“Forgotten Fortune,” the movie filming in Sapulpa has a number of well-known names connected to it, such as Tulsa-based actor Brian Shoop, the original “Incredible Hulk” Lou Ferrigno, and 1970s sitcom star Jimmie “J.J.” Walker.
What most don’t yet know is that the movie’s director, Stevie Fernandez, Jr., has a bigger goal in mind for the work involved in this movie. Sapulpa Times sat down with him recently to hear his story.
Actually, Forgotten Fortune is not the first movie that Stevie Fernandez has filmed in Sapulpa. In 2020, he directed another one, called “W.W.J.R – When Will Jesus Return?” featuring comedian Zoltan Kaszas and had numerous scenes shot in Sapulpa, including at a small church at the corner of Bryan and Park Streets. Fernandez said he met Kaszas when he was he was in town performing at a Tulsa-area comedy club. He later asked him about being in the movie as the titular character.
“When I saw him and auditioned him, it was during COVID, so he didn’t have a lot of work and was excited about an opportunity to be in the movie,” Fernandez said. Zoltan agreed and was hired on to play a blue-eyed smiling version of Jesus, sent to an out-of-work app developer from Tulsa named Lazarus.
“What was funny about Zoltan was, you know, he didn’t have any acting training,” he said. “Every day of the shoot, he said he would wake up fearful that I was going to call him and say, ‘Oh, this isn’t working out.'”
“W.W.J.R.” finished was released in 2021 and can be found at Fernandez’s other passion project: OK Movie Stream. The streaming service is similar to that of Netflix of Pure Flix and features movies with regional ties to Oklahoma created by independent artists.
“Our goal is to build an industry here,” Fernandez said. “I’ve even had stuff on Netflix before, but it’s still just so hard, because by the time those guys take their 40 or 50% and then your distributor takes their percentage…and you really have to search to find us. You have to know that we’re there.”
The frustrations they had with the big players in the streaming industry is what led Fernandez to start his own, centered around the movies that independent filmmakers from the area make and want to share.
“I look at it like this: in Major League Baseball, they’re big stars, you know? They’re incredibly talented, just like you’d see out of Hollywood or New York. But then there’s minor league baseball, like the (Tulsa) Drillers, and it’s a lot of fun to go watch.”
Fernandez says that mindset is what led to calling it OK Movie Stream. “Not just because we’re here in Oklahoma, but these are okay movies. They’re they’re entertaining, they have good stories. We have a lot of really talented people throughout our region, and I wanted to have a place to showcase that and build on that.”
He says that the adoption has started slow, but is gaining traction, and from unexpected places. “We did a real soft launch the first year and started to see some activity. In this last year, we’ve really started to see it; People in India and Great Britain and all over the world are tuning in to watch what we’re doing.”
“We’re almost at 7000 subscribers on YouTube and almost 3 million views,” he said. He added that part of the attraction is not just the independent movies, but nostalgic favorites like episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies and classic movies featuring stars like James Stewart, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. But even that still has the regional attachment.
“There are a few episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies that are in public domain, and so we put a couple of those on there, because when Jed hit strikes at rich, the Tulsa oil company comes and buys all of his stuff,” Fernandez said.
Forgotten Fortunes also features Dr. Mark Sherwood, former baseball player, was in an officer with the TPD for 24 years, and even ran for Governor in 2022. Sherwood is a recurring character in many of Fernandez’s films. He says he keeps coming back because of the work environment that Stevie creates. He and his wife frequently help produce the films as well.
“He’s been a blessing and been a pleasure to work with him all these years,” Sherwood said. “He’s a great director, but he’s even better friend. That’s the best thing about it. From a production standpoint, my wife and I have been privileged and blessed and honored to produce these things as well.”
Forgotten Fortunes is wrapping filming in Sapulpa soon, and should be premiering in Tulsa in December. Stay tuned for more information on where to get tickets.
