HAVERSTICK FILMS HISTORY

MISS G started it all. In 1989 Mary Haverstick and Michele Mercure teamed up to produce this 9 minute short film which had very little dialogue but was shot on black and white 16mm film and was really a student film, without the school. Several other short films quickly followed as the team learned their craft...Mary as writer/director/cinematographer and Michele as location sound/sound designer and assistant camera. Michele was already an accomplished composer .

These short films included MOVINGSTILL a dance film created with the support of a PA Council on the Arts grant, A WOMAN IN THERAPY a documentary spoof and LANCASTER COUNTY 2020 a half hour black comedy about Lancaster's future. All of these screened locally and aired on regional PBS. LANCASTER COUNTY 2020 was featured in the U.S. Environmental Film festival in 1990.

These short films were really preparation for tackling a feature film and the pair did so in 1990. SHADES OF BLACK ('93) is a low-budget psychological drama that was done on a shoestring by a band of volunteers all of whom were learning their craft. It starred two non-union actresses Jennifer MacDonald and Trisha McCormick.

"Mary Haverstick's SHADES OF BLACK is an exceptionally impressive debut feature!" proclaimed none other than the L.A. Times. SHADES received a small but coveted U.S. theatrical release with HEADLINER RELEASING and was picked up for international distribution by PICTURE THIS! under the title MASK OF DESIRE. SHADES also hit the international film festival circuit screening at such festivals as RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL in London, the SAN JUAN CINEMAFEST, the LOS ANGELES GAY AND LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL as well as festivals in Ireland, Australia, and Hong Kong among others. WATERBEARER FILMS picked up the U.S. home video rights and the film can be rented at many BLOCKBUSTERS and TOWER RECORDS and is available on AMAZON.COM.

CHRISTMAS DINNER ('96) is the second feature film from Haverstick Films and Mary considers it her finest dramatic work to date. It tells two interwoven stories, that of a white upscale family at their holiday dinner, and the story of a black woman in the inner city who has reinvented Santa Claus. Like SHADES, CHRISTMAS DINNER was also produced on a shoestring with non-union talent, but the team was gaining technical knowledge and expertise and that is reflected in this production. CHRISTMAS DINNER screened to packed houses in Pennsylvania and made it's world premiere at the BROOKLYN FILM FESTIVAL in NYC. It also screened at CANYONLAND FILM FESTIVAL in Utah and had an industry only screening at the ANGELICA THEATER as a part of the IFFM in 1997.

Immediately as CHRISTMAS DINNER was becoming visible in the industry Mary needed not to be in order to care for her parents in their final phase of life. Instead of features HAVERSTICK FILMS began to focus on jobs that were shorter term and closer to home and extensive commercial and commissioned works were created. HAVERSTICK FILMS broke into national level television broadcast commercials with such high profile clients as TURKEY HILL and YARNELL'S ICE CREAM ('00). Also there were numerous long form videos created for non-profit organizations and our videos helped raise the funding for important community landmarks such as HACC LANCASTER, BRIGHTSIDE OPPORTUNITIES CENTER, and the upcoming STEVENS AND SMITH MUSEUM.

We also created numerous commissioned documentaries in several genre's. DAVID BRUMBACH: LILIES AND OTHER VISIONS was a biographical film about one of Lancaster's most outstanding artists and FLORENCE STARR TAYLOR: WHATEVER SHE SAW was another artist bio with a historical slant. ELZABETHTOWN:A DIAMOND FROM DONEGAL was a history doc that took us to Ireland and STEVEN'S AND SMITH: BRIDGING THE RACIAL DIVIDE tells an important story of Thaddeus Stevens and abolitionism. ALONG THE WAY: A WOMAN'S JOURNEY is a unique documentary created for Women's Expressions and takes an interesting look at the arc of a woman's lifetime. All of these documentaries aired on regional PBS as well as numerous festivals.

In 2005 HAVERTICK FILMS returned to a focus on feature length production. PARADISE PENNSYLVANIA is a documentary about Lancaster's growth and it began filming in 2005. It is a broad scope long form documentary that will be several years in the making and tackles the sprawling issue of urban sprawl which is not only affecting our beautiful Lancaster area but much of the coastal U.S.

Our flagship production is HOME a narrative feature written and directed by Mary which just wrapped filming in Lancaster in summer of 2006. HOME stars ACADEMY AWARD® WINNING ACTRESS MARCIA GAY HARDEN in the lead role and also features Marcia's daughter EULALA SCHEEL in the co-lead as will as TONY AWARD® WINNER MARIAN SELDES and MICHAEL GASTON in supporting roles. Look for this project to premiere in early 2007.