Bob Foos
Steve Scearcy admits having not been a cold-weather guy, “but I came to be a cold-weather guy” during his time in Alaska filming and conducting interviews for his latest project.
“Without Warning” is a documentary that tells the true story of Bridgett Watkins and two horrific events that set her back while reaching for her dream to complete the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race.
Scearcy also directed and produced the movie, which premiered nationally and internationally on Dec. 9 and can be streamed now on Fandango At Home.
He got connected to the story so far from his home in Kansas City through a client, Summit Animal Health. Watkins was one of the athletes the company was sponsoring, and Scearcy was talking to her in order to write weekly reports on the progress she and her dogs were making toward the race.
“As we became friends, she started telling me what happened the year before,” says Scearcy.
What happened was that while on a training run a large moose came onto the trail and attacked the dogs.
“We should make a documentary of this,” Scearcy told Watkins.
Scearcy traveled to Alaska twice for two to three weeks at a time. He conducted the extensive interviews with Watkins and her husband, Scotty. And he was there to shoot the final race footage.
Winter in Alaska is most beautiful, Scearcy says. The mountains are changing colors and then the tide comes in.
Negative 24 was the coldest it got while he was there. The trick he found was to dress as the locals do, with three layers and leave no part of your body exposed. “I was comfortable.”
The film’s name, “Without Warning,” refers to Watkins surviving a horrific storm as well as the moose attack.
“It’s a great story,” Scearcy says. “I think it’s exciting, but I also think it’s motivating – don’t give up on your dreams, overcome your fears.
“It’s kind of a dog story, too. The Iditarod Committee takes care of those dogs like you wouldn’t believe. They’re like their children.”
This is Scearcy’s fourth movie. Although they are time consuming they are rewarding, “if you like story telling – I got that where I grew up – from my grandmother. So many practiced it and were good at it.”
Scearcy is going back to writing books. A series of Christmas books will be his next big project.
Meanwhile, he is still working with Summit Animal Health and has a new commercial, “A Quiet Season,” that’s about to air. It can be seen now on Facebook and Instagram.
“And it all started with Miss Goff (his drama teacher) at Webb City High School,” writes Scearcy in an email announcing the release of his new movie.
Scearcy was a 1969 graduate of Webb City High School and inducted into the Webb City R-7 Hall of Fame in 2019.
He initially worked as a personal aide and in communications for the Governor of Delaware after receiving his bachelor’s degree in political science from Missouri Southern State University. He returned to Missouri to earn his master’s degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
He has won two national playwriting competitions and performed at the Kennedy Center.
He owned and operated his own theater for six years. He toured England and Scotland with his one-man show representing the State Department and State of Missouri.
He has written and produced a series of sports videos, with sports greats such as Mohammad Ali, Hank Aaron and Brooks Robinson. He produced and directed the International Cheerleading Competition for various television networks.
He produced two shows for PBS, “Hey It’s Dark in Here” and “Swinging.”
He wrote and produced the movie “Spirit of the Season,” starring Academy Award winner Earnest Borgnine and number of comedy videos for comedian Marty Allen, of the Allen and Rossi team.
He has authored four children’s books and written two books of humor, “The Chicken Ate My Homework” and “I’m Naked on the Roof but the Cat’s OK” (endorsed by Jeff Foxworthy).