FABLED MOTION PICTURES

In 2005, Derrick Sims’ The Battle of Marks’ Mill was selected by IMAX to show before screenings of Ang Lee’s Ride With the Devil.  Sims, a 19-year-old university student at the time, served as director/editor/cinematographer/producer, and with his film’s newfound success, he decided it was time to create a proper film production company to operate under. With that, he and his wife Alaina co-founded Fabled Motion Pictures.


After the success of Marks’ Mill, Fabled concentrated its focus on producing films focused mainly on the American south. Their next film, 2006‘s One Night, was soon accepted into festivals around the U.S. Later that year, Derrick would work on his first feature, War Eagle, and soon Fabled Motion Pictures would jump into the world of feature filmmaking.


In 2007, Fabled Motion Pictures was asked to collaborate on the dramatic, family feature, The River Within. Directed by Zac Heath, whom Sims met on War Eagle, the film was released in theaters in the fall of 2009. River was distributed for American television and video worldwide by Cloud Ten Pictures.


A year later, FMP co-produced Late Bloomer, a feature comedy about the odd relationship between a guy and his friends and the one girl who stood between them all. A year later, Bloomer was picked up by Echelon Studios, and is now available on video.


In the two years following Late Bloomer, both founders became department heads of film and dance at Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts.


In 2010, FMP moved to Burbank, CA. Though the business is still based in Arkansas, FMP now works mostly in the Los Angeles area. In mid 2011, FMP co-produced their first European film, Making Light in Terezin. Terezin was filmed over a month in the Czech Republic as well as in NYC and Connecticut. The film screened in festivals around the world and is now available on iTunes and Amazon. In April 2015, it will begin playing on over 180 PBS stations around the United States.


In October 2011, Fabled Motion Pictures produced its first solo feature, Come Morning. The film brought on producer Andrea Cadelli as part of the FMP team. The film premiered October 21, 2012 at the Austin Film Festival. In February 2013, Come Morning won the Jury Award for Best Cinematography at the Oxford Film Festival. The film went on to play at White Sands International, Royal Film Festival, and won Best of Fest at the Charles B. Pierce Film Festival. Come Morning screened in select theaters beginning on November 20, 2013. Soon thereafter, it was acquired by Monarch Entertainment and released on Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital and On Demand in September 2014.


FMP went on to help produce Little Sparks, a six-part series about a dysfunctional peewee football team and their exponentially dysfunctional coach. The series was produced for Walmart Inc. and released in mid February 2015. After months of commercial work, the team returned to features with their production, The Perfect Host: A Southern Gothic Tale. Production spanned from March to April 2016.


In July 2016, FMP left the shores of the US for New Zealand. Since then, they’ve worked on projects with the New Zealand All Blacks, UCOL, The Billy Web Challenge, as well as small, independent projects. They’re recently wrapped post production on The Perfect Host: A Southern Gothic Tale and are currently prepping their next feature, The Vicar.