Joe Panther photograph collection, 1980-1989

The 3 Dec 1975 Deseret News announced that producer Stewart H. Beveridge, president of Artists Creation & Associates, Inc. (ACA), purchased the film rights to the novel Joe Panther from award-winning writer Zachary Ball, for the company's first motion picture venture. According to the 15 Mar 1976 Box, Beveridge, whose prior experience had been as a concert producer, branched into film production to serve the often neglected "family" demographic. The film's executive producer, Dr. Leroy Taylor, was a physician based in Bountiful, UT. The 24 May 1976 Box reported that ACA held a gala at a Salt Lake City, UT, country club, attended by members of the press, the film's investors, members of the cast and crew, and "other interested persons." Co-hosting with Beveridge were actors Ray Tracey, Adolfo Martinez (credited onscreen as "A Martinez"), and Monika Ramirez, all of whom were of Native American descent, selected from the approximately 500 candidates who responded to ACA's search for Native American talent. ACA had already booked the film into 7,000 theaters in the Western U.S. before production began."--American Film Institute Catalog.