By Jabe BELL

A La Crescenta-born filmmaker finally had his lifelong dream come true – and it can be watched right now.

For over 30 years, Marc Marriott has had the goal of bringing his vision to the big screen. “Tokyo Cowboy,” his debut film, is that vision.

In this tale, brash businessman Hideki attempts to transform a failing Montana cattle ranch into a profitable venture. But when his Japanese Wagyu-beef expert falters, Hideki is forced to realize that the missing element to success is not just in the land or the livestock – it’s within himself.

Marriott, the director, shared the making of his film and what it has been like to see his dream become reality.

Marriott attended the UCLA graduate program in film, which is what originally brought him to the LA area with his wife Lisa. Brigham Taylor, his producer, is also a La Crescenta resident. Interestingly, much of the film takes place in Japan and stars a Japanese character.

“I lived in Japan for two years when I was 19 years old as a volunteer missionary. I learned Japanese and the entire experience was very impactful for me. After that I was an apprentice to famed Japanese film director Yoji Yamada and I worked on a film with him in Japan,” said Marriott. “Around the same time, I noticed an article in a magazine about a real ranch in Montana that was owned by a Japanese company. The Japanese company was sending workers from Japan to the cattle ranch in Montana to learn ranching and they would become Japanese cowboys. I was really captured by this idea and thought it would be a great idea for a movie. That was over 30 years ago and the idea stayed in my head as I worked in television and documentaries over a long career.”

But like all good stories, “Tokyo Cowboy” has a moral or message for the audience to take away. To Marriott, his is the idea of unity and putting aside differences in favor of a common good. 

“Essentially the film is about bridging divides between people and bringing people together,” he said. “It is about becoming connected to each other and to the land, and it shows us that we all have much more in common with one another than we have differences or divisions. This is a powerful idea that I think we all need right now.”

He also shared some harrowing details about the filming process of “Tokyo Cowboy.” It was a tight schedule, totaling 15 days in Montana and only four in Tokyo. During a shoot day at the Montana ranch it started to snow, causing the crew to move inside. Luckily, the weather eventually cooperated.

And Marriott is quick to claim that making the film couldn’t have been done alone. 

“My family has been incredibly supportive and I’m very grateful for that. It can be a big sacrifice to take on a passion project like this and I didn’t take any salary to direct or produce the film, so financially it was a stretch,” he said. “I’m so glad and grateful to have had the chance to make this film. I’m also very grateful to the people who helped by investing in the film and making it possible to produce.” 

In addition, Marriott’s son Alden, a college student and CV music graduate, was asked by Chad Cannon, the film’s composer, to write some songs for the movie’s soundtrack. Without family and community support, “Tokyo Cowboy” would never have been possible.

But questions surround what’s next for Marc Marriott. According to him, he isn’t going anywhere just yet.

“I’m planning to direct many more films in the future … The film has been embraced by so many people,” he said. “We were invited to over 25 film festivals and we won awards at many of them. The film has been playing for over two months in Japan and has been really embraced by Japanese audiences. Sometimes we hear comments from the Japanese audience that it feels like a film that was made by Japanese filmmakers, which is one of the highest compliments I think we can receive. We currently have a 90% rating from film critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a 97% rating from the Audience. That’s huge!”

“Tokyo Cowboy” can be seen now at AMC Burbank Town Center, or on demand in November.