Wyoming Bull Rider’s Relentless 10-Year Comeback Featured In New Documentary

When Morgan Law took her family to a rodeo three years ago, she was surprised to see an old friend still competing.

Bull rider Clayton Savage went to high school with Law in Casper, where she reported for the Kelly Walsh High School newspaper on his successful and just-beginning pro rodeo career. He won the national bull riding title as a senior.

A few years later she reported on Savage’s first couple of seasons of pro riding for the Casper Journal. He was a rising star on the pro rodeo circuit.

Then a decade of injuries, recovery and more injury derailed and bucked Savage’s career almost as hard as any champion bull.

“Then I went about 15 years without seeing him until the rodeo in 2021,” she said. “I couldn't believe he was still riding and still one of the best guys in the world. I hung out with him after the rodeo, and he was telling us about the lifestyle.”

On the drive home from that chance meeting, Law’s husband commented that someone should make a movie about the Wyoming bull rider. Law couldn’t get the idea out of her head and a short time later decided to do it herself. The first-time filmmaker did a search online about how to make a movie and eventually sold her house to fund the project.

“I'm a construction worker. That's my job,” she said. “This was my first time doing this and I just really went in headfirst trying to figure it out.”

More than two years later, the end result of that decision is the documentary “Savage, the Relentless Pursuit of a Dream,” which is now on a theater tour around Wyoming.

“I think it'll stand the test of time because it's really a story about the human condition and being able to share someone's life and a path that most people would never get to walk, but they can relate to it in so many different ways,” she said.

Making A Movie

Law had everything planned out and was ready to go, but she had skipped one big step — asking Savage if he was willing to participate. So, she sent him a text asking if she could make a “small video” about him.

Savage said he was hesitant to agree to the idea, but after talking it over with his wife and praying about it he decided to go for it.

“He's a pretty private person, but he said it might be OK,” Law said of filming. “And I took it and said, ‘Yep. All right, that's a go,’ and kind of went for it.”

Savage joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in 2007, qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo in 2009, 2011 and 2012. More than 60 notable injuries and a diagnosis of epilepsy have slowed, but not deterred, the cowboy, who at 37 is still riding with dreams of returning to the top.

“My faith has kept me going for sure, just believing in God and having my support system,” Savage said. “I just love it. There's just no better feeling than entering a rodeo and showing up just wanting to stay on. When that happens, it's just one of the best feelings you could ask for.”

As Savage observes in the trailer for the documentary, what people don’t see is the endless hours on the road cowboys put in to spend 8 seconds on a the back of a bull.

Even Those Who Think They Know, Don’t Know

With the OK from the bull rider, Law hired a crew and started filming in 2021, following Savage for 14 months.

Her mom was a barrel racer and her grandfather a team roper, so Law’s been around the rodeo world for years, but said she wasn’t quite prepared for the commitment bull riders make both physically and mentally to the lifestyle.

“Traveling in his van with him, you really get to see what it's like trying to cover up all the injuries and then drive 12 hours through the night to do it again,” she said. “There's no offseason, it’s 12 months at a time. His wife and three little girls are back home, and he’s on the road trying to provide for his family. So, it was exciting and exhausting and really trying at times.”

Law filmed in the van with Savage and his travel companions, while additional camera operators were on hand to capture him riding. At each rodeo, they followed Savage as he warmed up, rode and spent time with fellow riders before he hopped in his van to drive to the next stop.

“I would film him driving the first six hours and ask questions, and then I would drive the next six hours,” she said. “Then we’d show up to the next rodeo and you get ready in the parking lot or in a port-a-potty. So not a lot of sleep, not a lot of showers and not a lot of meals.

“But somehow, it's still exciting and there's a freedom to being out on the road and being at these rodeos that makes it all worth it.”

Living On Camera

Savage said it took a little time to get used to cameras being around all the time.

“I just wanted to keep trying to do what I was doing like cameras weren’t there and let everything fall where it's going to go,” he said. “I had to keep my eye on the prize, I guess you could say.”

Law went into the project without a storyline in mind, but with an overall goal to show the behind the scenes world of bull riding. She said what emerged was a story of the human spirit and overcoming adversity.

“The hardest thing to learn is (that) in a documentary, you can't control the narrative,” she said. “So, I’d have this idea of how a shoot was going to go, like he’s going to win and it’s going to be this triumphant moment, and instead he would get extremely hurt and be in the hospital.

“You don't get to say how the film is going to end or how it's going to go, so learning to just roll with whatever happens was really challenging for me.”

She said the most exciting part of the project was watching the passion Savage and his fellow bull riders have for the sport.

“It's so intense, because you can get seriously injured and even die, but these guys are doing it because they love it,” she said. “It was so inspiring to watch people love something so much that they're willing to give everything for it, and I think it translates beyond rodeo into other areas of life.”

Putting It All Together

After more than a year on the road filming, Law then spent the next six months with a team of editors going through nearly 1,000 hours of footage to put together the final 90-minute documentary.

“That was challenging, because there's so many good storylines and so much footage that just hit the cutting room floor that didn't make the film,” she said.

The documentary had its world premiere at the Dallas International Film Festival last year. It was a surreal experience for both Law and Savage.

“I've had different emotions every time I've seen it,” Savage said. “The first time it's kind of sad, and then the second time it was really an adrenaline rush pumping me up. The last time I saw it, it was just kind of like, ‘I’ve already seen it.’”

He hopes it will be viewed by future bull riders so they understand what they’re getting into.

“I want them to know how tough of a sport it is and how hard it is just riding and being away from your family,” he said. “It's not really what TV makes it all look like it's going to be.

“And as far as looking at my career, I’ve got a whole bunch of buckles and saddles and stuff which doesn’t really mean much to me,” he added. “They're just sitting there collecting dust, but [the film] will be a good story for my kids to tell someday.”

One Last Shot

Savage said retirement crossed his mind earlier this year, but in the last couple of months he’s been easing back into riding again, getting in better shape and preparing mentally for another season.

“I definitely don't plan on traveling hard or trying to make the finals again,” he said. “It's been tough leaving my family all year long. I’ve got a 10-year-old, 8-year-old and almost 4-year-old, and I’m just getting to the point where I'm tired of missing all their sporting events and activities and want to sleep in my own bed.

“But I’ve got some smaller goals I'd like to accomplish. I still want to win the circuit finals and have a good riding percentage.”

Meanwhile, Law enjoyed filmmaking so much she has made it her focus. Based in Denver, she started another documentary last year about children coming out of institutional care around the world, filming in East Africa. She also is working on another about independent candidates running for public office.

“We are filming RFK Jr. and some congressional candidates and showing their journey outside of the two-party system,” she said.

“Savage, the Relentless Pursuit of a Dream” has been a part of various film festivals. Now in a movie theater run, it was recently shown in Cody, with viewings in Cheyenne and Casper upcoming.

Law also is searching for distribution and hopes the film will eventually be available on a large streaming platform. However, she said Netflix and Hulu original films have made it hard for independent filmmakers to break through. If the film isn’t picked up for distribution it will be eventually released online.

“It's been a challenging couple of years for independent filmmakers who are just trying to tell stories about different human experiences rather than true crime or big-name celebrities,” she said. “It’s something that a lot of us filmmakers are trying to work through right now.”