Previous Projects

Summer Film Production

Crossroads (2021-23 SFP)

At high school student Marissa Carter's funeral, her brother Chance (struggling with grief over losing his sister, and unable to come out to his family) collides with Marissa’s friend Naomi (fresh off failing her citizenship test). Next thing they know, they find themselves in each other's bodies. Now living as one another, Chance and Naomi must cope with their new situation and learn to see the world through another's eyes.

Writer / director:

Piper Peña Hadley (SMU Film, B.F.A. 2023)

Producers:

Kaytlyn Bunting (SMU Film, B.F.A. expected 2024)
Anna Butcher (SMU Film, B.F.A. 2023)
Grace Maddox (SMU Film, B.F.A. expected 2024)

Crossroads was shot in summer 2022 (under the working title I Want a Body of My Own), premiered for the SMU cast/crew in spring 2023, and is currently being polished up for festivals.

Website: https://ko-fi.com/iwabomo
Instagram: @bodyofmyownfilm

Smile (2019-22 SFP)

"No one ever talks about what life is like after you try to kill yourself."

Smile is a drama about a young woman who returns home after a traumatic event and has to figure out her relationship with her family, her friends, and her future.

Writer and Director:

Kelsey Hodge (SMU Film, B.F.A. 2020)

Producers:

Brittney Hutchison (SMU Film, B.F.A. expected 2023)
Alexa May (SMU Film, B.F.A. expected 2023)

Smile was originally scheduled to shoot in May 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the shoot was postponed until summer 2021; the film is now in post-production with an expected premiere in spring 2022. If you're interested in getting involved in any way (post-production, marketing, distribution, etc.) you can contact the production team at amoviecalledsmile@gmail.com.

Website: https://www.amoviecalledsmile.com/

Follow on:

Facebook: smilethemovie
Instagram: @thesmilemovie
Twitter: @thesmilemovie

View schedule

A First Look at Smile:

The Book of Job (2017-19 SFP)

The Book of Job is about a high school student who has trouble separating reality from fiction. Young Job falls madly in love with a new girl who catches his eye after mass one Sunday. In the midst of his conforming to what he believes to be her idealized standards, he realizes his life is about so much more than simply himself.

writer and director:
  - Andrew Oh (SMU Film, B.A. 2018)
producers:
  - Alli Barta (SMU Film, B.F.A. 2020)
  - Al Bouchillon (SMU Film, B.F.A. 2019)
  - David Fice (SMU Film, B.F.A. 2019)

Principal photography took place May/June 2018; the completed film premiered May 2019.

After a successful festival run (including wins for Best University Film and Best Lead Actor, Narrative Feature at the Red Dirt International Film Festival), The Book of Job was picked up for distribution by Gravitas Ventures, and launched on multiple streaming services in spring 2021. You can currently find the film on iTunes, Prime Video, FandangoNow, and elsewhere.

Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBookofJobMovie
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebookofjobmovie/
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bookofjobmovie
For more information, check out http://www.thebookofjobmovie.com or email thebookofjobmovie@gmail.com

Official Trailer

"The Whims of Father Bentley"
In this chapter from The Book of Job world, we get a glimpse into the life of Father Bentley who finds himself having a rough Sunday.

Elsewhere, Texas (2015-17 SFP)

(Feature, post-apocalyptic Western)

writer/director:
  - McHenry Taylor (SMU Film, B.A. 2016)
producers:
  - Trevor Thrall (SMU Film, B.A. 2016)
  - Natalie Khraish (SMU Film, B.A. 2017)

Principal photography on Elsewhere, TX took place in June 2016, and the movie premiered to an SMU audience in May 2017. The film has since played several festivals, and won Best Supporting Actor, Best Western, and the Reel People's Choice awards at the 2018 Reel East Texas Film Festival.

You can follow the film on Twitter (@ElsewhereTXFilm) for updates.

Check out the first trailer for Elsewhere, TX here:

Legacy (2013-15 SFP)

(Feature, psychological thriller)

original story:
  - Esther Tshibangu (SMU Film B.A. 2013)
additional writing:
  - Cydney Cox (SMU Film, B.A. 2014) and Daniel Tomlinson (SMU Film B.A. 2014)
director:
  - Rachel Wilson (SMU Film, B.A. 2014)
producers:
  - Geenah Krisht (SMU Film, B.A. 2015)
  - Cydney Cox (SMU Film, B.A. 2014)

Twitter: @LegacySFP
Facebook: facebook.com/LegacySFP
Tagline: "Blood spilt by the family stays in the family."

Principal photography occurred in May/June 2014 (production photos available here), and the project premiered in May 2015.

Trailer:

All the Wrong Friends (SFP pilot program, shot 2011)

(Feature, thriller / suspense)
Twitter: @WrongFriends
Website: terrorfilms.net/film/all-wrong-friends

All the Wrong Friends was an ambitious pilot project for what would become the Summer Film Production, aiming to shoot 120 pages in 12 days as proof that SMU students could shoot a low-budget feature in two weeks. Thirty-one hardy filmmakers and actors headed up north to the Texas/Oklahoma border for a 10-day location shoot (the last two days were shot around Dallas) and managed to wrap it all up half a day early. The pilot program was a success, and though post-production ran long (due in large part to it being put on hold while the Summer Film Production program was launched), it premiered to the cast and crew in spring 2016.

The film made its public debut in July 2016 at the Indy Film Fest, launching a three-year series of American and international festival screenings. Notable festival awards include:
- Best in Category Thriller at the Hot Springs International Horror Film Festival
- Best Director (Feature), Best Feature Editing, Best Feature Cinematography, and Best Feature Actor (Alexandra Chaudoin) at Eyecatcher Film Festival
- Best Supporting Actress (Krishna Smitha) at the 2017 International Horror Hotel
- and over a dozen other award nominations at several other festivals.

After its successful festival run, All the Wrong Friends was picked up for distribution by Los Angeles-based Terror Films, and launched on multiple streaming services in summer 2020. You can currently find the film on Tubi, iTunes, Roku, Vudu, Kings of Horror, Google Play, included with Prime Video, and elsewhere. For the latest on streaming availability and news, visit Terror Films' All the Wrong Friends page.

ALSO WATCH: Behind-the-scenes of All the Wrong Friends

Production Stills

The Dread Factory (2010-11 SFP)

The Dread Factory

(40-minute short, supernatural horror film)

Twitter: @TheDreadFactory
Website: http://www.thedreadfactory.com

The Dread Factory was made almost on a whim; at the time, SMU happened to own an abandoned bread factory that was about to be demolished, and a group of Meadows students decided to shoot a horror film in the creepy old building before it was torn down. In a quick four-month span, they came up with a story, wrote a script, found a cast and crew, shot the movie, and premiered it on campus the following spring . The process was so much fun that many of those involved (and many who weren't, but heard about it and wished they had been) decided to shoot something again the next summer – and from this dream was born the idea for the SMU Summer Film Production program. Thus though The Dread Factory was shot as a one-off project, we affectionately consider it the inaugural SFP.