When the Hallmark Channel premiered the movie “Christmas at Pemberley Manor” this past October, it was the most-viewed program on cable, pulling in more than 3.5 million audience members. A month later, Hallmark’s “Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane” also aired to high ratings, thanks in part to Synthetic Cinema International, the Connecticut production company that produced […]
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When the Hallmark Channel premiered the movie “Christmas at Pemberley Manor” this past October, it was the most-viewed program on cable, pulling in more than 3.5 million audience members.
A month later, Hallmark’s “Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane” also aired to high ratings, thanks in part to Synthetic Cinema International, the Connecticut production company that produced both movies.
Led by co-founder and producer Andrew Gernhard, Synthetic Cinema got its start in 2004 when Gernhard and another writer penned “Hell’s Beacon,” a horror flick about an alien who crash-lands on an island and, as in any respectable slasher film, kills most everyone on it.
When the time came to source funding for the movie, Gernhard approached Richard Lucas, a professor he knew from Southern Connecticut State University, to see if he could help. After talking it over with his wife, Lucas gave Gernhard his answer.
“He came back and said, ‘I think we can get this funded, but we’re going to fund it. And I don’t want to do one movie, I want to start a company,’ ” said Gernhard. “And we started Synthetic Cinema from there.”
In the 15 years since, the Wethersfield-based company has been involved in the making of dozens of films, starting with horror, but more recently producing a spate of popular holiday movies for the Lifetime and Hallmark Channels – all of them filmed in Connecticut.
Gernhard, who grew up in Norwich, said that the state is a great place to make movies for any number of reasons, including the state’s tax incentives, tremendous local support, and the diverse array of locations to choose from.
“You’ve got Mystic, you’ve got New Haven, Hartford, Bridgeport … and what I like about Connecticut is that it’s almost a puzzle of neighborhoods that are completely different, but somehow work together.”
It’s a symbiotic relationship because while Gernhard benefits, local actors, employees, and communities, arguably benefit more.
“When you add it up, we probably employ 100 to 150 people per movie,” he said. “And all of our locations get location fees, they get extensive clean up, and then we rent 35 to 45 hotel rooms for a month, which is huge, especially when hotels are dead in January and February. Typically, a catering company and snack company come in, and we’re feeding these 100 people for 18 days. Then all of our people who come into the state, who are working on our films, they spend money in the communities; it’s 65 to 100 people going out to bars, to restaurants.”
With several upcoming films – including Hallmark’s “Holiday for Heroes,” which was shot in locally last winter – and several more in development, Gernhard will likely be making movies in Connecticut for the foreseeable future.
“We’re just trying to make good movies,” he said, “and have a fun time doing it.”
Shadow | Vale Productions
After more than a decade of appearing in films and on television, successful actor David Gere decided to transition from appearing in front of the camera to working behind it. “When I was acting full-time, I was on some big, big blockbusters and it was intoxicating, exciting, but I wanted more. I wanted to understand how I could take the next step,” he said. And for the Cromwell native, that next step was film production.
“Filmmaking is the culmination of hundreds of people’s skills on one project and that is the fabric that really inspires me because you have to put it all together and make it work.”
In 2012, Gere drew on that inspiration to branch out and become more involved in the business end of moviemaking. “I realized that I really might have a good mind for producing, and started to produce some smaller, independent films,” he said. “I played them close to home in Cromwell, Middletown, realizing that I could get some help from friends and family and resources I had access to.”
Since then, Gere’s been involved with the production of more than 41 films, including seven feature films shot in Connecticut. “I really have a wonderful opportunity to bring some of these bigger projects back here, which is great for communities, great for local talent, great for the economy,” he said.
Among his recent Connecticut-based films are “The Find,” a horror film shot in Chester, “My Adventures With Santa,” a holiday movie filmed in Cromwell and Meriden, starring Denise Richards, and “CREDIBLE,” a documentary on ECW World Heavyweight Champion PJ Polaco.
Last year, Gere along with producer and partner, Chelsea Vale, formed the production company, Shadow | Vale Productions, which has a variety of projects in development, along with the film “Avery’s Sin,” a psychological thriller that begins production later this summer.
“I’m very proud of being one of the people at the helm of the movement to bring film and different elements of multimedia to Connecticut,” he said.
And going forward, he hopes that it only continues to build momentum.
“I want to continue to make great feature films, up the ante in terms of the scope, and really play some great projects to Connecticut and continue the longevity of that process for myself, for my company, and all the people I work with here.”
