Before producing RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, before RETURN OF THE JEDI, acclaimed producer Howard Kazanjian was 1st AD on another classic. The film was THE WILD BUNCH in 1969. Today director Sam Peckinpah’s western is heralded as a breakthrough, a game-changer, and most definitely a classic! The stories of over half the crew being fired during the tumultuous shoot in Mexico are legendary. Howard says they are true.

Young Howard Kazanjian was hired as the 1st Assistant Director on THE WILD BUNCH and lasted all the way through the shoot!

How did he do it? How did Howard keep from getting fired? What was Bloody Sam Peckinpah really like? Was Sam a mad man, a gifted filmmaker or both?

Find out the answer to those questions and learn many more intriguing facts about the beloved, and controversial, classic western film with Howard, who joined Rob Word at The Autry for A WORD ON WESTERNS Nov 8, 2022, to discuss what it was like to be an eager young filmmaker who was on his way to becoming an award-winning producer, author and mentor to budding movie makers.

If you'd like to learn more about Howard's incredible filmmaking journey, order a copy of his in depth biography, "Howard Kazanjian, A Producer's Life," written by J.W. Rinzler with Howard. It's a (very thick) handbook that every budding filmmaker and film fan should have in their home library. Like it says on the cover "...from HITCHCOCK and PECKINPAH to SPIELBERG and LUCAS: 50 Years of Collaboration."

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