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Local Filmmaker Begins Work On First Feature

Writer/director Travis Carlson directs his crew on the set of his upcoming feature film “Mothers Day,” which will be shot and set in Gerry. Photo by Cole Bielecki

At first glance, the quiet streets and rural atmosphere of Gerry may not seem like the obvious location to shoot a feature-length film.

But compelling stories are always a reflection of those who tell them, and for filmmaker Travis Carlson, Gerry is where everything starts.

A 2009 graduate of Cassadaga Central School, it made perfect sense for Carlson to set and shoot his first feature “Mothers Day” in his hometown.

“This is the first feature as this team, that is sort of mature and not making student films,” Carlson said, speaking of his production team, Pan-American Film Division. “It is a true story kind of based on different experiences with a mother and a son. It is kind of based on some of my stories of my mother and I. We are sort of trying to stick to our roots and keep it a low-scale, affordable project. We decided on purpose to do a conversation piece between two actors as opposed to a high-production value film that would be costly for other reasons. For me it is just as thrilling to watch honest people having an argument as it is a car chase that has a lot of explosions.”

Carlson’s interest in film began in his early teen years, when he began making films for school projects and in his spare time.

Director of photography Aaron Rizzo filming during a rehearsal. Photo by Cole Bielecki

“I didn’t know that short films like existed, it wasn’t on my radar,” Carlson said. “To me, my only comprehension was that movies were these two hour things that you watched. Several of my first movies were very long, and hour and a half or two hours, because to me that’s what movies were.”

After high school, Carlson went on to SUNY Buffalo State, where he would graduate with a degree in television and film arts.

At Buff State, Carlson switched his focus to shorter student films, honing his craft and learning more about the kinds of projects that interested him.

“It really wasn’t until I was in college that I was presented with the idea and watched several short films. I was like ‘oh, you can do a small version of this,'” Carlson said.

Following graduation, Carlson honed his short-film chops by entering the 48 Hour Film Project, a competition in which teams have two days to complete a project.

“That was sort of a hobby,” Carlson said. “The idea is you have 48 hours to conceive of, write, produce, film, edit and deliver a movie in just two days. So we did.”

Working with colleagues who would become members of Pan-American Film Division, Carlson submitted “Ride of Your Life” in 2017 and “To Have and to Hold” in 2018.

The success of those films carried beyond just the regional 48 Hour Film Project competition, with both qualifying for screenings at the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival.

With the 48 Hour Film Project, there is playoff bracket where films are chosen to advance to the next round of competition, culminating with a showing at Cannes.

“The reward or the prize is that those films go to Cannes. Most of our team was there for that, so that was great,” Carlson said.

Building their resumes along the way, Carlson and other members of the Pan-Am team have also done video editing and production work for Pegula Sports and Entertainment, working on commercials and segments such as Beyond Blue and Gold and Buffalo Bills Embedded.

When it came time to think about shooting his first feature film, Carlson wanted to focus on an autobiographical, character-driven story.

“It does tell a story about rural America, my experience living in Gerry at the time,” Carlson said. “This is looking at a time when I had just graduated from college and was living at home again in Gerry, and sort of figuring out what my next steps were and my mom was figuring out her next steps after a divorce.”

Carlson completed the “Mothers Day” script in November, and plans to begin shooting in August after some COVID-19 delays.

Aaron Rizzo of Silver Creek will serve as director of photography, Megan Gonsalves as producer, while Michael Charles Wagner and Lisa Ludwig will be lead actors on the project.

Carlson plans to shoot the film in a single-shot style reminiscent of recent films such as Sam Mendes’ “1917”.

After shooting is complete, the film will be edited in the fall, before making its way to film festivals.

“Hopefully by the winter we are totally done, and we’ll be submitting it to film festivals at that point,” Carlson said. “We are pushing it as far as we can.”

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