Oct 11, 2014 4 min read

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When R.J. Nestor and David Scoville first wrote a screenplay about the 1968 Farmington No. 9 mine disaster in which 78 men perished, they sought someone to make the film.

Then the two, who mostly worked in plays and musicals, most notably last year’s “Golden Horseshoe,” which they also penned, decided they wanted to make the movie themselves, and in time for the event’s 50th anniversary in 2018.

In an effort to raise the funds for that, the two are getting ready to shoot a five-minute film with hired actors and high production values that they can use as a marketing tool.

“This summer, we got the idea that we knew the 50th anniversary is coming up in four years,” said Nestor, who also works as the director of liturgical music and choir conductor at St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Morgantown.

“I said, ‘You know what? Let’s find a way to produce this script in West Virginia using West Virginia film professionals and doing it as much on location as we can.”‘

So Nestor and Scoville wrote a script for a five-to-six minute film to show potential financiers.

The two wrote the screenplay, called “Out of the Depths,” nearly three years ago and along with other works, pitched it at Los Angeles events Scoville likens to speed dating between production companies and writers.

The two plan to shoot the short film Oct. 23-25 and hope to have it done by the end of the year. In addition to being able to use the film as a marketing tool, it will be available on YouTube and the movie’s Facebook page – accessible by searching for “Out of the Depths” on Facebook.

Nestor estimates the pair needs about $11,000 to make the short film. That sum was raised, in part through the crowd-funding website Indiegogo.com. As for the feature film, he estimates the budget could go anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million or more.

The explosion rocked Marion County in the early morning hours of Nov. 20, 1968. Ninety-nine men were working underground at the Consolidated Coal Co.-owned mine; 21 made it out. Family members and friends gathered at a nearby church to await updates on the fate of their loved ones. A fire made rescue or recovery difficult and 10 days later, two days after Thanksgiving, officials sealed the mine in order to extinguish the smoke and flames.

A native of Grafton, Nestor was searching for a story idea in which he could explore faith and community. After Fairmont State University did a stage piece called “Remembering No. 9: Stories of the Farmington Mine Disaster” in 2009, he decided he wanted to work the saga into a piece of true-to-life fiction.

“When I saw that material, I thought it was a perfect fit,” he added.

Nestor and Scoville created a minister character – a composite of real-life people who were at the scene – who would be the center of trying to comfort the families. The film’s name, “Out of the Depths,” not only refers to trying to get the men out of the mine, but also to Psalm 130 from the Bible: “Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.”

The short film will be shot on the Monongalia/Preston counties line at a church. When it comes to the feature film, Nestor and Scoville will have to find locations that will realistically be able to portray the Farmington area in 1968.

“None of the locations exist anymore,” Nestor said. “The real-life church isn’t there anymore. We have to find a place that suits what we need.”

And when it comes to making the feature film, which the two never have done before, Nestor believes both are up to the task.

“When we’re filming, I’m not going to be the one operating the camera,” he said. “We’ll hire a cinematographer. Our roles will be as director, writer and producer. We’ll have a team together — makeup people, costume people. The job of producer is overseer, as opposed to having to do the detail work.”