Filmmaking in The Roaring Fork Valley is a rising artistic medium. Narrative, documentary and avant-garde type films are being made as local creators have been working on fleshing out original short and feature-length stories often centric to Colorado.
Graham Northrup and Laurie Clemens Maier are visionary creators, both local to the Valley. In tandem with being an award-winning filmmaker, Maier is a producer and writer. Northrup is an acting coach, director, photographer and head of operations for Northrup Studios. Both are dedicated to creating films that are shot locally and have as much local involvement as possible.
“From a very early age, I loved watching ‘Movie Magic.’ The making of films, seen behind the scenes, and thinking, ‘Wow, that’s so cool.’ I’ve always been fascinated with that,” Northrup shared with The Sopris Sun.
He originally went to school for filmmaking but later switched to theater, a trade he’s worked for 25 years. He dabbled in film throughout this career, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, when theaters were closed, he thought to himself, now is a great time to start making films.
Northrup Studios released “Stand Up!” in the film festival circuit earlier this year and screened the film at the Isis Theatre in Aspen on Oct. 16. This comedic coming-of-age drama, filmed locally, took home multiple awards, including Best Short at the Castle Rock Film Festival, Best Narrative Short at the Beyond the Curve International Film Festival and People’s Choice at the Grand Mesa Short Film Festival.
Maier was a co-producer on the film. She explained she was drawn to the industry while working as an actress on the Front Range where she grew up. She began writing short stories, scripts and features, which aligned with a passion for storytelling.
“Once you start writing and you’ve got some passion with the characters in the story, you run with that,” she said.
Maier recently submitted her film “On Top of Me” to four different film festivals: Worldwide Women’s Film Festival, Oniros Film Fest, San Diego Independent Cinema Awards and California International Shorts Festival.
She is also working on her latest project, “The Dude is Legit,” a narrative sports comedy based on real-life events involving her brother.
“This is my brother’s story. He was a pitcher in high school and got a scholarship to play at CSU [Colorado State University], but, unfortunately, he tore up his shoulder and could no longer play,” Maier shared. But, “It’s [also] a fun script with a lot of humor and involves the baseball gods.”
Maier and Northrup just wrapped up filming of a sci-fi short thriller titled “Gift.” The film tells the story of a young man named Liam and his little sister Kiersten who can heal people through touch, and how an oppressive warlord in a post-apocalyptic landscape is looking to use her power for his regime’s gain. It’s anticipated to enter the film festival circuit in early 2024.
“It’s a self-contained film, setting the stage for a larger story. You’ll be left wondering,‘What’s next?’” Northrup explained.
“Being a Colorado filmmaker born and bred. I always think of Colorado as mountainous and rugged,” he continued. “So that’s very much part of an ethos, but I always said I’d try to set my films here in the mountains.”
In addition to being shot in the area, two locals star as the main characters. Jessica Vesey, a senior at Aspen High School, plays Kiersten, and Elijah Pettet plays the lead role of Liam.
“Graham and I have larger things we want to say. With ‘Gift,’ it’s that the world is wounded, and we ask ourselves how we can make a better world,” Maier expressed. “A lot of things that we talk about in the writing of our films are timeless themes, and I think that is appealing to a wide audience.”
“Gift” recently underwent a crowdfunding campaign and is set to start filming Nov. 16-19. When discussing the crowdfunding efforts, Northrup said that those who donate to the film contribute to a community asset.
“When I was speaking to my friend … and told him I was raising money, he said, ‘Yeah, you’re not raising money, you’re helping convince people to invest in a community asset.’ Local filmmaking is not only an asset but also a community within itself.”
For updates on both creators’ upcoming projects or to get involved, visit www.northrupstudios.com and www.laurieclemensmaier.com, or check out both creators on Instagram and Facebook at
@northrupstudios and @laurieclemensmaier.