Meet the mind behind Meadow Bridge, a film that tackles the coming of age genre set within her home state of West Virginia.

What is your connection to the South?

I was born and raised in a small West Virginia town. After leaving the state for quite some time, I came back because I realized the need for positive and powerful storytelling that needed to be done here. I have committed myself to studying the region’s history and present while making work I hope will add to the greater conversation of this place.

Where did you get your inspiration for this work?

While in my undergrad I began writing a script about the small town I grew up in. I had received the advice to write what you know…and that is what I knew. The reception in class was a lot of fun because I was telling a West Virginia story in California and was made aware of an Appalachian culture. I then realized the need for this story as a single narrative had been painted about this space. Moving back to West Virginia after graduating, I knew this story needed to be told in the town where it was lived.

How did you start making films?

My interest in filmmaking started at a community college in California. I thought I was going to specialize in news broadcasting, but was then introduced to films I had never heard of let alone seen. I was hooked at the power of storytelling in these films. I furthered my understanding of film as an art at California Institute of the Arts and began a focus on my home state and how I could work to construct a more nuanced notion of what it means to be from a small rural town.

Did anything interesting or funny happen on set during the shooting?

There were plenty of interesting moments since this film was made on a shoestring budget with minimal crew and shooting it in rural West Virginia. Adding to this we were striving for a late 90s look…it was interesting scouring for cordless phones, 90s magazines, and especially the van. The van gave us more laughs than anything. We purchased the beat up thing for $500 the first day of shooting! Of course a window was busted during production so plexiglass stood in its place. The fumes inside that old van definitely became a humorous aspect when the poor talent had to climb inside…and the passenger door would not open from the outside!

What do you look forward to the most during Indie Grits?

I look most forward to sharing my film with others. It was such a labor of love and not many folks have seen it yet. I hope to meet others that feel this way about their work. When passionate folks get together to talk about their work, it ignites conversation that can lead to productivity and fun! I am excited to see some powerful storytelling!

Why should someone see your film?

This film is not your average coming-of-age story, nor is it your average small town story. It strives to share universal experience of growing up without the usual tropes written about the region. Although these moments are speaking to bigger issues, there is plenty of humor that points to the universality of feeling awkward when you may not be the most popular…but you really don’t care!