David Alford (photo by David Grace)
David Alford, filmmaker, came to Abingdon almost by accident.
“My wife had just completed her residency in orthopedics, and a job search organization gave us a stack of papers with communities from all over the country needing surgeons. Abingdon was on top because it was in alphabetical order. We came to visit and immediately fell in love with the town. It had everything we wanted for our family,” he says.
It also provided Alford with fertile ground for his career.
“I caught the acting bug as a small kid doing plays at church and school and acted all the way through high school. But I went to college to study filmmaking because movies had made such a huge impact on my life. I tried to double major in Theater and Radio-Television-Film, but that became logistically impossible, so I was forced to choose one. I thought I could more easily support a family with media since I had been able to work in radio during college, so I completed my Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film.
Barter Theatre Activities
“I had operated a youth performance organization in San Antonio, while my wife was in medical school. I met with Rick Rose when I moved to Abingdon and explained what I had been doing, and he loved it. So, I started a few youth classes, and they met a need in the community and did well. Within a year or two we had created the Barter Youth Academy which went on to teach theater and public speaking skills to thousands of students in the area.
“During that time, Katy Brown contacted me and invited me to join the cast of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ It was a huge cast and she had seen me act before. So, I played the evil Monsieur D’Arque as well as a few ensemble characters. I had a great time, and loved the people I was working alongside. I seemed like a good match and before I knew it, I was in the resident acting company. It was a unique experience because unlike in San Antonio where I was pigeon-holed into one character type, I was able to play a wild variety of roles like Kyle the UPS Guy in ‘Legally Blonde,’ Boolie in ‘Driving Miss Daisy,’ Bob Cratchit in ‘Christmas Carol’ and Ralph Sheldrake in ‘White Christmas.’ It has been a dream job as an actor.
First Filmmaking Experience: “Cross Purposes”
“I have been dabbling in novel writing for years but never took it very far, and I wanted to take a crack at playwriting. So, I sat down to write a story idea that had been brewing in my mind, but I quickly realized that the story wasn’t working for stage. I really liked it and thought it could work as a screenplay. I showed the script to a few friends and family members, and they reacted strongly to it, so I started asking around to see what it would take to produce it. I knew some folks who had done short films in the area before, so I assembled a team and found some locations in Abingdon and Bristol to shoot it over a long weekend in August of 2019 in between working on Barter shows. I felt it captured what it needed to, and so I submitted it to a bunch of film festivals in 2020, and to my surprise it was picked up for distribution,” he says.
His experience with Barter Theatre also provided him with cast members when he made his first film, “Cross Purposes.”
“Being both an actor and a teacher in the Barter community has been such a blessing in that I’ve come to know terrific adult and youth actors from this region. So when I need to fill a role it isn’t very hard, I simply go through my mental rolodex of who I’ve worked with that fits the bill. Rick McVey and I have worked together for years. He’s such a beautifully natural and textured actor that I can throw just about anything at him, and I’ll know it’ll be good. Nick Koesters is another Barter alum who is so talented that he can pull off just about any role. Wendy Piper has been a godsend. She always comes through with a nuanced performance. Ryan Henderson, who grew up with the Barter Players, has done tremendous work on all three of my films. Another youth actor who continues to blow me away is Elijah Bullen. He’s had prominent roles in both of my full-length films and has hit it out of the ballpark both times. Luke Sage, a very talented local musician with the Crowe Hollerers, is also a former BYA student of mine and has been a powerhouse for me on screen. Josiah Gross, as well as Lucy and Maggie Piper have covered my youngest kid roles and have all been not only spectacular but amazingly professional for their ages. Parker Grey is another known youth actor in this area. He and I have worked together at the Barter since he was a little guy and he’s taken on a role in ‘Royal Ashes.’ And Sarah Laughland, who wowed Barter audiences as Ariel in our version of ‘Footloose,’ is no longer in this area but came back to do a key role for ‘Found.’
Relationship with Joseph Stam
Joseph Stam has performed in all of Alford’s films and co-directed Alford’s latest, “Royal Ashes.”
“I’ve known Joseph and his family socially since he was a little boy. I had seen him perform in our Barter Classes over the years, but I didn’t really work with him directly until he was about 15. Because he has a quick sense of humor and a vivacious and charismatic personality, he was always being cast in the humorous high-energy roles.
“I knew he wanted to dive into deeper more serious parts, but I wasn’t sure if he could do it. So when I started doing screen tests with a group of young actors for ‘Cross Purposes,’ I invited him to come audition for the lead role of Jamie, not being sure if it would lead to anything. After his screen test, I was surprised and impressed. There was something very vulnerable and honest about his acting that translated beautifully on camera. And when he went to those serious moments, I believed every minute of it.
“After shooting ‘Cross Purposes,’ Joseph explained that he really wanted to try writing so the ‘teacher’ in me gave him a few writing assignments which he tackled with a passion and his sense of humor was spot on hilarious. So when I started adapting ‘Found’ from a book manuscript that I had started a year before, I tossed some scenes to him as an exercise. They needed some quirky humor which isn’t really my thing, and he came back with gold. He quickly became a collaborator on that screenplay, and when it came time to cast Finch, no one understood the character better than he did so he was the obvious choice to play the lead.
“During this time, I came to discover that he is a profoundly knowledgeable student of movie directing. He’d never done it but had studied it with incredible intensity. I had wanted a younger voice than my own in the direction of ‘Royal Ashes’ since it was mainly about teenagers, and he seemed the right person to provide it. He came onto the project early and began designing shots and visualizing scenes like a pro. I was floored with the creativity and freshness he brought to the look of the film. He contributed so much that I had no choice but to make him a co-director, and I’ve never regretted it for a minute. He’s a bit of a prodigy and a definitive cinematic voice for the next generation. I’m excited to have discovered him and to have given him a chance to get his start in what’s certain to be a long and exciting career,” he says.
Directing Theater versus Directing Films
As the result of making three films, Alford has explored the differences and similarities between directing theater and film and developed his craft.
“Directing a play is pure humanity. It is sitting down all alone in a quiet place with a script and breaking it apart to see what’s inside. Then you get together with other artists to see what they found, and you put it all together. Once you think you’ve tapped into all the greatness that you can, you put it in front of an audience and let the magic happen. As a director, at that point, your job is done.
“Film is a different beast entirely. It starts off the same way, breaking down a script to see what’s inside, but that’s where everything changes. On stage, you present your audience with a panorama and then try to guide their eyes to a point where the action is occurring. Ultimately, the audience will experience what they wish in the course of the play. With a camera, it’s like taking an audience member by the hand and walking them around on stage pointing at the exact spot and the exact angle you want them to see. They have no choice but to look at it. As a film director, you try so hard not to interfere with the story so that the experience seems organic to the viewer, but you have ultimate control over every detail of the experience and the temptation to become emotionally manipulative is a constant struggle. It is a fine tightrope that I’m still learning to walk.
“Writing is definitely where I feel the most competent. I’ve been writing scripts and books since I was a teenager so that is where I’m the most at ease. I’ve been directing theater for about 25 years but film for only two. Although there are shared skills, particularly working with the actors, I’m still getting a feel for film directing. I believe all good stories start with great characters. I try to construct dynamic characters with virtues and flaws which audiences and readers will immediately identify. Then I metaphorically lock them into a room together to see what happens. As an actor, I simply act out in my mind what is said between them. Writing a scene often becomes like taking dictation of this process. Sometimes it’s great and sometimes it goes nowhere, and I start again. ‘Cross Purposes’ was a prime and simple example of this. I took a teenage boy with no possible future and locked him in a hospital room with a career- obsessed medical student who only thinks about his future. The result is the story you see on film.
Working on “Cross Purposes”
“’Cross Purposes’ was shot with two cameras and a handful of theater actors who had never performed in movies, so it was a steep learning curve for us all. We basically ran scenes in front of the cameras and recorded both actors at the same time; then we went back and edited the best takes. Being a bunch of theater people that shooting style made the most sense. The hardest part of that experience for me was adjusting from what I was seeing in the room to what the camera was picking up. With ‘Found,’ I was reusing many of the same actors, and we were starting to get a feel for working with a camera. As a director, I also started playing around more with camera movement and depth of field in a way I hadn’t before. However, it was 2020, and the shoot was a frantic push to complete the film before COVID shut us down. We shot the entire film in 16 days. Every day we wondered if someone on set was going to get sick and we’d have to stop production. So in many ways we had to hurry up and just get the shot we had planned and hope it worked. That pace didn’t allow us to explore much. It was grab and go and that was hard on all of us. Thankfully, that was an amazing cast and crew of simply delightful people, so we had a great time together despite the hardships. ‘Royal Ashes’ was shot under much better circumstances. We had more time to plan out every shot and try different angles. As a director, I felt a lot more confident and freer in that process than ever before. I’m excited for people to see how that one comes together,” Alford says.
The Films That Alford Admires
He is influenced by dramas that take the viewer on a trip through the life of a character. He’s been affected by stories such as “Schindler’s List,” “Braveheart,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “Life is Beautiful.”
“But that’s not to say, I’m not there in the cinema for the latest Marvel movie ready to have a good time. I have so many influences. Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy was a wonderful combination of high adventure with meaningful character exposition that made you care about the story. Spielberg is wonderful about using exotic tools to craft very human stories. Scorsese can craft a world for characters like no other. Aaron Sorkin writes characters and dialogue like an orchestra conductor and new-comers, Gia Coppola and Greta Gerwig inspire me to be try to be more daring with my choices,” Alford says.
A Christian Point of View
Alford’s films are told from his Christian point of view. “I try to write stories that everyone can relate to despite their religious background, and I attempt to give my characters real struggles and sometimes real solutions that most viewers can find believable or at least identifiable. It’s important for me to label my films as ‘faith-based’ or ‘Christian’ films even though it limits viewership, so that people don’t feel tricked into being caught up in my theology when they hear the Christian content. I’m not trying to trap anyone into my beliefs. I’m simply expressing what I have found to be true having spent 52 years on this planet. I wish it didn’t have to be delineated like that, but in the current cultural trend of specifically labeling everyone, it’s my way of trying to keep peace.
“There has certainly been an unintentionally consistent theme of a young man coming of age in these first three films. Partly because I enjoy exploring a world through the eyes of a character who is seeing it for the first time. It is present and now. And partly because that’s where my personal demons are sheltered. Those teenage years were the hardest for me personally so that’s where I go for difficult moments. It’s a pattern I’m looking forward to breaking up a bit with future stories as I become more confident as a filmmaker.
“I would actually love to not have quite so many roles on a film. Although it’s nice to have so much control over the overall look and feel of the story, it can easily become stale. I can get caught in a bubble and lose touch with my audiences. I rely heavily on the people around me with creative decisions now to try and prevent this from happening. It’s both a blessing and a trap. I would find it exciting to only direct or only write for a while. It is truly exhausting to write, direct and produce. I’m really looking forward to a time when I can afford to have more people doing this with me. Right now this arrangement is born of pure necessity rather than preference,” he says.
Financing Filmmaking
Before Alford can even start filming a movie, he has to find the money to pay for production.
“Financing a film is tricky. Independent films generally lose money without studio backing to the rate of 97%. Meaning only three percent of independent films ever make their money back during their run. Part of what has kept us going over the last two years has been generous donations from friends and loved ones, and in some part the revenue that has started coming in from our films. Mind you, our films have been done in the least expensive manner possible. Our category of filmmaking is considered a ‘no-budget indie,’ which is any film made for less than $300,000. All three of our films combined do not surpass $110,000. So that makes us a striving to be a no-budget indie. Everyone has been willing to work for far less than they deserve, and our communities have been very generous in helping to make these films possible. Although money is starting to come in from the first two films, it is a slow trickle-down process from the streaming services to our distributor, then to us. It takes several months to play out so we have to keep afloat until the system plays itself out. It is a bit of a waiting game. The upside is that ‘Found’ is poised to earn its budget back within its first year of release which is a minor miracle in and of itself. That would put us within that rare three percent, and we are incredibly grateful for that.
“’Cross Purposes’ is a short film or mini-feature as some call it. It runs just under 40 minutes. And there are very few places for short films to go. I sent it to about 15 film festivals both Christian and secular. It was selected by 13 of them which was a surprisingly high statistic. It won some awards and has since been picked up for distribution and can be seen on numerous platforms, but there isn’t a large demand for short films anywhere. ‘Found’ benefited from ‘Cross Purposes’’ success in that the same distribution company wanted to know what else we were doing. We had just shot ‘Found,’ and they wanted to see it. We only had a rough cut done, and it was terrifying to show them such an unpolished version of the film, but they assured us they could imagine the rest. We had signed a global distribution contract seven hours after we sent them the film. It was one of the fastest signings they had ever had. They then released it in June, and it has been put on about 15 different streaming platforms and networks around the world and can be seen literally anywhere on the planet. At this time, we know of two of the platform’s viewing numbers and together they equal more than four million views since its release, but there is truly no way of knowing how many people have seen the film. We’ve heard back from people via social media from around the world. ‘Found’s’ reach has been nothing short of mind-blowing. ‘Royal Ashes’ is being edited now and then it has to go through post-production. It won’t be released until the middle of 2022 at the earliest.
The New Film, “Royal Ashes”
“’Royal Ashes’ was shot last July over the course of about three and half weeks in various places in the region. We ended up shooting a large piece of it in St. Paul, Virginia. The folks in that town were really incredible to work with. They were so generous and accommodating. Whatever we needed, we just asked, and someone knew someone who had it. It was such an idyllic town for this story, and I’m glad to get to show the world what this place is like. We shot other scenes in Abingdon and Bristol which is my favorite place to shoot not only because it’s beautiful, but because it’s my home and I’m proud of it,” Alford says.
“Royal Ashes” is the story of five young siblings; ages 19 to 7 who find themselves alone with an absentee mom who is struggling with substance abuse. Paul, the eldest, doesn’t have many advantages in life, but he has dreams. He has taken on the mantle of parenting and struggles to keep his family together with his few meager resources. He questions where God fits into this hard story, and the results are somewhat surprising.
The film is being edited this fall and will go into post-production (coloring, scoring and sound editing) in early 2022. Alford hopes to have it out by summer. A couple of local movie theaters in Bristol and Abingdon showed “Found” for a few months last fall before it went under contract with BMG. He hopes to do that with “Royal Ashes.”
“The goal for any movie is to get it as many viewers as possible. In today’s competitive marketplace, that’s an incredibly difficult thing to do. It’s not like you can call movie theaters or Netflix and just ask them to play your movie. A good distribution company is not unlike an agent who has a working relationship with a large number of studios, streaming services and networks who cannot be reached by individuals. Distributors can take your film and make it known to as many media venues as possible. If those venues like what they see, they will pick up your film and either pay your distribution company a flat fee or share commercial revenues with them. The distributor collects all the revenue from as many venues as possible and shares those fees with the filmmakers. It isn’t easy securing a distribution company. As you can imagine, there is a great deal of content out there and distributors have to have better content than their competitors to keep from being pushed out of the market.
“We were very fortunate that Bridgestone Media Global picked up our first short film, ‘Cross Purposes’ and our first feature, ‘Found.’ It helped us to establish a good working relationship with one of the largest faith and family film distributors in the world. They have many connections globally who show their products which allows us to get our films exposure in ways we never could on our own. And the exciting thing is they want to see more of our work which means they believe in us as a company.
“I am hopeful to work alongside some other production companies to co-produce some works. I’m writing a screenplay with Joseph Stam for a historical mini-series to be produced by a third party that I’m very excited about. I’ve already written another family drama series based on Romans, Chapter 12 that I would love to produce if I can get the funds together. A great deal depends on how this all plays out financially. It has been a tremendous start, but it’s only the beginning and it has been an incredibly rewarding ride so far,” he says.
“Cross Purposes” can be seen on Fox’s Tubi app, You Tube’s “Encourage TV” and Shorts TV. “Found” is on Amazon Prime, Pureflix, Roku, Tubi, Xumo, the Daystar Network, Sony’s “Crackle,” PlexTV and YouTube’s “Encourage TV.” They both can be purchased on DVD through Amazon, www.christianbook.com or from www.crosspurposesproductions.com.
