Area fans of movie maker and 2016 Seminole High School graduate Klein Haley will be thrilled to learn that Haley’s most recent, full-length film, “Bloodstained Ivory,” will be screened at Strother Cinema later this month.

Haley explains that the money from the ticket sales will be used by the Seminole Band Boosters Club to help support the Seminole schools’ concert and marching band. The screening will be held at Strother Cinema on Sunday, August 24 at 7:05 p.m.

Bloodstained Ivory is a drama thriller about an aspiring concert pianist that must go to extreme lengths to secure his future after freezing for his senior recital.

The film premiered at the deadCenter Film Festival in Oklahoma City in June. More recently the film was shown at the Circle Cinema Film Festival in Tulsa, where it earned the Best Narrative Feature award. The film is one of only five out of seventy entries that is prominently displayed on the circlecimema. org website.

Haley is now working on getting the movie ready for worldwide distribution.

“It’s a long process from when you have your first script to finally getting the movie out,” Haley comments. “It seems like there’s always another step you need to accomplish.”

Haley explains that he was a band member when he was a student as Seminole middle school and high school, and music plays a very important part of his movie. That is why he is so excited he can use his movie to help raise funds for the school band program and the community in general.

Haley explains that he wants current band students to be aware that the Seminole band has a very respected history, and there are a lot of alumni members that remain connected and support them.

“It’s like music is a universal language, and I think it really expands kid’s horizons,” Haley states. “We all like music, and to be able to understand it at a more intimate level is usually beneficial. Even if they don’t go on to play an instrument for the rest of their lives, they can always pick it back up … or pick up another instrument later on.” The movie director explains that he began playing piano when he was five or six years old, and later joined band when he was in the 5th grade, playing trumpet.

This background was very beneficial while he was making the movie about a concert pianist. His musical knowledge made it much easier and efficient to communicate with professional pianists, music professors and other experts that were advisors for the film.

In fact, Haley continues, former Seminole Band Director Steve Johnson makes a cameo appearance in the movie, and was an honored guest at the film’s premier.

“As lead trumpet player, Klein was very instrumental during his time in high school band,” Johnson comments about his former student. “Even though he didn’t talk a lot, he led by example all the time. Klein has always been very focused and determined, so him becoming a director and film maker was something I knew he could do. I’m not only proud of his accomplishments, but also how far this will take him in future successes,” Johnson adds.

“The Seminole Band Program means a lot to me, and I’m thankful it still means a lot to former band students,” the retired band director stressed.

Haley states that his younger brother, Brody, also plays trumpet, and was a member of the Seminole school band. Brody is currently a member of the East Central University Band in Ada and makes a movie.

“He’s a good little actor, too,” Klien states with pride.

Klein began “making movies” with his phone’s video camera when he was just starting high school in Seminole. He would enlist his friends to help film the action at various locations around town, and then go home to edit the clips into a “movie” that he would post on Youtube.

Although some may think a short Youtube comedy video isn’t really making a movie, Haley explains that he gained valuable experience.

“It’s the same thing,” he observes. “You directed a film. You have to figure out what is the narrative, who are the characters, how do you piece it all together in the editing room, editing music, how to convey the story visually … and so on.”

By the time he started film school, Haley felt like he already had six years of experience. “They (his early movies) forced me to learn how to direct in a certain way, so that when I went onto sets in film school I already knew how to schedule things, how to shoot things in a certain way, and I already had a visual style for myself that I had created.

By the time he graduated from high school in 2016, Klein had decided to pursue a career in cinema, starting his higher education at Seminole State College and continuing on to the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a degree in film in 2020.

Haley has been able to take advantage of the rapidly growing film industry in Oklahoma, working on some of the most impressive projects that have drawn attention to the state. This includes working as a production assistant on the set of “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid in a film about the former President of the United States.

Haley was also a production assistant during all three seasons of the award winning television series “Reservation Dogs,” created by former Holdenville resident Sterlin Harjo.

Other TV series Haley served as production assistant on include “Tulsa King,” starring Sylvester Stallone that was filmed on site in Tulsa, and “Young Rock,” based on the life of professional wrester Dwayne Johnson, better know as “The Rock.”

The biggest feather in his cap, though, is working as a production assistant on the set of the Martin Scorsese movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” featuring actors Robert De Niro, Leonard DiCaprio and Lilly Gladstone.

He has also worked on another film starring Gladstone, “Fancy Dancer,” about a woman, living on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma, that is searching for her missing sister while taking care of the sister’s daughter.

Although “Bloodstained Ivory” is his first full-length feature film, Haley has already gained experience in the world of film festivals with a couple of previous short features, including “The Funeral,” and “The Face of Evil.” Haley’s advice to any young person thinking about a career in the film industry is to just start making movies. Everyone has access to a video camera on their phone. There is never a better time to get started than when you’re still young, because you have plenty of free time. He and his friends tried to film a movie a week over summer break when he was in school, and he gained plenty of hands-on experience.

“Film school’s a great option, but it’s not necessary. You’ll learn a lot and meet a lot of like minded people there, but it’s not necessary,” he continues. He explains that the most important thing is meeting people that have connections, which film school certainly helps with. However, the local film-making community is always hungry for more crew members, and being able to see how the professionals work is helpful in learning what to do, as well as what NOT to do.

Having gained four years of experience working in the industry professionally, Haley has developed relationships with professional camera operators and professional sound guys, and they were willing to help out, which helped him reach the high production value he achieved.

He is now hoping that his film will help him give back to the community that has supported him as he launches his dream career.

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