As the sun melts below the horizon on April 5th, film directors Erik Freeland and Rick Davis carefully aim their cameras at the West Chester skyline, following the shadow of a graceful ballerina dancing across the roof of the Chestnut Street Parking Garage. Jim Salvas, Uptown! Entertainment Alliance (UEA) Marketing Committee Chair, captured a short video clip of the action on his brand new iPad.
A juggler in an elevator. A ballerina dodging cars. A film projector in an alleyway. An orchestra in a storefront window. Seem odd? That’s exactly what we’re going for. These artists struggle to find a place to perform, and this video will portray that need in a beautiful, inspiring way to get people excited about bringing a theater venue to West Chester.
This grassroots, all-volunteer film project is led by Springhouse Films with the help of Kate LeSage, Graham Nolte and Danielle Chmelewski. Over the past few weeks, the crew brainstormed locations, cast local performers, and scheduled film shoots for a two or three-day project.
A world of thanks goes out to Erik and Rick, for helping make this a reality.
Erik Freeland, Director • award-winning director and editor of commercials, web content, short films, cable and network shows as well as documentaries. Erik was previously Executive Creative Director of Broadcast at Razorfish and a senior editor at Lorne Michael’s Broadway Video.
Rick Davis, Director of Photography • renowned commercial still photographer whose mastery of light and creative sensibility was translated into still life, lifestyle, food, and automotive imagery for agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Whether in the studio or on location, Rick is on the forefront of technology. He now continues this push into digital cinematography.
Another huge thank you goes out to our performers for a successful first shoot: The Chester County Pops Orchestra, Brittany Flaherty-Ryan (our ballerina, Founder and Director of Kimberton Dance Academy in Phoenixville), Randy Lyons (our juggler—don’t miss his six-minute streaming video) and Ted Wilby (for providing and running the film projector).
As you’re walking around town the week of April 9th, keep an eye out for our hardworking film crew with an entirely new set of performers. Stay tuned for updates.
The crew will edit and process next week; the video will début at our Red Carpet Premiere on Saturday, April 14th. You can find the video here on our website (Bookmark and Follow it) and other media outlets. Get ready to be wowed!
—written by Danielle Chmelewski
