I GOT YOU BABE

"I GOT YOU BABE is the kind of heart wrenching period piece that
brilliantly builds to nuanced view of a grey area, while simultaneously and
equally giving attention to women's issues that always ring relevant."

-Adam Fogarty, Festival Programmer at the Beloit International Film Festival

THE FILM

I Got You Babe from Ashton Avila on Vimeo.

Official Trailer

"I Got You Babe" Official Trailer from Ashton Avila on Vimeo.

"I Got You Babe" in the Las Vegas Review-Journal

"I Got You Babe" Promo

1960s Home Video and Vietnam War Footage provided by the Runner Family, Matthew Sweet, Walter Ludka Junior, Frank V. Ludka, Chris Hanson,
& Obie Holman.

FOLLOW THE FILM ON SOCIAL MEDIA

THE STORY

An ambitious young woman must decide what she is willing to sacrifice should she marry her boyfriend before midnight to save him from the Vietnam War Draft due to an executive order signed by President Johnson on August 26th, 1965.

Based on the Life of Claudia Reott, the last bride married at the Clark County Courthouse on August 26th, 1965.

Director's Statement

In the spring of 2012, I sat in a lecture hall at the University of Rhode Island discussing the impact of the Vietnam War on young people in the U.S. during a class titled "Rebel Images in Film". As I began researching the movements that influenced many of the films we watched, I came across the date August 26th, 1965. On this date, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed an executive order that stated any man married after midnight that night, would no longer be able to use marriage as a draft deferment, which it had been previously. The only place a couple could get married that quickly in the U.S. was the state of Nevada. Young adults all over the country rushed to get married that night in hopes to save the young men from the war. The more I read, the more real this story became. I couldn’t help but ask myself, what decision would I have made that night? Would I have married my high school boyfriend? Would I have found a friend to marry? Inspired by the true story of a Claudia Reott, this film follows a young woman’s journey to marry her boyfriend in Las Vegas by midnight.

-Ashton Avila