ROANOKE, Va. – The Star City isn’t necessarily known for movie stars, but an aspiring filmmaker from Roanoke decided to capture his hometown on camera.
Michael Fleming directed the short thriller film “Parallax,” which premiered at the Grandin Theatre earlier this month. Fleming shot the nine-minute film on a $300 budget in the Roanoke area, mostly at the Shell gas station on Electric Road near Tanglewood Mall.
This was Fleming’s first film, and he is now submitting his movie to several film festivals. He hopes it helps people realize Roanoke has an under-the-radar creative community.
“You don’t see very many films being made in Roanoke, even short films,” Fleming said. “We’re able to put our city on the map and say, ‘Hey, this is Roanoke, Virginia.’ It’s a little bit crazy of a story, but we have people here who like film and are passionate about it.”
Fleming hopes to premiere the film on YouTube and Vimeo next month. You can watch the trailer for the film at this link.