Today we introduce you to Jennifer Pointer and Aaron Smith. They and their team share their story with us below:
How did Happenstance Film Co become an award-winning production company?
Five years ago, Happenstance Film Co started as a business between a couple of friends who later became significant others and have recently become engaged!
Aaron and Jennifer met as Jennifer was a local actress in Atlanta, she had a range of acting experiences from acting in local commercials to portraying a Disney Princess at Walt Disney World Resorts.
Aaron had been working in the independent film industry for several years at this point and was casting for a web series and Jennifer auditioned. After she got the role, they instantly became close friends as they shared the same vision of creating a successful film production company.
When did you win your first award?
Happenstance Film Co’s first project, “Abductees Anonymous”, won “Best Georgia Comedy” at the 2019 Atlanta Comedy Film Festival and essentially launched our business. When we created this story, we were living in a house that was essentially falling apart, and instead of focusing on the negative, one day we decided to sit down and write a sci-fi mockumentary. This decision to focus on the silver lining has become a business motto of ours over the years. We are happy to announce a recent award for the same film, which won “Best Comedy” at the Canada Couch Film Festival Summer 2022. We are very excited and grateful for this acknowledgment!
In 2018, our dream to work in the film industry propelled us to move across the country from Atlanta, GA to Los Angeles, CA. We loaded up a U-Haul with our Border Collie, Rory and away we went! In our time in LA we both had the opportunity to work as Production Assistants and Assistant to Producers, on several multi-million-dollar film sets.
We will never forget working on Sunset Boulevard and realizing how grateful we were to have followed through on our decision. Personal reasons brought us back to Georgia, where we started to regain our footing in the Atlanta film community before relocating to Savannah. During that time, we have worked on feature and indie film sets, filmed local weddings, and filmed marketing and music videos.
Our goal as a narrative film production company is to bring joy to our audience and remind people not to take life so seriously. That philosophy is central to how we work with our cast and crew. We strive to create positive and uplifting sets with like minded artists. We have experienced sets, outside of Happenstance Film Co, where there is negativity from the cast and crew and have learned through experience that the best final products come from productions created in an encouraging atmosphere. In addition to our goal of creating high quality material, this is what sets us apart from many other production companies. We treat our cast and crew with the utmost respect, and it creates a comfortable and exciting work environment.
The irony of our company name, Happenstance Film Co, lies in the fact that we care so much and are such dedicated perfectionists to our crafts that we will not release content unless we believe it is of the highest quality, so nothing is ever produced by “happenstance”.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our journey has been a very rocky one, with our first production of “Abductees Anonymous” only having a budget of $500, and filming while temporarily homeless. To elaborate, we were living in a very rundown home, and we had to evacuate due to a mold issue.
We were able to rent a nice cabin for our filming location, prior to knowing we had to evacuate, and the timing worked out perfectly to where we were able to live in the cabin on location for the duration of filming until we were able to return to our house. None of our cast or crew was privy to this information at the time and looking back we were excellent actors in hiding our housing issue to maintain professional personas to get the shoot done.
In addition to personal struggles, our sound mixer bailed on us and we had to make do with the crew and sound equipment we had. After it was filmed and edited in 2018, our short won “Best Georgia Comedy” at the Atlanta Comedy Film Festival in 2019. We were so elated by the success of our first project that we threw a premiere in Atlanta, GA with our amazing cast, crew, and families to celebrate.
We are most proud of this award because of all the struggles we endured along the way, and it made the victory that much sweeter.
Moving to Los Angeles from Georgia was a major financial struggle as everything in LA is at least three times as expensive than in Georgia. The other challenge is that there are about a million people applying for the same job as you. It was also a cultural shock living on the west coast for the first time. Finding work in Los Angeles was where we truly learned the importance of networking.
Everyone knows someone, and that someone knows someone on a film set unless they themselves are that “someone”. Some of the best advice we received out there was “don’t be afraid to be annoying” when it comes to asking anyone and everyone you meet about film work. This specific struggle we endured gave our company a competitive edge that we carry with us today, and it drives us to produce the highest quality content.
As freelance artists, financial stability was always an issue that made us question our life choices. As our history shows, we are no strangers to overcoming obstacles in order to succeed. We both come from humble beginnings so any success that we gain we consider to be our family and colleagues’ success as well.
We work hard so that one day our families will not have to work as hard anymore.
We’ve been impressed with Happenstance Film Co, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Happenstance Film Co we strive to make films that make people feel joy, while also challenging their perceptions of the world. Jennifer is the Director, while Aaron works as the Director of Photography. Being a small company of two people each of us often wear more than one hat. Those “hats” include writing, editing, producing, casting, and even acting. In addition to creating our own films and collaborating with fellow artists, we are also photographers, graphic designers, and corporate videographers.
What sets us apart from many other independent film companies is our dedication to perfection in our content. We worked whatever jobs we could get on film sets in Los Angeles, to be on a set and learn how the film process works. This gave us an insight into how major companies run their sets. We bring that same level of professionalism to our own independent film sets.
We take great pride in our short films and believe they are the truest representation of the type of people we are. Although we work as hard as anyone, we keep our sets fun and uplifting as we believe the creative process should be a labor of love, not just a labor. This cooperative and open energy allows creativity to flow from every member on set. That is what leads to amazing production quality.
We want your readers to know that we offer videography, photography, directing, and editing services that are unparalleled. Our professionalism is shown in how we constantly work on our craft and build our skillset.
Good news for those getting married, we also specialize in Wedding Videography and Photography! All services are available to book on our website www.happenstancefilmco.com. You can also find us on The Knot & Wedding Wire for wedding services.
Contact us today and we will work with your budget to make your cinematic dreams a reality.
What are your plans for the future?
Our plans for the near future are to move from short films into feature films, including a Sci-Fi/Spiritual/Thriller that is currently in pre-production.
We are in the process of our first draft and could not be more excited! We are also in the process of turning our short film “Abductees Anonymous” into an episodic series, giving the story more depth and the ability to flesh out the characters and their storylines.
In the meantime, “Abductees Anonymous” will be going live on Paus.TV starting July 14th with a 24-hour free online premiere. You can register at no cost here, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-paus-premieres-festival-presents-abductees-anonymous-tickets-359390074387
Any donations or purchases of the film will go towards the development of the episodic series we plan to film later this year. We hope to see you there!
We strive with each project to surpass the one before in story depth and cinematic quality to bring our audience something new and more entertaining with each release.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.happenstancefilmco.com
- Instagram: @happenstancefilmco / @happenstance.photography
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/HappenstanceFilmCo/
- Other: https://vimeo.com/happenstancefilmco
Image Credits
Happenstance Film
