A Liberal Amount of Creative Freedom 

By Andy Carpenter

It was refreshing to be reminded that the word “liberal” has a meaning beyond its modern political associations – its root word, liber, means freedom. Over time, to be liberal has also come to mean being generous, open, receptive to new ideas, and free from narrow constraints. Local creative and filmmaker Terrance Smith reminded me of this when I sat down to interview him at Fountain City Coffee. Framed through his perspective, “liberal” applies to his approach to art, especially filmmaking. Through his process Terrance commits to creating what is important to him and will not be constrained by what others feel is possible. His goal is to devote himself to projects which are not controlled by the market, opinion, or rigid viewpoints.

Working his way toward forty years old, Terrance has seen Columbus transition a great deal since his years in high school and at Columbus State University. Terrance focused on drama and theater, with a gradual shift toward film, but early on he only envisioned himself as an actor.

The pandemic provided Terrance an opportunity to broaden his interests into more aspects of filmmaking. He wrote a script called  “Horsehead Theater”, and shared it with Sara Lynn Holbrook of Springer Films, who in turn shared it with Jeff Holbrook. With positive feedback and the extremely unfortunate demise of Springer Film, Terrance bet on himself and became the director and producer of an episodic Horsehead Theater. Appropriately, this series depicts a small-town artist who struck out for larger challenges before returning to focus on contributing art to their community – only to find the challenges no less daunting.

In reality this project reflects Terrance’s own experience in learning how to write, produce, and develop as a director while balancing his commitment to ensuring his investors see results for their contributions.

Terrance is committed to producing his own works through his production company New World Films, where a collection of his short films includes several episodes of Horsehead Theater and No Way to Tomorrow. Additional films such as The Typewriter and The House of Asher carry themes of controlling or being controlled by other people (or perhaps an entity) and the fight to establish control of one’s narrative.

What is perhaps most interesting about his filmography is his capacity to cover a lot of ground both visually and thematically. Terrance has a fondness for films made in the ’30s and ’40s, with great respect for the Black films that emerged from the Metro Goldwyn Mayer segregated studios. 

Currently Terrance is managing the post-production process of his short film The House of Asher, and is also gearing up for his next project, Open Road. As a testament to his capacity to adapt, Open Road was originally written as a short film and had already moved into production when expected funding didn’t materialize. Instead of folding, Terrance plans to adapt the short script into a feature length film. With production moving to spring 2027, Open Road, set in 1975, will tell the story of a small crew of college students ensuring one of their crew makes it to a college exam. To me, this is already hilarious. Moving into development, Terrance will scout locations and secure additional funding to ensure the production value is maximized.

Terrance readily embraces the challenges of balancing all the tasks associated with filmmaking and has built partnerships with a reliable collaborative of actors and crew. Terrance expresses great appreciation for local powerhouse filmmaker Ty Manns and his ongoing relationships with the Family Theater, where he can access many of their phenomenal actors such as Emma Gaines and Talen Hutchinson.

Terrance does see a need for further community support for local filmmakers. He is pleased that the Columbus Film Commission has developed the Local Filmmaker Grant, and believes that there is room for stronger support of local productions before prioritizing productions from outside the region. He also echoes the notion that reestablishing a film festival could go a long way in promoting local filmmakers. Like the voice in Field of Dreams, Terrance believes that if you build it, they will come. 

In tandem with his own development as a filmmaker, Terrance plans to use New World Films as a platform to assist other creatives in achieving their goals. By leaning into his experience, connections, passion for filmmaking, and a desire to mentor and collaborate with others Terrance believes that he can assist others create opportunities for themselves.

All in all, Columbus will benefit greatly from a liberal amount of Terrance Smith contributions to our community.