“Frontier Crucible”: Travis Mills, Myles Clohessy and Thomas Jane talk Westerns Still finding the audience appeal of the Western in 2025 and beyond

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:29 — 53.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | RSS

Director Travis Mills and actors Myles Clohessy and Thomas Jane each talk about making Frontier Crucible, the new Western from Well Go USA Entertainment.

The movie is based on Desert Stake-out, a 1961 novel by Harry Whittington, who is posthumously credited as the writer. Both Travis and Thomas talk about being fans of Harry’s work, both in pulp mysteries and westerns.

First, Myles talks about his journey to finding the character of Merrick Beckford in himself, and the challenge of working on a Western that is focused on tension and intrigue between the characters instead of a typical story loaded with gunfights. He also talks about the story behind Timber Lands, another Western coming up that he’s directed and produced, and there’s an indie horror on deck as well, The Plantation

Instagram: @myles.clohessy

Next, Travis talks about his history with making Westerns, something he accomplished by making 12 features in 2020, then writing a book about that project, The Making of 12 Westerns: Or How I Made a Dozen Movies During a Global Pandemic and Survived. There’s also a documentary about it, The Legacy of the 12 Westerns. Travis also goes into finding the Whittington story and the work needed to adapt it to film, and the short 18-day filming window.

Running Wild Films

Finally, Thomas talks about how he was a fan of Whittington’s stories and dialogue before he’d come to the production, and embracing the character of Charlie McKee and his dark nature in this tale. He also talks about finishing up his current 6-issue comic series, “The Lycan”, and preparing the story to be printed as a graphic novel in 2026, and his non-fiction book, A Human’s Guide to Visiting Aliens, about his research into UFOs and possible government cover-ups and other motivations.

Instagram: @cardcarrying_thomasjane

FRONTIER CRUCIBLE is in theaters and on digital December 5, 2025.

What elements or story styles do you want to see in a modern Western? Let us know! Leave a voicemail or text message at 602-635-6976, send Summer an email, or chat with us in the comments below!

Chat with Summer on Bluesky: @sliceofscifi.com
Watch more Slice of SciFi on YouTube: youtube.com/@Sliceofscifi
Follow & Rate on Spotify!
Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts!
Rate and Review on Podchaser!

Support our shows!
Learn how you can support Slice of SciFi, Writers, After Dark and The Babylon Podcast through Patreon, Paypal, and our Slice of SciFi Shop