Robert Redford has signed on as executive producer of director John Sayles’ new film, “To Save the Man.” Filming begins the summer of 2016 at Fort Worden in Port Townsend. The film is about the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, established in 1879 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

“I’m thrilled and humbled to have Robert Redford serve as executive producer,” says Sayles. “The goodwill he has built up in the Native American community will be invaluable on this project.”

Redford’s Sundance Film Festival has a longstanding Native American and indigenous film program, and he has long supported providing Indian youths with employment in the film industry.

“I’ve carried this story with me for many years,” says Sayles. “I want to reveal a chapter in the history of cultural genocide practiced against the Native American people and their heroic efforts to survive it.”

Sayles, an honored guest of the Port Townsend Film Festival in 2014, is the writer and director of 18 films, including “Matewan,” “Eight Men Out,” “The Secret of Roan Inish” and “Lone Star.” He remains a sought-after screenwriter in Hollywood, most recently joining the writing team for the TNT series “The Alienist.”

Fort Worden Public Development Authority Executive Director Dave Robison has reported that film crews are to arrive on May 15, 2016 and stay through August.

Typical summer activities at Fort Worden, including Centrum workshops and conferences, are scheduled as usual.

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Here is what Maggie Renzi, the producer for Sayles' film, had to say about the subject in a telephone interview conducted on Oct. 9:

Q: This is the first time John Sayles and Robert Redford, both pillars of the U.S. independent film movement, have collaborated on a project. How did this come about, and what does Robert Redford bring to your project?

A: “We sent John’s screenplay to Robert through his system of script readers. He agreed it was an important topic and said, ‘... and it’s a John Sayles movie.’ He gives us his name and his endorsement. For people who care about legitimacy and celebrity, his name is important. And, in Indian country, his name is gold. He has been unwavering in his commitment to Indian rights, culture and education. He’s created opportunities at Sundance and in New Mexico for native youth employment in film. His name alone will help us raise money to make the film.”

Q: What is the film’s estimated budget?

A: “About $9 million.”

Q: You’ve been meeting with tribes to discuss funding. How have you been received?

A: “Everywhere we go, there’s someone on tribal council, on a cultural committee or a head of gaming who has a grandparent who went to boarding school. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was the template for all Indian boarding schools after 1879. It’s a personal and emotional issue for tribes, and there’s a kind of urgency that this story must be told. Because I’m not looking for money in Hollywood, I’m having deep conversations with Indian people about ancestors, legacy, identity and history. The others I’m approaching fund arts and want to discuss John’s work and the glory of art. I feel like I’m choosing all the right people to talk with.”

Q: How many cast members and extras do you anticipate?

A: “A cast of 40 with speaking parts and many nonprofessional extras. Eighty percent of our cast will be Native Americans. We’re putting out a national audition for casting; our extras won’t need acting experience. The speaking parts are all for Native American teenagers (this is a teenage story) and the extras are mostly younger Native American children. The young people in the Northwest Canoe Journey programs should apply, because they understand teamwork and working on a project to completion.”

Q: Will your cast, extras and crew stay at Fort Worden?

A: “Yes, everyone, crew, actors, extras and the production team will be staying in dorms and houses at Fort Worden, and will be eating there as well.”

Q: Have you secured the buildings?

A: “John and I wrote a check from our company to Fort Worden for $32,000, a deposit. I like to say, ‘It’s giving a donation to the film gods.’”

Q: A significant amount of set design, sound and lighting will be installed in the buildings you are renting at Fort Worden. When will that work begin?

A: “We begin prep in May and June, for about eight weeks. We shoot for six weeks in July and August, mostly on campus. We’ll head to Chehalis to shoot some railroad car footage and to eastern Washington near Moses Lake, to stand in for South Dakota, and out to Minnesota during the rice harvest for some flashbacks.”

Q: With all those kids on set, who’s in charge?

A: “We’re working with Indian youth program leaders now. We hope to involve IAIA [Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe] faculty and students to help the kids make video diaries of their experience. We’ll have Indian youth program leaders and teachers on campus, too. Our extras and actors need to work unself-consciously and safely. The children will be in the hands of our casting department, hair, wardrobe and makeup each day.”

Q: Your story is set in the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in about 1880. Most Americans don’t know that Indian families were forced to put their children in off-reservation residential schools until 1978, when the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed. How and when did John learn about this issue?

A: “John was hired 10 years ago to help write a script about sports legend Jim Thorpe, who grew up in Oklahoma. Also, in John’s novel ‘A Moment in the Sun,’ he created a character, ‘Big Tim,’ who escapes the Carlisle Indian school. Writing these parts requires a lot of research. We visited the Cumberland Historical Society’s archive and met with Barbara Landis, the head curator. We went back, last winter, to look for some specific details in the archive. So, we already had a good idea of what the conditions were there, photographs of students and teachers, and what it looked like.”

Q: The first boarding school in the nation was established on the Yakama Reservation in 1860, five years after northwestern Indians were forced to sign treaties to give up their lands. Carlisle Indian Industrial School founder Col. Richard Henry Pratt upped the boarding-school game in 1879 with his “Kill the Indian – save the man” philosophy that scorched Indian culture. Actor Chris Cooper has been cast in the role of Pratt. Will he be playing the part of a villain? Or someone more complex?

A: “Chris loves complexity. We know a lot about Pratt’s life. [His father was murdered when he was a child, he fought Indians, he had a military career.] Remember that at the time, Pratt was considered a liberal because he doing something thought more humane than his counterparts. He did not know the toll his actions would take at the time. What’s great for a filmmaker, the actor and the audience is to stay completely in the moment, and not predict the consequences or the end.”

Q: John Sayles films are not documentaries, yet they are deeply researched, and used as part of the curriculum in high school and university studies. I suspect this film will also be used as a teaching tool. What other multilayered John Sayles films have accompanied curriculum?

A: “John’s film ‘Lone Star’ is used in border and immigration studies at universities. He has been honored with a John D. MacArthur Award, and honored by history, language and American studies groups. ‘Honeydripper’ won the NAACP Image Award. We expect that this film will be used in Native American studies and in American history classes.”

Q: Is it reasonable to anticipate a cash infusion into the economy of Port Townsend while your production company is here?

A: “What a boon for us to find Fort Worden. Sixty percent of the film will be shot there. So, yes. Typically, film crews find every bar and restaurant in town. We spend a lot on supplies. Also, we’ll have Native American kids staying here from all over the country; they’ll be making a per diem of $60 a day: It’s pretty hard to spend when breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided by caterers. I’d guess they’ll make trips to town to buy things kids love: comic books, bubble gum – small spending, but lots of it! In terms of local hiring, such as carpenters: Film sets are ephemeral, not really carpentry. Our heads, seconds and thirds are union jobs; we’ll be looking for people with film experience.”

(Writer Jan Halliday dog-paddled into the Port Townsend Film Festival in 2013, dove in as its development director and now appears to be riding a rather big wave.)