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Debra Ware Photography
Indoor scene from “Wayward.”
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Debra Ware Photography
Chloe Shelton directs a young Colonial.
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Debra Ware Photography
Photographer Kayla Saunders
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Debra Ware Photography
Outdoor scene from “Wayward.”
Chloe Shelton, a 20-year-old Roanoke-based filmmaker, has wrapped up production on “Wayward,” a historic drama short made in partnership with Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg. Shelton’s film company is Chloe Shelton Films; she wrote and directed the acclaimed “Cotton Clouds,” a production of the Grandin Theatre Film Lab, this past spring. It played to sold-out audiences at the Grandin Theatre and the History Museum of Virginia.
“Wayward” will debut in 2020.
“Wayward” is set in 1781 and is the story of a politically divided family at the time of the American Revolution. The film’s synopsis says, “Wayward” examines “colonists are loyal to King George of England while others are determined to enforce their Declaration of Independence under General Washington’s leadership. In a reflection of the nation’s division, many families are also divided down enemy lines. Patriot family members defy Loyalists and the death of a son and brother cause emotions to intensify. As this family navigates the war in their family and their own personal convictions, they will come to learn that the most important weapons they need are love and respect for one another.”
“Cotton Clouds” will compete in its first film festival in October. Shelton recently won Regional Student Production Awards from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences for “’Til I Come Home” (a film made for the Salem History Museum) and “Dandelion,” a contemporary drama. Both will go on to National Competition in the Fall. Her film, “’Til I Come Home” will screen at the AMC Theater in New York’s Time Square in October as it competes in the All-American High School Film Festival.
“Wayward” has a cast and crew of nearly 40 people, a mixture of seasoned industry professionals (including executive producer Dave Perry, grip and electric specialist Ben Mullen and costumer Kathy Jordan). 2019 JMU graduate Kayla Saunders is director of photography. “Wayward” features Elliot Ware of Lynchburg and Gabrielle Shelton of Salem in the lead roles. It also features Taylor Cobb (son of Roanoke Vice Mayor Joe Cobb), Jim Hoover and Isaac Bouldin of Roanoke and Dawn Peterson of Lynchburg, as well as several background actors.
For more information, visit Chloe Shelton Films on Facebook and the website for the film, https://bit.ly/31SRas5
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).