The directors behind ‘The Gallows’ return with new movie shot in Fresno. Here’s how to see it

As pitch meetings go, it was pretty un-Hollywood, the way Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff came across with their latest movie project, “Held.”

It was really just Lofing being neighborly, introducing himself to the woman walking her dog outside of his Clovis home, which happens to double as the offices for Tremendum Pictures, the production company behind the 2015 indie horror hit “The Gallows.”

The woman was Jill Awbrey, an actress from Clovis living in L.A. who was in town visiting family. She happened to be writing a script for a film about a couple trying to reinvigorate their marriage with an Airbnb-style vacation at a high-end automated smart home. Spoiler alert: Things don’t go well.

That initial conversation led Lofing and Cluff to take a chance on Awbrey and jump on board to produce and direct the film, which was shot in the summer of 2019 at various locations in and around Fresno, including a home in old Fig Garden.

The opening scene was filmed outside the old Elder’s Mini Mart in Caruthers, with the blessing of Pat Elder, whose husband once drove a stunt car in a Steve McQueen movie. The pair mention the fact not because it’s relevant to their movie at all, but because it’s the kind of happy and odd connections that happen when making films in Fresno.

“It’s still magical up here,” says Lofing, who first came to Fresno to shoot his film school thesis because it was cheaper than shooting in Southern California. He met Cluff working on that project.

“Held” is the first movie the pair has directed since “the Gallows” sequel, which was released in 2019.

It has already been picked up by Magnet, the horror-film distribution arm of Magnolia Pictures and will be released in theaters (including Maya Cinemas at Campus Pointe) and across on-demand and streaming platforms (including Xfinity) April 9.

As of Tuesday, movie theaters in Fresno County can reopen at up to 25% of capacity, or 100 people, whichever is fewer.

“It goes to show what can be pulled off in Fresno,” Cluff says.

He should know. “The Gallows,” was shot almost exclusively in Fresno, made for just $100,000 and became the least expensive movie in history to go straight to a worldwide theatrical release. It opened on 2,700 screens and grossed $43 million at the box office.

Of course, digital media, the rise of streaming services and the last year of the coronavirus have changed the way that films get made. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have picked up some of the slack as traditional movie studios pare down productions. But even they are banking on major names to drive audience and opting to produce their own movies, rather than take chances on outside content.

But a good story told well can still break through, Lofing says.

“There’s still a place for these kinds of movies.”

Podcast and ‘Deacon Jones’ series

Of course, the pair are keeping themselves busy with more than just films.

There’s a podcast in the works. Called “Unlikely Story” that will feature Lofing and Cluff chatting with other industry types who’ve had similarly unique success stories.

They have also filmed and are editing several episodes of “Be Brave with Vela,” a video series for children hosted by Cluff’s daughter.

They are currently in pre-production on the pilot episode for an action comedy series called “Deacon Jones.” The series follows the life of Deacon Jones, a centuries-old being trapped in the body of a 12-year old boy. It is conceived as a limited-run series with a possible graphic novel tie-in.

Filming is expected to begin in and around Fresno in mid-May.

The hope is to sell someone on the series; maybe Netflix or one of the other streaming platforms. If not, Tremendum could end up offering the series itself, directly to customers, Cluff says. That’s something that has becoming more viable in recent years.

“Things are new and changing. There’s a lot of power in the hands of the creators now,” he says.

“The little guys will have a chance to create some stuff that will go big.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.