What Makes Me Tic?
An early Metamora Films documentary following four people living with Tourette syndrome and exploring personality, ambition, acceptance, and everyday life beyond a diagnosis.
Explore the FilmA small-town story about live radio, local history, and the people of Spring City, Utah.
Life Under The Horshoe film is a fun and historical documentary that takes viewers inside Spring City’s live FM stage radio show while revisiting the spirit of radio’s golden age.
ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY
The Life Under the Horseshoe film is a 26-minute documentary centered on Spring City, Utah, its live FM stage radio show, and the people and history surrounding one of the town’s most distinctive community traditions.
At the heart of the film are Mark and Vicki Allen, hosts of the radio program. Through interviews with the couple, the documentary explores how the show came together while also looking at their very different family histories and their connection to Spring City.
At the same time, the documentary expands beyond the radio program itself. It moves through local stories, historic places, community personalities, and the traditions that helped shape the town.
THE RADIO SHOW
The stage production documented in the film was presented by Crazy Club Productions. The show recreated the spirit of radio’s golden age with live music, comedy, storytelling, dramatic scenes, and traditional sound effects performed before an audience.
Producer, writer, and director Lawrence Gardner was also interviewed in the documentary, providing another perspective on the production and the work involved in bringing the live radio show to the stage.
Visit the original Life Under the Horseshoe radio show siteSPRING CITY HISTORY
One of the documentary’s central locations is Victory Hall, the restored vaudeville theater on Spring City’s Main Street where the live broadcasts were staged.
Because of that setting, the theater becomes more than simply a backdrop. It connects the modern radio production to an earlier era when live entertainment and community gatherings were closely tied together.
The film also explores one of Spring City’s better-known local stories: “Spit & Whittle” Avenue and the so-called “Bummer’s Bench.”
Local men gathered there to talk about community events, exchange opinions, and discuss town matters. Among the people most closely associated with the bench was Charlie Beck, son of Simon Beck.
Charlie was paralyzed at an early age and became a familiar presence at the bench, where he offered conversation, advice, and wisdom to those who stopped by. As a result, the story adds another human layer to the documentary’s portrait of Spring City.
REENACTMENT CAST
In addition to interviews and documentary footage, the film includes reenacted material used to help visualize parts of Spring City’s history and local stories.
The performers credited in the film — Robert Peel, Hannah Talbot, McKae Cox, Max Reiter, and Butch McCain — appeared specifically in these reenactment sequences rather than as the principal documentary subjects.
WHY I PRODUCED THE FILM
Life Under the Horseshoe was one of my earlier documentary projects, and looking back, it remains one of the most enjoyable productions I worked on during that period.
Over the course of one hot summer, we made roughly eight trips from the Salt Lake City area down to Spring City to film interviews, gather footage, and spend time documenting the live radio show and the town around it.
I especially want to thank Mark and Vicki Allen, Lawrence Gardner and Crazy Club Productions, my wife at the time Heather, my stepson Alex who helped as a camera assistant, and the volunteer reenactment cast who gave their time to help bring parts of the story to life.
Just as importantly, the people of Spring City were incredibly welcoming. That warmth comes through in the finished film, and it is a big part of why this production stands out to me all these years later.
PRODUCTION GALLERY
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Life Under the Horseshoe was one of several early documentaries produced by Metamora Films. These two films offer very different stories and perspectives from the same period of independent filmmaking.
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