Documentary Film
With more than a decade of experience in independent documentary filmmaking, our work has screened at festivals around the world, aired nationally on PBS, and streamed on major platforms. Explore some of our films below.
Dignified: The Story of Haywood Street Community Development (In production)
Founded in 2020, Haywood Street Community Development builds affordable housing rooted in the ministries of Haywood Street Congregation in Asheville, NC.
Their first project, Lady Gloria Ridge Community, opens Winter 2025. This short film captures the journey and how it can inspire future affordable housing efforts.
Expected Release: Spring 2026
Stepping Into Chaos (In production)
As prosecutor shortages mount and political forces threaten prosecutorial discretion, Stepping Into Chaos follows Charlotte's first African American DA Spencer Merriweather and his team as they seek justice in an imperfect system, revealing the complexities of wielding power ethically under pressure and offering a vital counter-narrative to polarized justice debates.
Expected Release: Spring 2027
Theirs Is the Kingdom ('22)
At the intersection of poverty and portraiture, Theirs is the Kingdom follows the rare creation of a contemporary fresco mural inside the sanctuary of a small church in Asheville, NC. This is a painting not of the rich and powerful, but of people battling homelessness, addiction, and mental illness.
From first sketch to final unveiling, the viewer witnesses the difficulties of this ancient artistic technique while also meeting an ensemble cast of complex characters.
Highlights:
- Official Selection at more than 15 national festivals including RiverRun, Cucalorus, and Sebastopol Documentary Festival.
- Best Documentary at Knoxville Film Festival, Longleaf Film Festival, and Beaufort Film Festival.
- National PBS screening on nearly 250 PBS stations in 130 markets across 45 states covering nearly 90% of the US.
- Distributed by Kanopy, Amazon, Apple TV, and PBS World Channel.
Wagonmasters ('13)
The car that was once the quintessential image of the American Dream is all but dead - at least for most people. There are some, however, who still cling to the station wagon and what it represents in American culture. Wagonmasters, a documentary film, offers glimpses into the lives of such wagon enthusiasts, and tells the story of the station wagon as it represents a changing America over the last one hundred years.
Highlights:
- Best of Festival – Broadcast Education Association Awards
- Best Documentary, 2nd Place – College Television Awards
- Official Selection at more than 30 national and international festivals including Hot Springs Documentary Festival, RiverRun, and Oxford.
- Winner, South Pitch (New Orleans Film Festival)
- The film was covered by CBS Saturday Morning and The New York Times
- Distributed by Kanopy, Amazon, Apple TV, and American Public Television.
Shipping Home ('17)
Shipping Home follows the year-long construction of Asheville, North Carolina’s first shipping container residence. But this is no HGTV fairytale – Ryan and Brook must balance life and parenthood with their aspirations of a sustainable dream house.
Highlights:
- Official selection at more than 10 national and regional festivals including Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival & Wild and Scenic Film Festival
- Distributed by Kanopy
- International distriubtion by Fighting Chance Films
Five Minutes ('18)
Through the eyes of a young soldier from Southwest Louisiana, this animated short film tells the story of Baptiste Touissant’s devastating injury and his hope of recovery through regenerative medicine. Regenerative Medicine promises a future where doctors, using a soldier’s own cells, rebuild genitalia and reconstruct arms and legs blown apart by shrapnel.
Highlights:
- Special screening for the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine
The Orange Shop ('15)
This documentary short showcases the Orange Shop, the last bastion of family roadside fruit businesses in northern Florida. The 78 year-old stand, located aptly enough in a town called Citra, began its life as a personal residence, where the owner would keep the citrus on the porch to keep it out of the sun. It's the same porch but with a whole lot more to offer — orange blossom honey, candy, perfume, juice — these days.
This film was produced in conjunction with the Southern Foodways Alliance and Eater Magazine.
The Impetus to Desegregate ('12)
In the 1950s and '60s, many of Wake Forest's peer universities faced court-ordered integration. Wake Forest University, as a private institution, was not under federal mandate. The process of desegregation was prompted primarily via student petitioning and protest. This short film dives into the how and why Wake became the first major private university in the South to integrate.
This film was produced in conjunction with the Wake Forest University series, Faces of Courage.