Award Winning Actor Featured in Ridgewood Teens’ Film

Shutterflies marks a step into the professional world for two Ridgewood filmmaking partners.

Spencer Muhlstock and Hayes Walsh conceived of the film in March and, bolstered by a $4,000 budget raised through grassroots fundraising site indiegogo.com and the appearance of a Tony Award winning actor in the cast, the pair went into production over the summer.

For the two 16-year-old Ridgewood High School students, filmmaking partners since middle school, the 40-minute murder mystery is a step up from their previous efforts. They plan on showcasing the movie at a screening in Ridgewood this month.

Shutterflies, set in the sixties, follows a troubled teenage photographer, played by Walsh, who witnesses a murder and is pulled into the effort to solve the crime.

“We dressed the set to make it authentic,” said Walsh. “We had a lot of research going into it to make sure that it was accurate.”

The co-written screenplay is far from their first. Having started off early with off-the-cuff YouTube videos to explore their technique, they first made a longer feature last year. Building on the experience, they see Shutterflies as a hopeful entrance to the next level.

“It was more of a learning experience where we recognized it wasn’t going to be the best film in the world,” said Walsh of their past projects. “It was something to start with. We didn’t go into filmmaking thinking we were going to be the next Spielbergs or the greatest directors ever. We’re just taking it one step at a time and slowly gaining knowledge.”

A cast of five worked through five days of filming to shoot Shutterflies, including Christian Borle, who won a Tony for his role in the Star Catcher and starred on the NBC show Smash.

“We sent him the script in hopes that he would give us input on it,” recalled Muhlstock. “And it turned out he really loved it and wanted to play an important role in it.”

“It really took our production to the next level,” he continued. “We used to just use our friends as actors, so to have a Tony Award winning actor – it was crazy.”

Muhlstock and Walsh, high school juniors, both have aspirations to continue filmmaking in their studies and in their professional lives.

But for the time being, the two directors have submitted their film to ten festivals nationwide, and are hopeful of attracting a wider audience for the production. But having relied on local support in the venture, they’re planning a special screening at the Ridgewood movie theater Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the show are $7 and can be purchased at the door.

The screening will feature discussion from the cast and a behind-the-scenes look at the process of putting together the movie.