Oxford, AL – Three years after hitting the road for Hollywood, Alex McFry came back with a film crew last week to shoot a new project in Downtown Oxford, Alabama. Both graduates of White Plains High School and alumni of Jacksonville State University, McFry and Megan Wise are Anniston locals who now call Hollywood their home while working in the film & television industries. Their latest project, David’s Violets, brought the pair back to Anniston and Oxford to make a little more movie magic. The film, a southern dark comedy about a family coping with the loss of their father two years after his death, follows the three adopted children as they return home to visit their mother as they all come to terms with how to finally move on.
McFry, like many artists in the South, felt that in order to flourish, he had to find a place big enough to support his art and provide other people to help him bring it to life. After getting their MFA degrees from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts just one year apart from each other, he and Wise set their sights on a career out West. That doesn’t stop them from coming back and telling stories grounded in the South. With the help of several community members including Brooke McFry, Dalton “Cutter” Goode (owner of Cutter’s Pizza in Oxford,) Edith and Bill Couch, Lauren Burney, Ann Welch (of Nunnley’s Framing in Anniston), Beverly Williams (and the Calhoun County Democrats,) and several others who hosted cast or crew in their homes, McFry is able to come back again and again.
“What a fitting thing that while telling a story that is so grounded in the South that we would find ourselves lucky enough to be surrounded by all these people who supported this project coming to life,” McFry said about the willingness of those in the community to help out.
Having a working relationship with Wise for the last fifteen years (and counting,) the duo tries to work together as much as possible. Wise served as the Production Designer for this film, meaning everything you see in each shot was brought to life by her creative vision. McFry served as the director, writer, and producer of this project, stitching together a diverse group of people ranging from local talent to performers from the Dominican Republic, Miami, and beyond. The crew, made up of people from LA, Atlanta, Tallahassee, and JSU’s own students from the new Film Major, looked a lot like the characters in the story–a range of different backgrounds that each brought a unique piece to the project and made it their own.
The Calhoun Journal had the opportunity to speak to several members of the production crew as well as a few of the actors. Actors Isadora Leiva, a Miami native most recently starring in a range of ads for the Disney parks, and Exmin Carvajal, a prolific actor in the Dominican Republic with over 70 acting credits, shared that the heart of this story is a family surviving loss and trying to find the balance between protecting each other and acceptance of help and love when it is offered. They all complimented the residents of Oxford who were kind and supportive, especially the hosts of where they shot the movie, Trace Fleming-Trice, and Perry Trice. The couple and their two sons let the cast and crew of about fifteen to twenty people into their home free of charge for the duration of filming. One crew member said they showcased the true definition of Southern Hospitality.
The project was shot here on Main Street in Oxford as well as in Fuji Japanese Cuisine Restaurant where several patrons and employees got to be background actors in one of the dinner scenes. The Calhoun Journal had the opportunity to be on set and speak to many of the actors and production. Producer Olivia Isabel Comas Wood explained that this has been a film that, at its core, is about the strength of love and the resilience of the human spirit. The overall motto of the cast was one of excitement while closing out the final day of shooting.
This film will make the rounds of the film festivals so we can’t see a preview, but there is a hope that there will be a local showing in Calhoun County once the film is released. Below is a list of the crew as well as stills from the movie taken by film DP, Brook Lee Karner. In addition, photographer, Kelcy Williams shared photos from behind the scenes of the movie set.
Cast:
Denise Davis, Jacksonville, AL — playing the role of Toni
Arielle Prepetit, Atlanta, GA — playing the role of Sophie
Isadora Leiva, Miami, FL — playing the role of Trixie
Alex Engel, Los Angeles, CA — playing the role of Alexander
Exmin Carvajal, La Romana, Dominican Republic — playing the role of Mateo
VK, Atlanta, GA — playing the role of Vanessa
Katelyn Layfield, Alabaster, AL — playing the role of Jordyn
Linda Goode Colvard, Alabaster, AL — playing the role of Nancy
Christian Watts, Jacksonville, AL — playing the role of Lomax
Crew:
Alex McFry, Los Angeles, CA (native of Anniston, AL) — Director/Producer/Co-Writer
Olivia Isabel Comas Wood, Los Angeles, CA — Producer
Chibuzo Harbor, Anniston, AL — Co-Writer
Alex Engel, Los Angeles, CA — Co-Writer
Brook Karner, Los Angeles, CA — Director of Photography
Megan Wise, Los Angeles, CA (native of Anniston, AL) — Production Designer
