, you can find it included with an Amazon Prime membership.