Dynamite Film Productions began as eight kids in a neighborhood in Troy, Mich., who loved to watch movies and decided to create some of their own, including MSU alumni Kevin McGrail and Tom Williams.
“We were just these neighborhood kids who played sports and watched movies together, and one day we just started making movies together,” McGrail said.
The crew originally formed the company in high school to fulfill a requirement for an online film competition McGrail entered, and after a brief hiatus in college, members joined back up in 2008 and got serious about filmmaking. They released their first short feature film, a western-style horror called “Blood on the Plain,” at the end of January.
Shot in Chicago, the movie involves a massacre at a high school dance and details the tragedy that follows.
The company’s marketing coordinator Angie Gaffney said the work puts an innovative twist on the concept of a horror film and gives other aspiring filmmakers a place to start.
“It’s a dynamic piece of what a feature film could be,” she said. “It’s a great example of what Chicago filmmakers are capable of.”
But McGrail said the company has no room for downtime. Dynamite also is coordinating with the Los Angeles-based Colored Films to create a film called “Sheet,” which tells the story of a young Albanian girl who comes to the U.S. and starts a new life. They hope to start casting this spring and eventually release the film in both the Metro Detroit and Lansing areas.
Although McGrail studied electrical engineering at MSU, he said the College of Engineering is what prepared him for the fast-paced world of filmmaking.
“Engineering teaches you to think in a certain way, both from a logical as well as an innovative mindset,” he said. “That’s all a producer does. I keep track of a million parts in this beast of a production. I can think on my feet and be innovative.”
Throughout the years of working and living together during their time at MSU, Williams said the close bond he and McGrail have shared has been the main contributing factor to their success.
“We have a really firm understanding of each other, and we know what we expect out of each other,” he said. “There’s no misunderstanding — everything’s out on the table.”
Despite the stability of his longtime friendship with McGrail, Williams admits to having a love-hate relationship with the stress of his career — but mostly love.
“I love that it’s a very upbeat industry,” he said. “The littlest things can cause chaos. It’s interesting to be part of a well-oiled machine, and it’s the excitement that I like the most.”
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