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SARAH SHADBURNE
A&F Assistant Editor
sshadbur@unca.edu
Ryan DuVal, a freelance software
engineer and film lover from Michi
gan, always recalled feeling a tinge of
creative pain when he saw a movie he
loved knowing he did not make it.
“It started as an FAQ — which is
what the homepage is —and I wanted
to combine my new interest in film-
making with my background as a soft
ware engineer and just make it because
I could, basically. The whole purpose
is to be valuable as a resource to the
community,” DuVal said.
avlfilm.com serves as an encyclope
dia for locals searching for nearly any
thing film related, from finding equip
ment rentals to actors as well as local
movie theaters and festivals.
“I had these questions about if I
wanted to go out and make a short film
or feature film, how would you do it?”
DuVal said. “I like to take notice of
when there’s a void that can be filled.”
Visitors on the website can contin
ually add and update information and
actors and producers can list theni"-
selves and job opportunities on proj
ects for five dollars.
“The only reason I even have a pay-
wall is to filter out people who aren’t
serious and to account for my time that
goes into the site,” DuVal said. “Five
bucks isn’t much but it’s enough to
probably stop someone.”
DuVal began his filmmaking jour
ney a little over a year ago when he
took part in the 48 Hour Film Project,
a hectic weekend in which participants
work together in small teams writing,
shooting and editing their own short
films.
“From that I found out about the'
Asheville School of Film and took
classes there,” DuVal said. “By De
cember, I had written and directed a
short film through the school.”
Through his immersion in the local
filmmaking community, his new col-
mi
leagues became friends and helped
point him in the right directions for
stockpiling the information needed for
the site .
Cat Wityk, a local actress, filmmak
er and co-founder of the Cat Fly Film
Festival, met DuVal through the Ashe
ville School of Film when she booked
a role in a short film DuVal was work
ing on.
“We did the 48 Hour Film Project to
gether,” Wityk said. “My crew friends
and him, we all just started working
on a lot of short films together and be
came a cohesive friend group.”
Wityk got DuVal in touch with her
agent at Screen Artists Talent who then
gave Duval a list of actors he could use
for his online database.
“It’s searchable by hair color, eye
color, height, weight,” Wityk said.
“It’s really cool and it’s great for actors
like me to get more work.”
Wityk also suggested other things
for DuVal to list such as studios, agen
cies in the region and the future possi
bility of putting voice-over actors on
the site as well.
“Not only is it a good resource for
people who are new to town or don’t
know much about Asheville,” Wityk
said, “but it’s useful to people who’ve
been here already but are just starting
to look into film.”
Since graduating from UNC Ashe
ville in 2016, Wityk said she has be
come incredibly well connected in the
community simply because she’s open
to it.
“This town is full of really nice peo
ple and everybody is so into indie film
as an art,” Wityk said. “Most people I
come across are totally fine with doing
free work or lending out equipment
just because they love film and want
to support it.”
Charlotte Taylor, an instructor of
film at Blue Ridge Community Col
lege and president of Mechanical Eye
Microcinema, sees involvement with
CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
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Ryan DuVal is the creator of avlfiim.com, an encyclopedia for locals searching
for anything related to film.