At the foot of the Thurmond Dam last week, movie magic was once again being made in Augusta. The film is called The Observance, a psychological thriller brought to you by Beyond Casual Media, a local media company that has produced several films over the past half-decade. Their presence is a jolt of life into Georgia’s recovering filmmaking scene following the creative industry strikes of 2023.
The Observance is the fourth in a string of indie features made by collaborators, Robert Hollocks and Amy Rhinehart Bailey, preceded by Encounter (2021), Applewood (2022), and Mister Sleep (2024).
Co-writer and producer, Amy Rhinehart Bailey, herself an award-winning screenwriter, author, and humorist started Beyond Casual Media some 9 years ago as a continuation of the Beyond Casual Concepts, including the restaurant Rhinehart’s Oyster Bar (which has two locations in Augusta). Owing to her lifelong love of storytelling and community, she says the entertainment industry’s boom in Atlanta galvanized her to carve out room for Augusta to share some of the spotlight.
“To me, Augusta is the number one hub for hospitality,” she declares.
Film is the most collaborative artistic medium, and collaboration is a hallmark of Beyond Casual.
As a stalwart, her passion for moviemaking is her sense of “building families” on a movie set, a sentiment shared by those who don’t hesitate to work with her again. This film will feature a cast familiar to audiences who have seen their recent flicks: Kate Dailey, Ashley Terpstra, and Bronsonn Taylor (just to name a few).
Aside from the repertory company, members of the below-the-line crew are also Beyond Casual alumni, some of whom had never worked on a film set and trained as they went along. One of these crew members, the script supervisor, Lindsey, was a criminal justice major at the University of Georgia. Her involvement in film ignited her current aspiration to become an entertainment attorney.
Director Robert Hollocks has a storied career in movies, which includes many years working on documentaries and classic movie re-releases in his native England, then as Vice President of International Marketing & Creative at Paramount Pictures for 13 years. His vision and creative passion are palpable (as are his love of Alfred Hitchcock and Christopher Nolan movies), as he possesses himself with verve and a joy for the process that is contagious.
“One of the reasons I like shooting here in Augusta particularly is because the people here are great, they’re welcoming and very happy to help us,” he says. “They’re interested in what we’re doing. Places like Los Angeles are hard to film in these days — it’s expensive, it’s time-consuming, and people can be very jaded and cynical there. Here, people have a passion for moviemaking. 90% of the cast and crew are local either to Augusta or to Georgia.”
Robert and Amy met seven years ago while working on The Encounter, and immediately hit it off. Amy recalls long phone calls that began as business and led to questions like, “Want to write a mummy movie?”
“She’s like James Garner in The Great Escape,” Robert says of his collaborator. “Whatever you need, she makes it appear.”
So, what is this new film about? The director claims, ecstatically, that it is the largest project Beyond Casual has embarked upon.
The Observance tells the story of a woman who is put into a coma after a car accident. When she awakens, she discovers that her husband and daughter have joined a cult. She re-enters the world as an outsider and must get to the bottom of what they are doing, and what led her family there.
The growing momentum of Beyond Casual features has landed a lead actor familiar to fans of the horror/thriller genre, but one who himself is unfamiliar with Augusta: Ted Raimi.
Raimi comes from a self-made Hollywood family. He is the brother of Sam, director of the Evil Dead films and Spider-Man franchise from the early 2000’s, and of Ivan, a medical physician and screenwriter who wrote 1990’s Darkman. Ted has over 100 acting credits (including collaborations with his brothers). This marked Ted Raimi’s first visit to Augusta, a city that has impressed the journeyman actor. The last time he was in Georgia was filming the series Creepshow for Shudder. What led him here?
“It’s a good, solid script,” Raimi said. “A thriller-drama with some supernatural elements in it. That appealed to me because I either do these very high-octane horror movies or, when I’m lucky enough to get them, big, A-list superhero movies. It was very attractive to me to get into a regular costume with good dialogue…It sounded like a nice movie to make. It’s turned out to be that way, so I chose well.”
Raimi’s character in the film is described by the director as “the good guy.” The actor elaborates on the role:
“He’s a reasonably successful real estate lawyer living in Augusta who has befriended this young woman in an accident. He’s now helping her after waking up to reclaim her property after these strange mysterious people have taken it from her.”
Raimi found resonance in the script in the horror of losing one’s home, one that he describes as a “real, lifelong fear.”
The Observance is in its third week of shooting, and the filmmakers are aiming for a fall 2024 completion before seeking distribution. Like all projects with Beyond Casual, it will be a product of willful participation and teamwork, made in Augusta.
Dylan James graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design with a BFA in Dramatic Writing. He has studied both the ‘show’ and ‘business’ aspects of show business since childhood, and writes through sociological analysis, seeking relevance in the art and commerce for the moment.
