The past 3 month’s have literally been a blur. In January I met with a friend, who, at that time, lived on St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands). He had been working on a script and thought I might like to read it, as he knew I was wanting to try my hand at directing a film. I was lucky enough to spend a few days in the lovely Virgin Islands and read Mark Owen’s script, ‘Chance’. It told the story of a young high school senior named Darnel Smith. Darnel is weeks away from graduation and has just got the most exciting news of his life; he was picked for a photography scholarship though his school and was on his way to college in Miami. Basically a dream-come-true for this kid. However, as Darnel’s dream’s are finally coming true, his life is slowly falling apart. Darnel’s mother becomes very ill with an undiagnosed disease and with barely enough money to pay rent for his mother and 3 siblings, Darnel takes it upon himself to find a way to save his mother’s life.
Getting to make this film was one of the most unbelievable times of my life. We had a skeleton crew, a budget that might as well have not existed and 2 Canon 5D cameras (yes, we shot an entire film on a still camera, don’t judge yet)… as most filmmakers would tell you, that’s not exactly a recipe for success when it comes to making a feature film. However, I think this will be a surprise to a lot of people. I was lucky enough to work with a DP (Cameron Schmucker) who was able to take every challenge I threw at him and make it work beautifully. I was also lucky enough to work with producers (Katie, Mark, and Brittany) who literally worked 20 hours a day to make sure we had everything we needed to make the film great (with the limitation of our ridiculous budget) and a crew that gave 110% while some of them didn’t even get paid.
And of course the one thing that you can’t get around, no matter how good your direction or how good your editing, is your talent. I definitely have to share my praise for our amazing cast. Akin Chinnery, Sean Joseph, Lynn Joseph-Porter, Ashley Wilkerson, and last but certainly not least, our lead actor Terrance Bartley. While every actor did an incredible job and made the roles come to life, the action of the script and most brutal role was definitely resting on the shoulder’s of Terrance. I’ve gotta say I’ve never been more pleasantly surprised by someone in my entire life. When Terrance came to the auditions, I knew he had the look I wanted for the role, I was just hoping he would end up being a good actor. To my surprise, Terrance became one of the most natural and charismatic actors that I’ve ever worked with. I’m confident that audiences will fall in love with, not only the character of Darnel Smith, but also our super talented lead actor Terrance Bartley.
All this to say that I’m beyond excited about this film and the experience that led up to it. The next update will have some screen shots and hopefully a trailer. To everyone who was a part of this movie and helped make it possible, THANK YOU! I can’t wait to show off the hard work we put into making it. You are all truly blessings and inspirations!
Here’s a few pictures from the shoot… enjoy:
