Full service 35mm film production company
Fire Trial Films is a full-service boutique production company focused on 35mm that handles projects from pre-production to post and owns and maintains its own equipment, including a fleet of film cameras, vintage lenses and support, grip and lighting as well as 4K film scanning.
Past features include "Moon Garden" (2023), “Beyond White Space” (2018), “Discarnate” (2018) and “Finale” (2010).
JOHN MICHAEL ELFERS
It is with the heaviest hearts we say goodbye to Fire Trial Films co-founder and collaborator, John Michael Elfers, who passed away far too soon on November 7th, 2023 from a rare form of cancer. John was more than a filmmaking partner - he was family. Although his absence will never be filled, we will continue to honor his passion for cinema at Fire Trial Films. Elfers’ debut feature, “Finale” (2010), shot stylishly on Super 16mm and boasting all in-camera practical effects, played top genre festivals, won a slew of awards and was distributed around the world. Since then he had been a creative force on any project he was associated with - directing additional scenes for numerous pictures while producing others - always with an infectious energy, precision and brilliance that radiated on set. John Michael Elfers was a true artist through and through. We’ll miss him deeply.
RYAN STEVENS HARRIS
Ryan Stevens Harris is an award-winning filmmaker, editor, exhibited artist and co-founder of Fire Trial Films. Recently, Harris wrote and directed "Moon Garden", a lush dark fantasy odyssey shot on expired 35mm film stock with vintage lenses that won Best Feature in the "New Visions" section at the Sitges Film Festival along with numerous awards around the world. Nick Allen at Roger Ebert hailed the film as being "rife with hard-worn and graceful touches from a gifted filmmaker who is primed to share with us more of his dreams". "Moon Garden" was released in art-house theaters nationwide throughout 2023 and finished on many "Best-Of" lists by year's end.
Harris is also a decorated editor, having cut Peacock's "Those About to Die" which hit the Nielsen Streaming Top Ten in the US and peaked as the number one viewed show in over forty-five countries worldwide. He also edited and sound-designed the Lionsgate sci-fi blockbuster "Moonfall" (2022), as well as Netflix releases "2307: Winters' Dream" (2016), "Darc" (2018), and "The Hard Way" (2019). He also cut "Watchtower" (2019), which was nominated for two Emmys, and was an Additional Editor and Sound Designer on the war-epic "Midway" (2019), which was #1 at the Box Office upon its release with a coveted A-rating from CinemaScore.
WOLFGANG MEYER
Wolfgang Meyer is a cinema-warrior with a seventeen year devotion to feature filmmaking. NYU trained, he spent eight years directing, producing and crewing features and TV in New York, before descending upon LA, where he’s focused on cinematography. He’s lensed genre features with legends such as Tony Todd, James Duval, Michael Berryman, Angus Scrimm, Linea Quigley, Debbie Rochon, and Brinke Stevens while also tackling music videos written up by Rolling Stone, with such stars as Sting, Moby, LP, and Berlin. His latest feature, shot on Super 35mm, boasts absolutely stunning imagery and camera work. Give him coffee and cigarettes and he will outwork and outlast anyone.
KEVIN JAMES BARRY
Kevin James Barry has studied art independently since he was 13. While still in high-school he was accepted into the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts for painting, and soon after discovered a passion for filmmaking. He graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with honors, while simultaneously directing his award-winning first feature film “Serena and the RATTS”, which sold for distribution in North America and Japan. His second feature "Among Them" just released in North America, Japan, Germany, and the UK. Kevin has freelanced for over 10 years as DP, Camera-Op, 1st AC, Editor and VFX Compositor — applying his painter’s-eye to composition and framing, with prominent clients and talent such as Absolut, Estée Lauder, Clarins, ABC, Nerdist, Joss Whedon, Nikki Minaj, Robert RIchardson, Top Rank Boxing and The Briggs. Currently residing in Los Angeles, he continues impressing clients with his on-set precision and attention to detail, while developing his own upcoming features.