“It’s funny, because we’re not getting the response we thought we would from the Tea Party, but we are getting response from left, right and center, from people who just love a good story,” says Wilson, who started his career as an assistant in the motion picture literary department at the mega-agency ICM before becoming director of development for prolific director Peter Hyams (“The Three Musketeers,” “End of Days”).
Pasadena conservative activist Jonathan Wilson rolls the dice, recreating the Revolutionary War with his new DVD miniseries, ‘Courage, New Hampshire’.
It’s well after dark on a crisp April night as a group of men wearing Colonial-Era clothing and burlap masks enter a barn and bring criminal charges against another man. Accused of treason for helping British troops learn information on revolutionary activities, the man has burst into a quiver of terror-filled emotion.
He’s denying everything this local tribunal is accusing him of, but they will not be placated, for they are the Sons of Liberty and they are determined to help forge a new nation free of English control. As they pronounce him guilty, he is led out of sight, shrieking for forgiveness and his very life. Moments later, a dull thud is heard and then all is silent.
This isn’t a real moment, of course, but rather a stirring re-enactment for an ambitious new series of straight-to-DVD, historical-fiction videos called “Courage, New Hampshire.” And at the heart of it is Pasadena resident Jonathan Wilson and his producing partner, Jim Riley, who also writes, directs and performs in the series shot on his rustic farm at the base of mountains one hour outside San Diego.
The two men have teamed up for several reasons, among which is a shared passion for American history as well as for a highly traditional brand of old-school conservative politics. While the show isn’t meant to directly espouse Tea Party politics, Wilson is one of the founders of Pasadena’s local Tea Party chapter, Pasadena Patriots, and the show strongly plays into that movement’s fixation on the nation’s founding era.
More than anything, Wilson says, the show is just trying to be good, old-fashioned family entertainment.
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