From Comm Arts to the Red Carpet of Comic-Con

This summer’s 19th annual Dances With Films, an 11-day indie film festival in Los Angeles, is a launching pad for independent filmmakers. Taking place in the heart of Hollywood, the festival included the world premier of Flesh and Blood—a post-apocalyptic/suspense film with a family drama at its core, produced by Tim Lewis ’08. Inspired by 28 Days Later and Winter’s Bone, with classic westerns like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and The Searchers serving as visual references, Flesh and Blood also was accepted into the Marfa Film Festival and just wrapped at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

An L.A. resident, Lewis studied communication arts at Gordon College, where he “fell in love with the complexity of creation.” It was at Gordon that he came to believe “storytelling is the best way to explore complexity, and what it means to be created and to create.”

Lewis later completed a graduate program at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, which accepts less than 1% of applicants. It was there that Lewis met his Flesh and Blood writer/director Merlin Camozzi. “While Flesh and Blood is very much a genre film,” said Lewis, “what made me want to get involved and produce it was the very human story at the core: two young women trying to navigate the reality of an out of control parent who is simultaneously their protector and a threat to their safety.”

When asked his advice for college students interested in studying communication arts at Gordon, Lewis shared the importance of his internship and mentoring. “While I was finishing up my degree, I started an internship at Anonymous Content—a production and management company responsible for TV shows like True Detective and The Revenant. That quickly turned into a position working in the office of Michael Sugar—an Academy Award winning producer and manager who produced both The Knick and Spotlight.”

Lewis also shared the importance of believing in yourself. “I left Anonymous last summer to focus on my own writing and producing career. Flesh and Blood is my first project as an independent producer. One year out and our film is screening at some very exciting festivals in the market.”

Lewis encourages Gordon students to know that they are capable of achieving great things. “I hope they channel every experience they have during college, good and bad, into doing great work in whatever field they choose. Difficult times are often powerful tools, especially for storytellers.”

Photo credit: Dances with Films.
L to R: Clint Jordan, Tim Lewis, Hannah Telle and Merlin Camozzi on the red carpet.