“Whelm may change the face of indie filmmaking.” ⁃ Film Pipeline
“Whelm is an absolute MUST WATCH 16mm masterpiece. [I’ve ] never seen a director make SO MUCH movie with so little money!”
-Steve Bellamy President Kodak Motion Picture Film
WHELM is a mind-bending odyssey of two estranged brothers who get tangled in a rivalry between a legendary bank robber and an eccentric at the height of the Great Depression before finding they are a part of a larger historic scheme. Shot on 16mm film on location in Wabash Indiana. Including historical locations such as Charley Creek Inn.
Lawson a Wabash native and Southwood graduate, grew up watching movies at Eagles Theatre and is excited to screen his feature film debut “Whelm” for the Wabash community that made it possible.
The movie theatrically premiered last week August 13 at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills to wide acclaim, and will be traveling across the country in the coming months as it will play historical and iconic movie houses like Eagles, alongside its digital release.
This compelling Independent American Epic is the directorial debut of writer director Skyler Lawson. Executive produced by Lawson under his Endrow Pictures banner, alongside Wabash’s own Jim Reynolds, Jennifer Toombs, Jeff Guenin-Hodson and Emily Guenin-Hodson. Lawson, Ed Herrera, and Noelle Hubbell produced the film with Lawson being the writer, director and co composer.
The film has an official running time of 1:56:16.
WHELM has earned critical acclaim from audiences who have been lucky enough to see it before Covid derailed its festival run. WHELM screened at the Heartland Film Festival in Indiana in 2019 where the film was shot and produced. It won Best Feature Film Drama at Burbank Int’l Film Festival 2020 and was selected to screen at the 2020 Beverly Hills Film Festival.
The original score for WHELM is the debut for Chris Dudley, who is twice certified Gold and three time Grammy Nominated. This is Dudley’s original score debut in collaboration with Lawson who acts as co-composer.
WHELM was produced with the support of industry giants like ARRI Rental for camera and lenses, Kodak Motion Picture Film for the 16mm celluloid, Metropolis Post NY for the 4k scanning, and Tony Villaflor and Jeff King of Skywalker Sound for the immersive post sound production and mixing.
Social Media:
Instagram: @whelm_film
Twitter: @whelm_film
Facebook: facebook.com/whelmfilm
