Photo credit to Joseph Jeavons.
From an early age, former Woodrow Wilson High School student, Joseph Jeavons always loved writing. His dream was to become a writer, and when he discovered screenwriting, his dreams would become a reality.
During Jeavons’ junior year of high school in 2022, he and his two friends, Sam Teague and Owen Swift, began working on their first short film, “Parasocial,” which made its way into local film festivals, snagging awards. From there, the rest was history.
Now, as college students learning film, Teague, Swift and Jeavons, are working on a new film opportunity that will launch on Amazon Prime called “Blood In The Snow.”
So, how did they get their break on Amazon Prime?
Their second film, “The Big Pelvis,” won a finalist award at the Student World Impact Film Festival, an Amazon Prime partner. Winners were allowed to have distribution fees waived for Prime and free submission access to the platform, which is the most expensive part that comes with making a movie.
“We actually never thought we were going to take advantage of [the opportunity] we just thought it was cool to have but we didn’t want [this] to go to waste,” Jeavons said.
Photo credit to Joseph Jeavons.
“Blood In The Snow” is roughly a $10,000 budget film, a hefty cost for the three college students. On average, most indie movies cost up to $100,000, while regular feature films are at $100 million.
The film follows two sophomores in high school on their climb to fame. During their rise to stardom, a string of mystery kidnappings continues to occur in their town. The two high schoolers see this as their opportunity to gain fame and start a detective business, leading them on a journey to reveal an urban legend.
“Blood In The Snow” is inspired by their other four short films, with the two main ones being “Parasocial” and “The Big Pelvis.” “Parasocial” follows two police officers, solving the case of the “Masked Horse Meat Bandit,” which leads them to two roommate suspects, while “The Big Pelvis,” is about three fishermen who will do whatever to capture an exotic fish that comes once a month. They must catch it before their rival does.
There is no scheduled release date for “Blood In The Snow” as filming is still in process. This allows them to reach out to various businesses interested in their product featured in the movie at no cost.
Editor Jacob Watson, Zach Pennington, Cathal Mayfield and Beckett Nichols who have been a part of each project have also contributed to the film.
Once the movie is complete, the group plans to play it in film festivals like Toronto International Film Festival and Slam Dance to gain more viewership before releasing it on Prime the following year.
“I’m looking forward to showing this to my friends and everyone who has been with [us] and wants to see it. All of the people who have been keeping up with our progress, I’m excited to show it to them.” Jeavons said.
