Georgia Southwestern University wrapping up production on its first feature film

AMERICUS — Georgia Southwestern State University’s Department of Theater, Communication and Media Arts is wrapping up production of its first feature film in Americus.

The film, titled “Which Way There,” is being directed by Joey Watson, assistant professor of communication and media arts at Georgia Southwestern. The movie follows a woman named Mavis and her experiences with time travel. Each time she awakens, she finds she has either been sent forward to the year 2115 or back to the year 1915. As Mavis is hurdled through time, she not only has different identities in each time period but also different love interests.

“It seems like she’s trying to decide between picking a time period or a certain man in each time period. At the end, she ultimately picks herself and what she wants to do, not what she’s supposed to do,” said Natalie Donner, the actress who portrays Mavis.

The Atlanta-based actress has a degree in theater from Louisiana State University. While Donner was working on her undergraduate degree at LSU, Watson was also attending the university to work on his Ph.D. in communication studies, though they had known each other previously.

Donner began her career in theater but later moved into television and film. Her most recent work is the film “Bad, Bad Men,” a comedy shot in Memphis, Tenn., set to be released later this year.

The Georgia film and television industry is a large and growing entity, earning $5.1 billion this fiscal year. The state is attractive to the film companies for reasons ranging from its varied geography to its tax incentives for film and television productions.

Most recently, the state has been used as the filming location for scenes in movies such as the “The Hunger Games” franchise and “Selma,” and the hit television show “The Walking Dead.”

Now that so many films are shot in Georgia, there is a demand for a workforce with the skills necessary to support these endeavors, but production companies that shoot in Georgia say they often struggle to find the workers they need.

One measure that is being taken to meet this need is the establishment of the Georgia Film Academy. In January, Gov. Nathan Deal announced that a portion of the 2015 state budget would fund the new initiative, which is expected to launch this fall as a collaborative effort between the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia.

The new effort at Georgia Southwestern is preparing students for careers in the film industry while fulfilling part of the governor’s High Career Demand Initiative.

Watson co-wrote the screenplay for “Which Way Now”with Joanna Miller, a Los Angeles-based writer. Both Donner and Miller are former students of Watson.

“I have strong relationships with as many former students as I can,” said Watson. “What I mean by that is that we continue to learn from each other. Each semester, I learn just as much from my students as they hopefully do from me, so I see it as really special to keep working with each of them.”

Watson’s former students are not the only ones making large contributions to the film. Many GSW students are working as cast and crew members, including filling roles like assistant director and production coordinator.

“It’s been a great experience to work on the feature film. I have learned so much about myself and the whole process of film making by being the production coordinator,” said Anna Hall, a sophomore dramatic arts major from Buena Vista, Fla. “It’s really shown me that to be successful in the industry you have to be organized, know how to manage your time and be able to get things done under stress.”

In addition to this being the first feature film for the TCMA department, it is also the first opportunity for GSW students to learn about film production.

“Joey has given us the opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done at GSW. We’ve been able to work on many plays and musicals, but now we are also able to learn about the many facets of making a movie, and that’s wonderful,” said Megan Sleeth, a senior psychology major from Americus who also has a degree in theater.

“Movie makeup and design is the field I would like to go into, and I’m thankful for the opportunity this movie has given me to gain experience in that area,” added Jessie Ria