"Outriding the Devil" to Premiere During San Angelo Rodeo

SAN ANGELO, TX — A critically acclaimed movie is debuting during the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo that features the story of Texas Rodeo Hall of Famer Angela Ganter, who overcame losing her husband and a diagnosis of Stage 4 breast cancer.

"Outriding the Devil" is written and directed by Raen LeVell.

Ganter attended Texas A&M University and rode for its rodeo team and eventually met her husband, Don Ganter. They started a successful restaurant in College Station, The Dixie Chicken, and had their daughter, Jackie. Don passed away in 2004, and Angela moved to Abilene and started the Lone Star Stables Equine Boarding and Rehab facility.

From 2010 to 2017, Angela fought breast cancer and had multiple surgeries, including chemo and radiation that prevented her from competing. After beating cancer, Ganter won six Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association rodeos.

Outriding the Devil features many rodeo stars and even actors from the series “Yellowstone,” including Mo Brings Plenty and is narrated by Forrie J. Smith.

A release states:

Fresh from its worldwide premiere during the “Super Bowl” of Western sports, the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas, the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo is bringing Outriding the Devil to the Queen City of the Conchos on April 8 at the Cinemark Tinseltown. 

The critically acclaimed documentary ProRodeo.com describes as, “One of the great rodeo movies,” features arguably the most inspirational comebacks in rodeo history: world champion barrel racer and Texas Rodeo Hall of Famer, Angela Ganter, overcoming Stage 4 breast cancer to return to the pinnacle of the sport. The film’s title is a reference to the “red devil” chemo she outrode.

“Yellowstone” star Mo Brings Plenty plays a significant role in the docudrama. “Outriding the Devil is no ordinary movie. It’s the most amazing true story,” he says. Brings Plenty’s latest drama Marshals just premiered on CBS. “It has an incredible cast. Some of today’s PRCA world champions and Yellowstone universe cast members.”

Brings Plenty knows something about rough stock. He’s a director of the PBR’s Arizona Ridge Riders.

Among the ensemble line-up from rodeo, “Outriding the Devil” features 10x PRCA World Champion, Stetson Wright, Texas’s legendary ProRodeo Hall of Famer Bob Tallman, and PRCA World Champions Shad “Money” Mayfield, Ky Hamilton, Zeke Thurston, WPRA World Champion Fallon Taylor, and currently the world’s number one saddle bronc rider, Rusty Wright.

The odds were against Angela Ganter surviving. If she did, it was incomprehensible that she might ride again, let alone compete. But Ganter decided otherwise. During her ordeal, Angela somehow managed to coach her daughter, Jackie Ganter, to the WPRC Rookie of the Year title at the National Finals Rodeo.

In a decade-long fight for life, Angela literally went from “death’s door to the winner’s circle” at the Calgary Stampede upon her remarkable return to rodeo. Jackie Ganter is no stranger to the winner’s circle in San Angelo.

The film is narrated by Brings Plenty’s “Yellowstone” castmate Forrie J. Smith. “I remember almost choking up,” Smith says, a former rough stock rider on the pro circuit and a forever cowboy.

“In the film, Angela says it will be worth it if she can change just one life. She does far more than that,” continues Smith. “I had to block the emotion just to stay focused on the dialogue. This film will inspire you and make your problems seem like nothing.”

2024 All-Around World Champion, Shad “Money” Mayfield and Lily Wright, daughter of PRCA World Champion Cody Wright and sister of rodeo icons Stetson, Ryder, Rusty, and Statler Wright, both make their acting debut in the film. Mayfield features with 1883’s Eric Nelsen in one of the film’s historical dramatizations, while Wright plays a young Ganter, opposite country music star, Ned LeDoux, son of legend, Chris LeDoux.

“Outriding the Devil” has already achieved a #1 ranking on IMDb and is about more than Angela Ganter’s grit and courage to overcome cancer and return to rodeo. On a sweeping canvas that stretches from frontier Texas in 1850 to Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2024, Ganter’s life and pioneering ranching heritage serve as both living history and a metaphor for Western culture and rodeo.

Some of the existing footage of Old West Texas giants, Charles Goodnight and Chief Quanah Parker, adds emphasis to the movie’s breadth.

Quanah Parker’s role in aiding Goodnight, Samuel Burk Burnett, and Daniel Waggoner to advance the cattle industry and ranching as economic and cultural driving forces in the West is connective tissue in Angela Ganter’s heritage. Her great-grandfather, John Campbell, was among the first to ranch on the Brazos.

Mo Brings Plenty credits writer/director Raen LeVell, with bringing new life to these stories.

“Raen and Taylor (Sheridan) are very similar in some ways. They are both visionaries and amazing storytellers,” explains Brings Plenty, one of the most popular stars from Sheridan’s “Yellowstone.” They both also share my passion to depict our history and culture accurately.”

Texas Hall of Fame songwriter and two-time Grammy nominee Radney Foster provides classic and original songs to the soundtrack.

Forrie J. Smith encapsulates “Outriding the Devil” in one of his narrations: “When you watch a rodeo, the spirit that made America looks back. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one.”

If you love rodeo and Western heritage and want to immerse yourself in a story of faith, family, and genuine “true grit,” catch “Outriding the Devil” during the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo at the Cinemark Tinseltown USA on April 8 at 7:00 p.m.

“Outriding the Devil” is directed by multi-award winner LeVell (writer/director of the streaming hit Buffalo Daze) and produced by Erin E. Mitchell, Darrell R. Martin, and 4M Equine Ranch. LeVell will be present for a Q&A after the film.

For tickets, CLICK HERE.