They’re gonna put us in the movie

Published 4:00 am Wednesday, September 2, 2026

In the 1930s, singer Rudy Vallee crooned the hit “You Oughta Be in Pictures,” which was about a man proclaiming how beautiful and lovely his lady was. It contains the lyrics, “What a marvelous find, You’d make upon the screen.” For one filmmaker, that “marvelous find” was right here in Newton County.

This past Thursday and Friday nights, as local cowboys roped and rode in the annual Newton County Rodeo, director Kenny Jackson shot scenes for his upcoming faith-based movie titled “Faith, Hope & Love.” Attendees to the rodeo were told of the production filming scenes and, jokingly told, they may want to move “if they were sitting next to someone they weren’t supposed to.”

“Faith, Hope & Love” tells three separate stories centered around a family dealing with loss and grief. The inspiration for these stories comes from the parables of Jesus Christ. Jackson said that the idea came from imagining “what [those parables] might look like today.” With three stories touching on the subjects of faith, hope, and love, the hope story involves former bull rider Walker. Jackson needed a rodeo for the film.

Enter Newton County, stage right.

Jackson visited Newton County two years ago. He was scouting for the movie and was considering shooting those rodeo scenes in Paragould. However, upon visiting Newton County, Jackson fell in love. Jackson called the area “gorgeous” and knew he wanted to feature it in the movie, even asking, “How is there a rodeo in the mountains?” It wasn’t just the mountain views he found to be incredible about Newton County, but the people. Said Jackson, “All the people were super welcoming.”

Filming for the movie is in the early stages. It took place over two days at the rodeo using the real crowd. After the rodeo on Friday, additional dialogue scenes were filmed. Five professional actors came in to film their scenes, from everywhere ranging from Nashville to Los Angeles. Additional scenes will be filmed in Steel Creek, as well as additional rodeo scenes in Melbourne. The rest of the movie will be shot in Memphis, Tenn.

Those waiting to see our area in the movies will have to wait a bit, as no release date has been set. When it is released, it will most likely go to streaming or Video-on-Demand. Although a big-screen run is not entirely out of the cards. As Jackson said, he “would love a theatre run” for the movie. The movie will most likely be distributed by Angel Studios.

Jackson is no stranger to the natural state. He graduated from Arkansas State in the 90s and lived in Jonesboro. He started working in Nashville in video production. As Jackson himself said, he’s “worked with darn near half of Nashville,”  including the likes of Taylor Swift, George Strait, Little Big Town, among countless others. Economic turns in the music industry gave him what he called “free space to rethink his career.” That space led him to making short films, which led to “Faith, Hope, and Love,” his first feature-length film.

At a friend’s suggestion, Jackson visited Newton County and found the backdrop for a story about love and hope. And all Newton County had to do was act naturally.