The first film Zeke Fairley can remember sparking any interest was “Star Wars,” which their parents introduced them to at age five.
However, Fairley states that his initial reaction was “more like, oh, “Star Wars” is cool” than sparking an interest in filmmaking. However, at 14, that spark ignited when they watched Wes Anderson’s coming-of-age film, “Rushmore.”
“It was about someone who I could relate to, and the music in it was all music that I loved,” said Fairley. “[It was] a facet of something I could control in a movie. It made sense to me.”
Now, as a senior at Clark University, Fairley is double majoring in screen studies and history.
“I always had something kind of like ‘I want to make movies,’” said Fairley. “But I didn’t even come to school for filmmaking. I came mostly for history and then was just like, oh, I’ve been kind of ignoring this for a while, I should just do it.”
They are also a co-founder of Yonic Productions, a small film company started by Clark Screen Studies majors started during the summer of 2022. The company was created after Fairley worked on several student films, including “Long Play” and “Ask the Birds,” with now-graduates Gyani Pradhan Wong Ah-Sui, Abby Rhodes, and Nicole Overbaugh.
“We were at a diner in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and we started talking loosely about how to maybe get all of our works under a name,” said Overbaugh. “And it ended up blowing up to be this thing where we’re looking to create positive atmospheres for students who want to get into filmmaking but don’t know where to start.”
Yonic Production’s latest project has been producing Fairley’s senior thesis film, “From the Cabin.” Fairley said that the idea for the film first popped into their head when they were doodling in class their sophomore year. The doodles grew into more concrete ideas a year later, in the Spring of 2023, in Professor Gohar Siddiqui’s Indian national cinema class, where Fairley first drew the protagonist’s desk.
“I knew that there was gonna be a big studio in the new building,” Clark University’s Center for Media Arts, Computing and Design, also known as CMACD. “So I was thinking of what things I could do in there,” said Fairley. “One idea that just came along was building a log cabin or some kind of structure that you could see the entire thing in the studio.”
The building opened in the fall of 2023, two years after Fairley’s first idea. CMACD “creates new opportunities for collaboration by students and faculty from across the university in teaching, research, and innovation,” according to the university’s website.
The film’s previous working title, “Cabin Boy,” was a nod to Adam Resnick’s 1994 film of the same name, which Fairley said was “An all-out kind of thing, and it’s a failure like it’s known as a stamp on Chris Elliott’s (the leading actor of the film) career.”
Fairley’s film, now titled “From the Cabin,” follows the main character, Dylan (played by actor Quinn Fay), as he ponders committing an act of terrorism. Alone in his cabin in the woods, with nothing but a bed, desk, computer, some books, a portable heater, and a bomb wired to explode when and if Dylan decides to detonate it.
“I’ve been interested in violent people, especially through my history research,” said Fairley. “Like looking at why people do what they do and if there’s a reason… but then I was also thinking like at this day and age, you can’t really be off the grid, or at least I can’t. I wouldn’t be able to see someone who is like fully off the grid.”
They started asking questions, “How does it work when there’s someone completely cut off from society aside from the internet? Like what would happen?” Fairley said.
Fairley described that they felt this way during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So my first idea was set during COVID, like while all these events are canceled, there’s nothing for a terrorist or would-be terrorist to explode,” said Fairley.
Writing the script proved to be a big challenge for Fairley. “I’m kind of allergic to like plot being a major driving factor or like I also felt kind of uncomfortable with writing big speeches and stuff,” they said.
They described thinking about the main character living in his cabin with a bomb and gradually concluding that he overreacted. But as they started writing, they felt less connected to this idea. So, they switched the story to one where the main character connects with another person after years of self-imposed isolation.
“I think the fact that it was self-imposed made it feel a bit more gratifying of a story,” said Fairley.
A supporting character, Jay (played by Jimmy Jackson), in the film is partially inspired by James Murrell, a sculpture professor at Clark. “I heard that it’s an inspiration because I used to be a mail courier,” said Murrell. “It’s humbling… that’s hard to digest, inspiration.”
When Murrell worked as a mailman, he used to photograph people while on the job, which piqued Fairley’s interest for a supporting character.
“At first, it was a mailman, now the character is a pizza delivery guy, but someone on the job who’s actively observing someone going through this kind of violent questioning of self,” said Fairley.
“From the Cabin” was shot in two locations: Vermont, where the crew and core cast during Clark’s winter break to film the outside scenes, and the studio in CMACD, where all the inside shots were filmed. The shoot spanned over ten days—not including test days—making the film one of Yonic Production’s longest shoots.
“It depends on the scene, but it took a lot longer than I thought,” said Grace Bramer, a Production assistant on set for a day. “There were a few words, or just like a simple action, but we took two hours to finish the scene.”
Alongside Yonic Production members and Bramer, many other people worked on the film. Fairley said that on average, at least ten people were on set every day. The largest number of people on set on a day, Fairley estimates, was 15.
Overbaugh, Line Producer and Assistant Director, described working with Fairley as a director as a new but amazing experience. Previously, Fairley had acted in Overbaugh’s thesis film.
“It was fun to kind of switch the roles and see them in charge. And it was really cool to watch them grow through the production process,” said Overbaugh. “It was beautiful to watch them gain some more confidence in themselves and adapt. And it was a very, very positive experience, and it was nice to see them take charge.”
While describing the challenge of shooting in Vermont, Fairley laughed and said,
“Yeah, along with the cold and our malfunctioning all-terrain vehicle. Oh, and a propane tank explosion on the first [day].”
As a gift for letting them use the cabin, Fairley and their team got the cabin owner a gas heater. On the first morning of shooting, Overbaugh and Fairley’s father went to retrieve the propane tank for the heater.
“Myself and our set coordinator (Fairley’s father) almost burnt down the set via a mishap with our gas heater, and then our only source of transportation broke down on our way up to the cabin after we nearly burned it down,” said Overbaugh.
Failey described that their father poured the gas into the igniter but failed to wipe it off properly. “So then a big fireball,” said Fairley.
Fairley assured that no one was hurt, as their father threw it in the snow shortly after it burst into flames, but crew members were spooked.
“So, already, we’re three hours behind schedule, and we only have three or four days to get everything we need in Vermont. So, it was intense, without a doubt,” said Overbaugh. “There were some moments where both Zeke and I were like, oh, I don’t know how we’re going to pivot this, but we managed to pull it all together.”
Despite the chaos, Overbaugh said Fairley handled the situation with grace and that the rest of the days in Vermont went well. “It’s always bizarre to me to see a production go from a hundred to zero. It’s like the panic fuels the solution, and it all ends up working out eventually,” said Overbaugh.
“From the Cabin” will premiere in Traina Center’s Razzo Hall on April 29th at 7 p.m., along with other thesis films, including Angel Rojas’s Casual.
After graduation, Fairley plans to stay in Worcester. They hope to get a full-time job and save up for future projects and a camera. As for future films, Fairley said, “I just came up with an idea of a monster who’s looking for a job, so you can look out for that one coming soon.”
