SYNOPSIS

In this 19th century, supernatural winter epic, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.

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It’s “one of the greatest comedies of the decade so far.” At least according to film producer Kurt Ravenwood anyway. The film in question? Hundreds of Beavers, a black and white comedy that has made a resounding amount of noise this weekend despite also being (mostly) silent.

 

Inspired by the slapstick comedies of the 1920s and 1930s, the film follows a trader who ends up in a conflict with beavers, while trying to win the heart of a local merchant’s daughter. 

 

Speaking to our very own Dempsey Pillot, Ravenwood explained that despite the modern mainstream success of the film, the movie was conceptualized nearly five years ago. “The origin of Hundreds of Beavers was where any good story starts: in a bar,” he said. Then, director Mike Cheslik and star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews had just wrapped on their first feature together, Lake Michigan Monster. After seeing that film at a festival in 2018, Ravenwood immediately knew that the duo had something special. He wanted to help them make their next picture. And he ultimately did. 

 

Fast forward to the fall of 2022. That’s when Hundreds of Beavers first premiered. Despite positive reactions, the film needed real buzz. That’s what Ravenwood credits Cheslik and Tews with really doing for the film. “I got to give credit to Mike and Ryland who just kept sticking with it,” he said. “They flew up to every film festival and shook hands and we built our audience really slowly.”

 

With awards season on the horizon, Ravenwood said that regardless of the outcome, all the love has been proof that what he saw in Cheslik and Tews was real. “I’m right at the point where you feel the validation for all the hard work that you've done,” he said.

 

Even though the film finally had a proper theatrical release this year, the momentum has not slowed down. Recently, it was revealed that the film will be released on Blu-ray. But if you don’t want to shell out money to see it, it can currently be viewed on multiple streaming platforms like Tubi and Roku. This past week the team celebrated a brief theatrical re-release. And Ravenwood says that because he and the guys have retained their “movie theater rights” they are eager to see how far they can go. When asked if the film had the potential to be as iconic as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ravenwood said it could be as long as “the fans [meet] us halfway there.”

READ Our Hundreds of Beavers Review HERE​