The Reel Life

Andy Carpenter and Paul Rowe Make Movies and Build Community With – A Southern Horror

A killer roaming the streets, armed with barbecue tools. A poisoned pie in an old country house. A mysterious computer with an unusual demand for its user. You’ll come face to face with these frights, and more, in A Southern Horror. This “dark journey through the haunted landscape of the American South” is part of a new vision for local filmmaking in Columbus – one entirely supported by the community. The best part? You can help make it happen – and maybe even get your name in the credits.

Yes, big things are happening with film in Columbus, and few folks have their finger on the pulse more than Paul Rowe and Andy Carpenter. Now, these two screenwriters are bringing their take on horror to the world with A Southern Horror.

“It feels weird being here. Feels like we’re cheating,” Andy Carpenter jokes during an interview about the film, tucked in a cozy nook at Midtown Coffee.

“We call the Iron Bank ‘The Office’ because we spend so much time working there,” Paul Rowe adds. The two writing buddies have met countless times to get their creative juices flowing.

Carpenter and Rowe have been brainstorming together since just before the COVID quarantine, when Rowe responded to one of Carpenter’s Facebook posts looking to gather local screenwriters. “Dan Quigley and I got together with Andy in his front yard a few times,” Rowe remembers of the socially distanced sessions. “[We] talked about screenwriting in general and started connecting with all these people. We eventually all realized, ‘We want to make our own stuff.”

“None of us had made a film at that point,” Carpenter explains, who with his Strong Land Creative venture now has several well-received shorts to his name, as does Rowe with his Last Caress Productions. “We got together to push each other to develop our craft of screenwriting, egolessly supporting each other’s vision. We’ve since made several movies together, honing in on what we’re capable of to where we are today with A Southern Horror.”

A Southern Horror contains three vignettes connected to an interwoven central story. The main story follows Adelaide (played by local actor Andi Williams), who seems lost in life, has recently been evicted and searching for her missing dog when she’s drawn to an old computer, which instructs her to document three terrifying tales. The first, “Talk Slow Die Fast,” is a witty slasher thriller written by Shavonne R. Johnson and featuring a murderous “White Socks Killer”; next up is writer Andrew Gray’s supernatural horror involving an abused wife who attempts to poison her husband’s pie; the last comes from Carpenter (“a gut punch,” Rowe calls it), “Ten Day Window,” where an unstoppable and invisible force pushes a haunted father to seek revenge.

Slated for release on Prime Video in December, the project has 45 extremely talented local people working on it with an overall budget of $39,250. Filming begins later this month.

But there is a deeper mission at play here alongside the desire to make a great film – and that’s to kick off a new era of strong local filmmaking culture and support in Columbus. Part of that vision is through crowdfunding. Which is easy enough through their site on Indiegogo, you can head straight to A Southern Horror and know your contribution to the film is directly supporting local art and film. Contributions have a $5 minimum and come with all kinds of perks, from social media shout outs to a thank you in the credits, from appearing as an extra to working as a production assistant for a day.

“With A Southern Horror, I decided that it was time to level up,” Rowe says. “To do something longer, with deeper complexity, especially in the technical aspect. The idea is, ‘How much of the local film community can we get involved?’ I want to see this community grow. I don’t want to do this in Atlanta. I want to do it here. I love Columbus. And we’ve found this is a great spot for us.”

The producers opted to not go the Hollywood route and sell their script. “It’s about controlling our own vision,” Carpenter explains, “not giving it to people who don’t know us enough to translate it onto film. Crowdfunding is not just for us to have ownership. It’s not so much about the money as the participation. Having local and regional interest and support is more important to us.”

So why a horror film?

“I’ve watched horror films my whole life,” says Rowe. “My first VHS tape was The Howling, which my father recorded off the TV and I kept watching it again and again. I saw lots of werewolf movies and found a really good story contained in them. You can mix all the genres together in a horror film. We like to call it ‘Horror with a Heart.’

“This is Paul’s vision,” Carpenter says of A Southern Horror. “Paul helps me see what’s possible. I can’t really comprehend or visualize the things Paul can, but I learned from Paul that horror isn’t any one thing and you can find the humor, and the humanity, in horror films. I don’t frame [“Ten Day Window”] as horror but more so the terror of loss.

“Writing’s always been my main thing,” Rowe explains. “I once wanted to write from home, just living out in the boonies. At the same time, I was yearning for more community, and I found that through filmmaking, in a community that’s trying to develop in Columbus.”

“When you decide to do something like this, you need to find your tribe,” Rowe says of his DIY approach to making movies.

“What people say about our process is that they trust in us as we trust in them,” says Rowe. “That we promote their creativity, we listen to them, and work in a true collaborative spirit. Our process requires everyone to give 110% to make it happen.”

“Forty grand is not a lot of money to pay people with,” Carpenter adds, “so they know they’re not going to make a ton. They’re on board because of their love for film, Paul’s leadership, the quality of the stories, and they know what it’s like to work with us.”

If you would like to get involved and help make A Southern Horror happen, you can do so by donating through the Indiegogo page at indiegogo.com/projects – a southern horror, the crowdfunding campaign is available through mid May, you can also contact Paul directly at LCP@LastCaressProductions.com. Follow them on social media via @lastcaressproductions and @asouthernhorror.