From April 28th until May 5th, the Newport Beach Film Festival hosted 350 films in 40 countries. Pan Production’s, ‘Goold’s Gold’ was one of the leaders of the pack.
Set against the stunning feral Alaskan wilderness, Goold’s Gold takes viewers on a journey of self-discovery, friendship, and hidden treasure. Part cautionary tale and part Goonies-esque adventure, Tucker Capps and Ryan Sevy’s offering captures audiences most effectively because of the man: Jonathan Goold
Global Warming Drives Alaskan Gold Rush
Early in the film, the audience is bombarded with images of crumbling glaciers and a series of dire headlines. “Is Alaska Melting?” “Global Warming Poses Threats…” Capps and Sevy effectively convey the horror and dread of a landscape in its death throes. As viewers hold their collective breath, enter Jonathan Goold. The scraggly, red-bearded man—who resembles a pirate more than a scientist—smirks a bit while in voiceover he tells the audience, “The receding glaciers and the whole global warming phenomenon . . . some people think it’s terrible. I see an opportunity.”
Heart of Goold
Goold draws viewers into his world. A geophysicist who grew up in Valdez, Alaska, he returns to his hometown to rustle up a gold hunting posse. As he calls old friends, we’re indignant when some won’t even take his calls. It’s hard not to get caught up in his excitement and surety when he explains that he’s probably the most qualified person to find gold in land exposed by melting glaciers. As he points to areas on a map and discusses how close they are to old abandoned gold mines, we are sold.
But then we learn that Goold left Alaska after an episode of paranoia. We learn that this is a man who is perhaps as fractured as the monolithic rocks of ice that are sheering off at an alarming rate. Close friends describe him as a man who always had grand ideas. Who is this man Jonathan Goold? Is he a brilliant scientist? A quirky and idealistic child/man who never gave up the dream of finding buried treasure? Or, is he just another Alaskan madman?
The answers to those questions drive the film as much as Goold’s quest for gold. The relationships are the heart of this indie film. Fundamentally, it is the story of one man’s love for the land, and a community’s love for the man. These ties, and how they unfold, are far more important than whether there is, in fact, gold in them thar hills.
Laura Holst - Laura Holst is a substitute teacher and writer. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and is ...
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