Local filmmaker Kane Kettering moved to Columbus in 2016 to pursue an education with the Georgia Film Academy (GFA) program at Columbus State University. He remained in the area after completing his certification, earning his bachelor’s degree and then his master’s.
Kettering said that his first job in the film industry came through a screenwriting internship that he held in undergrad, working with local director and producer Ty Manns. Over the summer, he traveled to Arkansas to work as a production assistant on a film that he’d helped to write. He quickly became the manager of the locations department.
“That was kind of a real flip,” said Kettering. “My first film job, I was managing a department, and I was telling people what to do. And I would constantly be asking producers, ‘What do I do?’”
Kettering said that it was an incredible experience. He has since returned to Columbus and makes local independent films through his production company, MetaModern Films.
One of these films was Project Lazarus, which received a $5,000 grant from the Columbus Local Filmmakers Grant Program in 2024. Kettering said that receiving this grant allowed his production team to film with a much higher budget than they were used to, which also helped them to establish the credibility needed to secure other funds for the project.
“The local community is so open and willing, and the arts community here is so strong, too, and prevalent,” Kettering added. “So, there’s just a want and desire for film to happen here.”
The team spent roughly $8,000 in Muscogee County and hired local crew, which was primarily CSU students. For Kettering, being able to compensate people for their work carries real meaning.
“Being able to pay people, something like that, is empowering for them too,” he said. “It makes it a real thing, a real job, and it legitimizes everything everyone’s doing in a really cool way.”
Project Lazarus has elements of comedy, suspense and thriller, according to Kettering. It is set in Nowhere, Ga., on Christmas Eve, where the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are working as detectives to solve the murder of Santa Claus.
The film had a very long post-production cycle because it featured all in-house music recorded by a local musician. Updates on the project will be posted to MetaModern Films’ Instagram accounts, including details on festival selections, nominations and wins.
Another film produced by the production company is Everybody Eats! The short film was released last year, and Kettering describes it as a “weird, experimental film” that doesn’t follow a coherent story, with about four lines of dialogue and surreal elements. The project is currently available on YouTube following its festival run, where it received several awards and nominations in multiple categories.
“It’s horror in nature and not really funny at all,” Kettering added. “But it’s very interesting and cool.”
Kettering says one benefit of doing projects in Columbus is the community’s support. Before moving to the area, he handled location management for various films in Atlanta, mentioning that considerations such as traffic and the needs of businesses make filming in the capital city challenging.
“There’s a confluence of things here in Columbus that aren’t in other cities,” he added. “The beautiful locations and the buildings, the landscape. You have different sorts of environments. […] You have the country, you have the river, you have everything here.”
Another benefit to filmmaking in Columbus is that there’s money in the city, and people here are willing to put it towards films. He added that businesses are willing to help filmmakers and artists make things happen for their projects as well, and there’s a plethora of local talent available.
Kettering is currently working on his next project through MetaModern Films, which is slated to begin shooting sometime in May or June of this year. He describes it as a futuristic, dystopian American society that’s post-government and primarily corporate-owned, set in Columbus, GA.
“It’s really, really interesting and I’m super excited about it,” said Kettering. “I’m a real southern filmmaker. You know, I love telling films about the South. I feel like this is a neglected area that’s told in the arts.”
