FILMMAKER
Ladon’s World Atlanta filmmaker wants you to feel what her characters feel By Mi chae l J . Pa l l e r i no
Photo by Aiva Genys
With a little acting, directing, screenwriting, and producing on her ever-expanding resumé, Whitmire is the kind of filmmaker the Georgia
Stickz Greenz
entertainment industry needs right now.
Ladon Whitmire
Cast members
W hen Ladon Whitmire was looking for places to film her latest movie about a recent college graduate trying to recharge her senses at her aunt’s lake house, she needed to find a setting that could visually portray the dark, tempestuous vision she had for her story. Temptation. Forbidden love. Deception. Murder. If you are going to tell a girl meets boy story, why not go for it? Why not give the audience what they want, while keeping them twisting and turning and careening off every plot twist? ALEXANDER is not your typical love story. Plotlines and twists reference everything from the bible (the lead character, Megan, receives an apple as a housewarming gift from a mysterious stranger, Alexander), to Dracula (Alexander is a Vlad Țepeș’s figure with real vampire- like appeal) and The Shining (sorry, you have to see the movie). Whitmire wrote the dark, eerily coincidental movie in just two days. When the idea of Alexander danced across her subconscious, the story flew out. “Alexander is kind of like the character from Dracula — handsome, mysterious, and mesmerizing,” Whitmire says. “He was a lot of fun to write.” With a little acting, directing, screenwriting, and producing on her ever-expanding resumé, Whitmire
is the kind of filmmaker the Georgia entertainment industry needs right now. Born in Iran, Whitmire moved to Atlanta with her family at age 5. Attending both Harvard University and Oglethorpe University, she graduated with degrees in Business Marketing and French. Her first love was fashion, as the enterprising career of a budding stylistic icon spun her around the country. She eventually landed back in Atlanta to chase what she says is the entrepreneurial spirit that has always been buried inside of her. She ended up launching her own jewelry line — One For You, One To Give — which donates a portion of the proceeds to a number of charities, including Best Friends Animal Society. “When I concepted the jewelry line, I wanted to have it be something to remember me by,” Whitmire says. “The line is about spreading joy and kindness. I have always been a big giver.” Her entrepreneurial pursuits guided her toward the entertainment industry, where she wound up dabbling in the creative, production, and wardrobe sides of the business. Over her career, she has been involved in films like The Spare Room with Alicia Witt, Rock Paper Dead with Tatum O’Neil and Michael Madsen, and The Poison Rose with Morgan Freeman and John Travolta. A Night in Jail , with Michael
Madison, was featured in the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. A self-described multitasker, while working on ALEXANDER , Whitmire managed to find time to do post-production work with fellow collaborator Jane Spencer on South of Hope Street . The film, starring Judd Nelson, William Baldwin, and Michael Madsen, was shot on location in Switzerland. But it is on the script-shifting layered tale of ALEXANDER where all of Whitmire’s creative talents shine. Dabbling in a world of paranormal-like imagery and supernatural storytelling, the girl-meets-mysterious- boy tale is one that Whitmire is proud to stake as her own. “I don’t want anybody trying to change things in the script or on the set. I do it all by myself. The vision is mine. The stories that I tell come from life experiences — things that I have done or seen that can be expanded on. All writers will tell you that their stories have to have a little of their life stories in them. I like to have a little Ladon in everything I do.” As for the future, Whitmire says there are more stories rolling around in her subconscious — ones that will eventually make the transition from script to film. “I want to keep making movies, so I’m going to keep the momentum going.”
www.facebook.com/ladon.whitmire
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