FPD grad filming movie in Macon

Two of Macon native Tim Hall's interests converge in his second film: people and the South.

The movie, called "Born River Bye," will be filmed around Macon next month and is a story about "personal growth" as two main characters return home over a long weekend.

"Just getting older and moving further away from those years of being a kid," Hall said of the film's theme.

The story centers around Scott and Laura, who were once friends but "lost touch over the years." Hall, 26, was interested in exploring that dynamic because of the chance to show how people remember who they once were and discover how others haven't turned into what might have been expected.

"I think people are endlessly fascinating," he said.

The other portion of his goal as a filmmaker is to take advantage of an "untapped" resource in Southern culture. The 2007 First Presbyterian Day School graduate described the usual depiction of people from the Southern as a "caricature" of the way his friends and family really are.

"I haven't seen the people that I grew up around portrayed in film, really ever," Hall said.

To do that, he's coming back to his roots and filming from Nov. 3-21 at familiar locations such as the old Starcadia property, downtown and houses around town. Knowledge of the area and connections with Middle Georgia residents helped make Macon a logical choice for filming.

"Being from there, there's a lot of conveniences and help," said Hall, who now lives with his wife, Leslie, in Atlanta.

Tim will also be filming at the office where his father, Bill Hall, practices dentistry. Bill won't make a cameo appearance, though.

"I'm not really too much into acting," Bill said.

The elder Hall was interested in the chance to see his son at work, though. Tim's first movie, "Ordinary Wilderness," was filmed in North Carolina before a 2011 release.

Bill said he knows Tim will have a lot to do on set, but he's looking forward to seeing his son interacting with the cast and crew.

"He's trying to pursue his dream, and I support that very much," Bill said.

That dream began when Tim was an eighth-grader at FPD. Initially, his efforts weren't just about the art, though.

"I got it in my head that if I was a writer, that would attract the girls my age," he said.

That quickly developed into a real focus on storytelling through film. Hall began filming the stories he wrote, and by the time FPD theater director Andrew Strickland met him the next year, Hall was a student of cinema.

Strickland said that Hall would converse about classic movies "that none of his classmates had ever seen" and was making movies unlike what most young people would be producing.

"They weren't parodies; they weren't silly comedies," Strickland said. "They were very deep, story-driven pieces."

Because of that, Strickland isn't surprised that Hall has found his way into the movie business.

"It would be more of a shock to me if he hadn't made film his life," he said.

Extras will be needed for the movie, and anyone interested can contact Hall at bornriverbye@gmail.com

To contact writer Jeremy Timmerman, call 744-4331 or find him on Twitter@MTJTimm.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 10:26 PM with the headline "FPD grad filming movie in Macon ."