'The Peanut Butter Falcon' director, a Santa Rosa High grad, shares how the movie almost didn't happen

When former Santa Rosan Michael Schwartz and his filmmaking partner first met Zack Gottsagen, a 34-year-old man with Down syndrome and a couple of film credits, the actor wanted to know why there weren’t more screen roles for someone like him.

Their ultimate answer to his question is the new independent feature film, “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” starring Gottsagen as Zak, a young man with Down syndrome, who escapes from a care facility and sets out on a quest to become a professional wrestler.

In the beginning, the movie project felt as improbable as its main character’s dream, but the finished film opened in selected cities last week and goes nationwide Friday. It’s already getting rave reviews across the country, earning a score of 98% from audiences and 96% from critics on the Rotten Tomatoes movie review web site.

After that first meeting with Gottsagen - at a camp in Santa Monica - Schwartz found that he faced a mountainous challenge.

“Any movie getting made is a miracle,” said Schwartz, 40, a 1996 graduate of Santa Rosa High School, now based in Southern California.

“But we couldn’t get anybody to read the script. So we shot a five-minute scene.”

For Schwartz - who co-wrote and co-directed the film with Tyler Nilson - it’s his first full-length feature after a long string of videos, short films and documentaries he either produced, directed or both.

“Zack told Tyler he wanted to be a movie star,” Schwartz recalled. At first the prospect seemed unlikely, but Gottsagen won them over. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

The project gained momentum with the support of actor Shia LeBeouf who, after meeting Zack, reportedly signed up for the role as his rough-mannered travel companion without even reading the script.

“When I met Zack, I met him at a wild time in my life and he kept telling me to slow down and to pace myself,” LaBeouf told The Hollywood Reporter.

LeBeouf - almost as well-known for his public controversies and legal troubles as his roles in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” “I, Robot,” “Eagle Eye,” the Transformers series and more - plays Tyler, a crab fisherman on the run after setting fire to a cruel rival’s property. After a quarrelsome start, Zack and Tyler travel together - both by foot and by river raft - almost like a modern-day Huckleberry Finn.

During the 31-day film shoot for “The Peanut Butter Falcon” in Georgia in the summer of 2017, LaBeouf was arrested for public drunkenness and video footage of LaBeouf making sexist and racist comments to police officers was released. Since then, LaBeouf has gotten sober and publicly apologized.

“I was what changed his life around, just so you know,” Gottsagen told the Los Angeles Times. “Shia has struggled and been through bad times, and I was what changed his life around to make it better. Not everything is bad.”

LeBeouf is not the only well-known actor who joined the cast. Dakota Johnson (“Fifty Shades of Grey”) plays Eleanor, Zak’s social worker, who desperately tries to track him down after his escape.

The film also features Thomas Haden Church (“Hellboy,” “Sideways,” “Spider-Man 3”) as The Salt Water Redneck, Zak’s favorite pro wrestler, and Bruce Dern (”Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” and dozens of other films over the decades) as Zak’s cranky roommate at the care facility.

Although Schwartz is not yet famous, he’s well-remembered in Santa Rosa and particularly at The Press Democrat, for a ruckus caused 38 years ago. “I accidentally caused a bomb scare there,” Schwartz confessed.

Looking for a way novel way “to get my foot in the door” in 1997, he tucked his application and introduction letter inside in a shoe and packed the pair in a shoebox, which he addressed by hand to the publisher and advertising director of the paper.

Given the fact that the Unabomber attacks were still a relatively recent nightmare then, the bomb squad was called, but soon discovered the package was harmless.

The incident sparked a flurry of phone calls to The Press Democrat from readers who mostly admired the young salesman’s initiative and urged the paper to “Hire that kid!” and it did.

He worked for the company until 2001, when he received his degree in communications from UC Davis.

Now, after a world premiere screening of “The Peanut Butter Falcon” in March at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Michael Schwartz the filmmaker is anxious for the film, distributed by Roadside Attractions, to get exposure nationwide, as well as in his home county, where the film is scheduled to open Friday, Aug. 23, at the Summerfield Cinemas in Santa Rosa and the Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol. There will be advance screenings at 7 p.m. at Summerfield Cinemas and at 7:15 p.m. at the Rialto, both on Thursday, Aug. 22.

“It’s really important for people to see this film,” he said. “It’s not a veiled version of the Down syndrome person’s experience. We’re not pulling punches. We have millions of people with Down syndrome in this country, and maybe if enough Americans see this movie, things will change just enough so they can pursue their dreams, too.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com.