WHS grad’s film shot in Wilmington and New Vienna, screened at film festivals

0

WILMINGTON — A Wilmington native is releasing his short film to the public today. “Mayfield” by Zach Daulton is available online to watch after being on the film festival circuit for a year.

Daulton, a 2007 Wilmington High School graduate, filmed the short entirely in Clinton County in 2015 at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington and also in New Vienna. The idea came to Daulton while on the road working with a music group on another project.

“I slowly realized all the stuff I thought was making me happy wasn’t making me happy. I realized that what made me happy was those close to me. My family and friends.”

The short is about James Mayfield (John Riley), an aging performer trying to trigger important memories by performing a one-man show from his youth. However, he is forced to close the show, “with a little help from some lost memories” according to the film’s website, www.zachdaulton.com/mayfield.

Mayfield has to find the limit of how many times he can relive a moment before his memory changes.

Daulton said that there’s a lot of him in this short.

While shooting took only five days, the production in total took over a year to complete. This included three to fourth months writing, two months to set up, the five days shooting, and a six-month break after his wife gave birth to their child.

But it was completed and then submitted to film festivals.

The film has been shown at 20 different festivals.

Daulton said the whole ordeal was very interesting. He said it can be exciting to get accepted, and devastated to get rejected. But after awhile, he said, one begins to understand why it may not get accepted.

“Being rejected doesn’t mean your film was bad. It could be that it doesn’t fit with what they want, or they already have so much,” he said.

When it came to filming at the Murphy, Daulton said he had it in mind when he wrote the script. He managed to get in contact with the Murphy people, but he decided to build a separate dressing room set in John Riley’s garage.

A part of building the room included gathering props. But he was able to complete much of the film with help he had with friends and connections who worked on the film — many did for free.

Up next for Daulton includes working on other projects, short films, and raising funds for a feature film.

The film is available to watch online for free on either zachdaulton.com/mayfield or on vimeo.com.

This is the poster for Mayfield.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/05/web1_Mayfield_poster.jpgThis is the poster for Mayfield. Courtesy photos

Zach Daulton, right, directs John Riley in a scene for Mayfield.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/05/web1_mayfield_bts2.jpgZach Daulton, right, directs John Riley in a scene for Mayfield. Courtesy photos

Zach Daulton, far right, and his crew filming at the Murphy Theatre.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2017/05/web1_mayfield_bts8.jpgZach Daulton, far right, and his crew filming at the Murphy Theatre. Courtesy photos

By John Hamilton

[email protected]

No posts to display