When a tall man in a black suit hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 in 1971 to get a suitcase full of cash, he leapt into history as he exited the rear of the plane at 10,000 feet.

The subject of books, and seemingly endless speculation the man at the center of the case D.B. Cooper, is the title for a new film, I am D.B. Cooper debuting at the Seattle International Film Festival both in person and online. 

For information on how to see the film click here.

See the trailer for the film here.

The star of the film, West Seattle director and actor Ryan Cory has an extensive media background including producing and directing cinematic work for brands like Live Nation, Ticketmaster, & Expedia. Ryan has been published in Forbes, Tech Crunch, Mashable and Rolling Stone – and his involvement in the music video world attracted artists and bands including Pearl Jam, Danny Clinch, and music publishers Warner Records / Sony Legacy..

"I'm very thankful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing cast and crew!" Ryan said, "The world slowed down enough in the past two years for us to finally make a film… So we took advantage of how slow 2020 and 2021 were, with Covid being such a dominant force over the production community… We were able to create a fun story out of some incredible testimonial footage. Very thankful to the Seattle International Film Festival for hosting and featuring the film… And I’m thrilled that both T.J. Regan (director) and I could collaborate on something that we found so intriguing..Overall, a very positive experience and a dream come true as a filmmaker.”

Film Synopsis

Two bounty hunter brothers encounter an ailing old man named Rodney Bonnifield while coordinating his bail after a violent encounter on a dairy farm involving a machete. Close to his sentencing, he reveals to the bondsmen not only was he responsible for the notori- ous DB Cooper plane hijacking, the ransom cash is still buried and he needs their help digging it up. Up against the clock with Rodney’s prison sentence looming, the group set out on a modern-day trea- sure hunt to recover the money he buried on the Columbia River 50 years ago, uncovering bizarre truths about Rodney Bonnifield and his connection to the only unsolved hijacking in US history.

About the film

Production began in 2018 when Rodney Bonnifield (AKA DB Cooper) led the bondsmen and a group of 8 other decently intelligent people on a modern-day treasure hunt to retrieve his buried cash. Filming began with the purpose of documenting the mission for legal reasons to absolve the bondsman from any potential suspicions of aiding the crime. Things escalated from there. In a series of filmed interviews, Rodney revealed that the plane hijacking was just one chapter in his life of crime. At this point we knew we had a film. Principle production began in 2020 with cast and crew filming 80+ scenes, cinematically retelling the story, all based on Rodney’s taped confessions. Post-production wrapped in early 2022.

Credits & Cast

Director : T.J. Regan
Writers : T.J. Regan, Sharmila Sahni
Producers : T.J. Regan, Sharmila Sahni,
Corey Molina, John Miller
Cinematography : Jacob Owens, T.J. Regan Editor : T.J. Regan
Production Design : Aaron McBride
Sound Design : Brian Sloss
Original Music : Erik Groysman, Rainee Blake Colorist : Ryan McNeal
Executive Producers : T.J. Regan, Isaiah Thomas, Mike Rocha, Carlos Rocha

Starring

Ryan Cory

Chris Grounds

Sharmila Sahni

Rainee Blake

T.J. Regan