‘The Final Run’ Written, Produced and Inspired by Hilton Head Local
Hilton Head businessman Walter Czura reinvents himself yet again, turning his colorful past into a streaming success story
Story by Kingston Rhoads
Some might say Hilton Head Island businessman Walter Czura, screenwriter and producer of the new TV streaming movie The Final Run, filmed in Beaufort County, is the very definition of a southern Lowcountry original.
Georgia-born, fraternity-seasoned and a former practicing Hilton Head attorney, Czura’s career took a sharp detour in the 1980s. As one of the notorious “Gentleman Smugglers,” he landed in federal prison for 15 months during President Ronald Reagan’s war on drugs.
Today he calls that episode a “mere peccadillo” – the kind of understatement an individual such as Walter can pull off with a straight face.
Inspired by true events Hilton Head Island businessman Walter Czura wrote and produced The Final Run, an independent film that screened at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May. Decades earlier, Czura was entwined with the “Gentleman Smugglers” and the locally famous Operation Jackpot drug bust, orchestrated by current South Carolina Governor, Henry McMaster.
After his prison stint, Czura read the 1981 biography of billionaire Ted Turner, Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way, and turned his life around.
He built a regional billboard advertising company, Marlin Outdoor, which made him a small fortune. That success provided what he really wanted: freedom, time for creativity and the means to chase big, often eccentric dreams — like scripting and producing a movie out of his own pocket that is now streaming around the globe.
With credentials as an attorney, smuggler, billboard kingpin, screenwriter and movie producer, Czura cuts quite a figure. He is silver-haired, well-dressed in a cashmere sweater and every bit the southern gentleman. He doesn’t watch TV himself or even own a computer. He reads volumes of books and communicates with friends and business associates by text or writing a message on a piece of paper, taking a picture of it and sending it via his phone.
Czura admits, “I am way off the grid.” He then reveals a sly grin, giving you the impression he has lived through more than a few stories you’ll never find in a resume.
Operation Jackpot, reimagined The Final Run is a modern-day crime drama set against the backdrop of the Lowcountry with scenes shot in Beaufort and on the waters of Port Royal and St. Helena sounds. The film weaves together local lore with real-life history from the War on Drugs and South Carolina’s notorious Operation Jackpot.
Not a documentary
Czura’s movie is not a documentary, but rather, a modern-day crime drama set in the Lowcountry, with scenes filmed in and around Beaufort as well as in the waters of both Port Royal and St. Helena sounds. It echoes local legends and history surrounding South Carolina’s Operation Jackpot, a 1980s drug-smuggling sting.
The film delivers an emotionally charged drama where the fictionalized main character, Pierce Butler, a college-educated, former U.S. Marine and reformed smuggler, finds himself facing the dilemma of organizing “one final run,” not for greed, but to pay for his wife’s life-saving experimental cancer treatment.
Czura explains the film is “somewhat of a morality play,” exploring themes of redemption, love and family loyalty. Utilizing local shrimp boats, it revisits the real-life exploits of the young and daring smugglers who were called the “Gentlemen Smugglers” because they carried no weapons. They lived life on the edge, turning Lowcountry inlets into marijuana-running goldmines until Operation Jackpot, organized by now-Gov. Henry McMaster (then a federal prosecutor), brought them to justice.
Movie highlights
The main character is played by Jeff Fahey, an award-winning movie veteran who has appeared in over 90 feature-length films and more than 50 TV series since the 1980s. It also stars Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club) and a rising new talent, Maddie Henderson, who has 4 million followers on TikTok. Fahey calls her a future Jennifer Lawrence.
Two Broadway actors now living in Bluffton play key roles in the movie: Meredith Inglesby (a graduate of Hilton Head Prep), and her husband, Steve Blanchard. Shep Rose, another Hilton Head Prep graduate and a star in the reality TV series, Southern Charm, also plays a small part in the film.
The movie has received favorable reviews from national movie critics. Fahey lauded Czura for his perseverance in producing the movie. “I was extremely impressed with Walter and what he has been able to achieve with his screenplay and film as a new producer. It’s a great accomplishment in a very competitive industry.”
Talent on Deck Actor Jeff Fahey plays Pierce Butler, the former Marine turned reluctant smuggler, while Maddie Henderson, a TikTok celebrity, brings fresh energy as one of the film’s breakout talents.
Two years of perseverance
The film was completed in 2023 and premiered at the Beaufort Film Festival in February 2024. The Final Run was then previewed for potential international distribution at the Cannes Film Festival in France in May.
The film attracted the attention of several international streaming services because of its distinctive plot and southern noir theme. Several services purchased it, and the film is now available online in Europe, the Middle East, South America, Asia, as well as in the United States and Canada on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Fandango and others.
Czura credits Sublimity Entertainment, a firm that specializes in licensing global media rights and Level 33 Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based film distribution company, for believing in his film and getting it attention at Cannes.
“It’s sadly ironic that the same society that punished a generation of young people so harshly now openly profits from what was once considered criminal,” he said.
With the success that The Final Run is receiving, Czura already started writing a sequel.
A Lowcountry thriller In The Final Run, Pierce Butler, a former Marine and long-retired marijuana smuggler, is pulled back into the shadows when his wife’s rare cancer leaves him desperate for money. To save his home, his business and the woman he loves, he bets everything on one last run. Watch it on Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango and other streaming services.
