DELTA is a 12 minute Southern Gothic drama set in rural Arkansas that mixes live action & animation to tell the story of the day 10 year old Nick Francis met the devil. Now in Production 2021.
Brief Description
Delta is a short narrative drama that tells the story of Nick Francis, a 10 year old boy in rural Arkansas in 1980. After learning that his father lost the family farm, Nick runs away from home and attempts to connect with his estranged grandfather. After hearing a tall tale about his grandfather wrestling dinosaurs, Nick begins to question his own connection to the family land which builds to a showdown at the crossroads and a confrontation with the devil. And ultimately Nick wins the ability to see his father as a real person.
Director’s Statement:
I grew up in the Arkansas Delta which is home to many small rural farming communities in the fertile land near the banks of the Mississippi River. The stories in Delta are drawn from my personal experiences as well as family stories that have been told and retold so many times no one knows any longer what is truth and what is fiction. This short film is about the passage of time and how the past affects the future. While showing young Nick’s struggle with the 2 men in his life who he looks to for guidance, I seek to create a context for the audience to discover how generations connected by blood and forged in the dirt of the rural South are complex individuals worthy of contemplation. – Juli Jackson
Team:
Juli Jackson – Writer/Director/Director of Photography
Juli Jackson is a filmmaker and media artist focused on creating narratives that integrate animation and new technology to push boundaries of cinematic storytelling. Their feature film 45RPM which blends live action and hand-painted animation has won over 10 awards and is distributed by BrinkVision. Jackson is completing their MFA in Film Production from Temple University and currently prototyping The Yellow Wallpaper as a room-scale virtual reality narrative in addition to producing Delta, as a short film based on their experiences growing up in Arkansas.
Corbin Benedict – Lead Actor
Corbin Benedict, a non-actor from the rural community of Walcott, Arkansas, portrays the protagonist, Nick Francis. At age 10, Benedict accepted the challenge of playing the lead role in Delta and worked many summer days with the team to bring his character to life.
Kenneth House – Lead Actor
Ken House is a non-professional actor who is a semi-retired licensed mental health professional from Northeastern Arkansas. Kenneth plays the role of the protagonist’s grandfather, Robert Francis in Delta. Mr. House is a fourth generation Northeast Arkansan that now lives in the Ozark Mountains and enjoys a quiet life with family and a three year old grandson.
David Gordon – Supporting Actor
David Gordon is a non-actor originally from Blytheville, Arkansas. He portrays the protagonist’s father Larry. David earned a Bachelors or Science in Computer Science from Arkansas State University, and has been a professional software consultant for over 10 years. Although a software developer by trade, David is always looking for ways to broaden his horizons, and jumped at the chance to work with Juli Jackson on their short film Delta.
Amber Strother – Assistant Director
Amber Strother is a science fiction scholar and teacher from Batesville, Arkansas currently living in Milwaukee. Her research focuses on depictions of reproduction in science fiction literature, film, and television, and she teaches postsecondary courses on literature, gender, and film. She was an extra in 45RPM and stood in as Martha in Delta, but her role as assistant director in Delta is her first foray into the production side of filmmaking.
JC Cocker – Associate Producer/ Gaffer
JC Cocker, a frequently sought-after local lighting technician for the Arkansas film community, has been offering his talents to both short and feature films alike for over 12 years. He takes great pride in his contribution to the cinematic arts here in The Natural State.
Jeremy Speakes – B camera operator & 1st Assistant Camera
Ryan Hill – 2nd Assistant Camera
Jacques Granger – Sound Recordist
Native Memphian Jacques Granger presents serious music to small audiences. He is a singer and multi-instrumentalist in The Family Ghost, the post-punk band he co-founded in 2001; he has been making purposeful electronic music under the name Revenge Body since 2017; and he has helped curate and run Memphis Concrète, an experimental/electronic music festival, since its inception in 2017. Over the past twenty years, he has released numerous albums, toured the United States, performed live scores for feature films, and composed multiple short-film scores and podcast themes. Although he frequently produces field recordings and Foley-style sounds to incorporate into his music, Delta marks the first time he’s worked as a sound recordist for film. He is currently writing new music and a murder-mystery screenplay.
Robert Ditto – Best Boy Electric
Robert M. Ditto is a working professional in the Arts and Entertainment Industry known for Independent Filmmaking, Photography, and Graphic Design and has extensive knowledge of professional image acquisition and manipulation in both analog and digital mediums, as well as, Management experience keeping projects on track, on-time, on-budget, and in a neat and ordered process with indexed and accurate records. IMDB | LinkedIn
Tabetha Osborn – Health & Safety Manager
Lee Lyons – SFX Artist
Kayla Watkins – Colorist
Mandy Maxwell Mooneyham – Artist & Designer
Mandy Maxwell Mooneyham is a multidisciplinary artist, illustrator, and graphic designer based in Paragould, Arkansas. Her work focuses on realistic details and color explorations. While collaborating with Juli Jackson on 45RPM and The Yellow Wallpaper: VR Experience. She has developed original artwork and extensive design materials for the unique marketing challenge of each project.