“The Simple Path” and why 60% of Tri-C Film Academy Students Are Successful

Author: Aymia Browder

Lights, camera, action! Tri-C’s Film Academy has a new film The Simple Path, that has been nominated to feature in Cleveland’s 44^th International Film festival. The screening will take place at Cleveland’s very own Tower City Cinemas on April 2, 2020. However due the Novel Corona Virus the event is canceled. The entire city is in quarantine, and the most favorable ritual for many such as attending the movies at the moment is out of the question. According to Lee Will the program director, and producer of Tri-C’s film Academy the chance of scheduling a future viewing is not yet known.  Lee is meticulous when it comes to her all of her students that enter The Film Academy. The Overseer of the Film Academy, Bob Ryan, and Lee Will created The Film Academy program about five years ago to help build a film work force. The overall goal of building a work force within film is so that when students have completed their training, they would receive employment immediately. There is no question of whether the training students receive is effective. The astounding records show that 60% of the Film Academy’s students are successful, and they are grafted into work immediately. Tri-C offers a 4-week intensive training for 15 students at a time in various departments of the film industry. The students are then trained for PA’s entry level positions. After 4 weeks of training the trainees are ready to shoot a short film. Another cool factor is each student receives a paycheck through financial grants of the John Murphy Foundation.

  I had the pleasure of speaking with the writer/director of The Simple Path Charles Moore. Moore stated that the inspiration for writing the film did not stem from a message that he envisioned, but the writing of the film was based on what material he had to work with on campus. Moore wanted to know how he could pull off a live set that would camouflage the college campus. The brilliant story came into play after the discovery of having a health care unit on campus. Moore stated that excitement of the film did not come from the writing alone, the main contribution to the excitement came from the chemistry between the cast, and crew. Moore admitted that when it came to choosing a cast, he had no pre-casting notions. However when Moore met actress Shaba Cochrane at Starbucks he knew that she was a perfect fit for the lead role. In the film Shaba was able to bring her own thing to the table. Actress Debrae Branesfeld was casted into the film based on her outstanding performance in a production that Moore witnessed previously. When Moore met with the remainder of the cast members Mario Beverly, Bryant Carroll, and Anne Kitral, he immediately recognized the star quality within the them all. The chemistry between the cast and crew was on point. The next phase that the film crew received merits for was the ability to shoot the film in 2, and 1/2 days. Training had to prepare students to be organized to pull this off. Referring to the sleepless night before the shoot, Moore says that “nervous energy is essential to the art”. Moore also revealed that as a teen he worked in a movie theater, he held an interest in music, and also studied business in college. Moore never thought that he would become a filmmaker. Later in life he became involved with improvisation, and assisted with building chops for major screenwriting. Without any plan Moore’s career took off. Moore pays homage to his entire team Bob Ryan, Lee Will, James Madio, Rick Page and the mass contribution that HBO has made.  Moore stated that actor/producer James Madio who has featured in a profound number of major film productions is a huge element to Tri-C’s Film Academy.  Madio raised the bars through various connections, including actor/producer Rick Page from the film segment “Brooklyn 99.”   Moore also confessed that teaming with Madio, Page, and HBO The Film Academy’s success rates are at a all time high. There are no further reports on how The Simple Path can be viewed.