Hollywood director comes home with groundbreaking film

HPHILIPSBURG — Although he currently resides in Los Angeles, when filmmaker Spencer T. Folmar thinks of “home,” he pictures the rolling hills of Clearfield County. So when the 2008 West Branch High School graduate got together with his cousin, Dax Spanogle, to write a screenplay about estranged brothers returning home to confront their past, he didn’t think twice about setting the film in Central Pennsylvania. 

That film, ‘Generational Sins,’ is set to be released nationally Thursday, Oct. 6, but its world premiere will take place one day earlier at the Historic Rowland Theatre in Philipsburg.

“This is going to be a proper Hollywood event,” Folmar said, complete with a red carpet, search lights and members of the cast and crew in attendance. “Philipsburg is going to look like Hollywood on Oct. 5.”

Folmar, who also directed and produced the film, described ‘Generational Sins’ as a heavy drama.

“This movie is about two brothers and their journey to reconcile with their abusive, alcoholic father. Some people have compared it to ‘Manchester by the Sea,’ except that whenever you leave the theater, you won’t be more depressed, but actually kind of hopeful,” he explained with a grin.

“It takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster, but prescreening and early reviews have been really positive. People find the journey worthwhile.”

Produced by Folmar’s production company, Third Brother Films, the movie is rated PG-13 and stars Australian actor Daniel MacPherson, Dax Spanogle, Barrett Donner and Bill Farmer. Some of Folmar’s immediate family members also appear in the movie, including his mother and father, who still reside in Grassflat. Folmar himself even makes what he calls a “Hitchcock” cameo appearance.

Some of the locations local viewers may recognize in the film include the Super 322 Drive-In, downtown Clearfield, the former Arrowhead Restaurant and Gates Hardware in Curwensville. In fact, Folmar said, approximately 80 percent of the movie was shot in Central Pennsylvania.

“This is really my love letter to growing up in this area,” Folmar said. “I think that people who watch this film are really going to appreciate just how authentically Pennsylvanian it is. I wanted to represent accurately what it’s like to live here and to grow up in a small town, and I wanted to share some of the beauty of this area.”

Shooting in Clearfield County was a great experience for the whole cast and crew, Folmar said, and even a year later, the cast still reminisces about their time spent on location in Central Pennsylvania. 

Executive producer Thurman Mason said, “I don’t think we could have made this film without the people of Clearfield County. They literally became a member of our cast and crew. They opened their doors to us, and because of them, we were able to accomplish so much with the limited tools and capital that we had as small independent film makers. It was a pleasure working with them. It really was.”

Folmar, who graduated from Grove City College with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies, also holds a master’s degree in theological studies from the Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Fla. He has trademarked a new genre of films with the release of ‘Generational Sins’: “hard-faith” films.

“The hard-faith genre is meant to be kind of an intersection where you can have an open dialogue about faith and about struggles with faith, and the gritty reality of what it means to live, especially in today’s culture,” Folmar said.

“’Generational Sins’ is very vulnerable, it’s very honest, it’s very open. It’s not preachy or judgmental at all, like some traditional faith-based films can be perceived.”

In fact, ‘Generational Sins’ is so realistic in its portrayal of adult issues, its characters occasionally swear and use offensive language not ordinarily found in faith-based movies. It is a film that everyone can relate to, regardless of their faith, Folmar said.

“Every family has its own ‘generational sins’ and skeletons in its closet that, at some point, have to be faced and dealt with head on, or else, unfortunately, they will be repeated and those generational sins will be passed on,” he said. “So far, non-Christian viewers like this movie just as much as, and maybe even more than, traditional religious audiences.”

Mason, who met Folmar at seminary school, said, “We think this movie is going to be a watershed moment that redefines traditional faith-based films. We feel like we’re on the tip of the spear of this movement, and if we’re successful with this movie, I would anticipate all kinds of production companies wanting to get into the hard-faith genre. I think we’ll be able to look back in a few years and see that we are making history.”

‘Generational Sins’ is Folmar’s third feature film, but he has been making movies since elementary school. “Instead of writing a paper or doing a poster for a class assignment, I would make a video,” he said.

As a young adult, he worked in corporate video production before he went on to study at NYU and New York Film University.

With Third Brother Films, he plans to begin production on a new feature film in the hard-faith genre in early spring 2018. While he anticipates that his next several films will be shot in locations such as Las Vegas and Australia, Folmar said he would love to shoot another film in Pennsylvania some day.

He also hopes to cultivate a relationship with Penn State. “I think Penn State and Central Pennsylvania can become a hub for film production. I’m always going to have roots here, so I want to get connected and stay connected to the university,” Folmar said.  

A Penn State intern worked on ‘Generational Sins’ when it was being filmed in 2016, and last week Folmar and Mason spent time on the Penn State campus speaking to film students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. Their presentations covered both the business aspects of filmmaking, as well as the art of directing. Students also were treated to a prescreening of ‘Generational Sins.’

‘Generational Sins’ will be released nationwide Friday, Oct. 6, to select theaters in 10 major markets as well as on iTunes. Tickets to the Thursday, Oct. 5, premiere are $25 and can be purchased at www.generationalsins.com or at the Rowland Theatre. Doors will open at 6 p.m., with opening remarks scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.