First-time film producer Patricia Carpenter approaches her craft like few of her Hollywood peers.
Not only is Carpenter invested solely in wholesome entertainment, she isn’t interested in stretching herself thin financially to fund her art.
“I don’t owe anybody a penny. My bills are all paid,” Carpenter tells Breitbart News.
Her first feature film, Red Wing, boasts a cast many bigger budgeted films wouldn’t mind having. The movie, featuring Bill Paxton, Luke Perry and Justified star Joelle Carter, tells the story of an orphan boy in a small Texas town who retains his sense of honor despite the ill intentions of others.
Carpenter has worked in the arts all her life, but only when she became a mom did she realize firsthand the problems parents face regarding suitable entertainment content.
Even if she didn’t permit certain films and television shows in her house, chances are the children might see them elsewhere. And just trying policing the hundreds of channels now available to the average cable customer. It’s one reason she created Integrity Film Productions, a studio dedicated to making movies parents won’t mind showing the entire family.
Carpenter, a former dancer who once toured Europe, had the full support of her husband.
“I’ve got to show somebody we can do good things,” she says.
The first time she picked up the script for Red Wing, loosely based on an 1800s era French novel, the material didn’t speak to her. It screamed, she recalls. The neophyte producer spent every moment possible on the set once production began, staying up to 2 a.m. sometimes to help in any way she could.
“I’m a ‘get in there’ kinda girl,” she says.
It’s worth the effort since the film industry, to her eyes, isn’t what it used to be.
“I do feel like Hollywood has gotten away from telling a wonderful, simple, authentic teaching story,” she says. “We need to reaffirm solid views, faith, integrity and love.”
She may lack film experience, but she says being a parent gave her a skill set that allowed her to segue into such a competitive industry.
“I’m not afraid of people because of what I’ve gone through … when you do one thing well, it builds your confidence,” she says.
Carpenter is already looking ahead to future film projects, including one she is writing herself. It’s a tale of a young woman who nearly dies and is “divinely preserved” before embarking on “amazing adventures.”
For now, she’s satisfied to do what she’s always done–sharing her passion for storytelling with others.
“I’ve always loved trying to take someone to a different place [through the arts],” she says. “While they’re in that place helping them solve something or understanding something about themselves.”
Red Wing opens in theaters nation wide Oct. 4.