The True Don Quixote

The True Don Quixote

Arceneaux

Sub-Tidal

Sub-Tidal

Trust Bob

A Man Called Trouble

a·bout

/əˈbaʊt/
preposition

  1. At Neutral Ground Films, we’re here to tell great stories in whatever format fits them best. From feature films to episodic television to streaming series and branded content, in any genre, if there is a story to be told, we’re interested.
  2. Our team of award winning filmmakers is made up of Producers Jason A. Waggenspack and Sean J. Donnelly, and Writer/Director Jason D. Buch.
  3. We have been producing content together since NGF was founded in 2007 in the back of bar in mid-city NOLA.
  4. We take our name from the neutral ground, because we want to meet and bring together the top talent and the best projects to find the right fit and create something special.

neu·tral ground

n(y)o͞otrəl/ ground/
noun

  1. A median strip on a highway or boulevard, especially one planted with grass.
  2. A common area for groups to come together to discuss, collaborate, create.
  3. In 1837 the Daily Picayune named the area that separated the French Creoles (French Quarter) and the Anglo-Americans (Central Business District) as the “neutral ground”. Today it is better known as Canal Street.

team

Jason Waggenspack

A Baton Rouge native, Jason studied film in New York before graduating from the University of New Orleans. Professionally, he has worked his way up from the bottom, from location managing to directing TV pilots to producing feature films and helming The Ranch Film Studios. He started a development company called Neutral Ground Films in 2007 that has produced multiple shorts, feature films, television pilots, music videos, documentaries and iPhone Apps. In 2014 Jason founded The Ranch Film Studios in Chalmette, LA where he is titled the Head of Possibilities (CEO) and has played an integral part in landing some of the biggest films to hit the state of Louisiana.

As Executive Committee Board Member and Treasurer for the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association (LFEA), Jason played a crucial role in maintaining and stabilizing the film tax credit incentive program. Additionally, he is a board member of The Cool Cooperative, Creative Arts New Orleans, a graduate of Leadership St. Bernard, winner of the George Wood Memorial Award from the University of New Orleans and the 2018 Champions Award as an Ambassador of Tourism from the Lt. Governor.

Sean Donnelly

After working at various agencies and studios in Los Angeles, Sean made his way to New Orleans in 2010 where he met Waggenspack through a mutual friend. In 2011 he then partnered with Jason and Writer/Director Jason Buch to form Neutral Ground Films. Over several years in New Orleans, Sean would work on such films that include Ender’s Game, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jurassic World, Deepwater Horizon and Logan.

Since then, Sean has Produced the short films So, You’re Dating a Vampire for App stores, Subtidal for the world wide “Go Green” Competition, and music videos for Caddywhompus and Star & Dagger. Sean Produced Hate Crime, an indie feature winning multiple festival awards and the web series Arceneaux – Melpomene’s Song. Recently, Sean and Waggenspack produced the TV show Wizards on Wheels Getting Wasted – a show featuring Internationally known magicians and signature cocktails in New Orleans.

Jason Buch

Jason D. Buch is a writer and filmmaker who has been making movies based in Louisiana for the last 12 years. He is a graduate of the University of New Orleans Creative Writing Workshop, earning his MFA in 2008. He also holds a B.S. In Computer Science from the University of South Florida and worked for AT&T and IBM, before pursuing screenwriting. Drawing on a background as a software developer, Jason’s work explores the merging of technology and narrative as in his interactive video app So You’re Dating a Vampire. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University.

in development

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Arceneaux

Arceneaux

Web Series
ARCENEAUX is a serial web series that chronicles the investigations of Lonnie Arceneaux (Lance E. Nichols), an intelligent, meticulous, and determined homicide detective for the New Orleans PD. Told almost entirely through interviews with the family, witnesses, and suspects, it will show how one crime affects many people, letting their emotions provide the dramatic tension.
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Wizards On Wheels Getting Wasted

Wizards On Wheels Getting Wasted

Talk Show
Think, "Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee", except with magicians tasting signature cocktails! Hosted by New Orleans favorite comedy magician, Michael Dardant.
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Oubliette

Oubliette

Short
A prisoner struggles to make sense of his solitude. As the time ticks by, he must accept that either his wife and brother have betrayed him, or forgotten him.
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The Mirrored Room

The Mirrored Room

Feature Film
After moving into his new apartment, Frederick discovers a hidden room – a time machine – that when entered revolves 22 hours into the past and upon re-entry 22 hours into the future. Frederick discusses the mirrored room with his future self every morning, but one day his future self never shows up. Now he has 22 hours to find out what happened, along with his new girl Julie, who’s really in the most trouble of all.
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If Not in This Life

If Not in This Life

Feature Film
Iris Mora is troubled by visions of a life she has not lead. When the visions lead to blackouts and violence, she is given a choice – commit herself to an institution for scientific study or spend the rest of her life in prison. Dr. Bolden, the psychiatrist in charge of the institute, believes that Iris's visions are memories of a past life. When death comes to the institute, fingers are pointed, and Iris suspects that she may be responsible. Iris must find the truth about the killings and discover the hidden purpose of the institute before her past-life takes over completely.
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Damien Bright

Damien Bright

Feature Film
A grieving doctor is seduced by a mysterious woman with a dark, supernatural secret who may be responsible for a series of teenage deaths. The further Damien's investigation leads him, the stranger hid world becomes, until science and logic no longer provide the explanation he seeks and he finds himself caught in an eons old rivalry.
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Two Weeks In Haiti

Two Weeks In Haiti

Feature Film
Based on the true story of a broken hearted surgeon who goes to Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. Amidst the pain and devastation, she finds chaos and corruption, heroes and villains, and the best time of her life.
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A Short Walk Home

A Short Walk Home (Book)

Episodic Series
A heartfelt and inspirational memoir of a father raising and ultimately losing a child to the neurological disorder adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Exploring the full extent of ALD, David Cry and his wife Jaymee try to come to grips with the inevitable conclusion that their son will lose the battle.
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Nightmare Spa

Nightmare Spa

Episodic Series
NIGHTMARE SPA is a collection of fictional tales based on real stories by one of the most respected cosmetic surgeons in the US, Dr. Myron Persoff in South Florida. Nightmare Spa magnified the horrors of the early years of plastic surgery and the escalation of the craft by untrained doctors thanks to advertising strategies. Rather than choose a respected doctor with a good reputation, many went with a billboard doctor with a good marketing plan.

completed

The True Don Quixote

Feature Film

Directed by Chris Poche
Written by Chris Poche
Starring Tim Blake Nelson, Jacob Batalon and Ann Mahoney

Danny Kehoe is bored nearly to death. His only escape lies in the romantic tales of medieval Knights. But when his precious stories are taken away and he can no longer live in them – he has to live them out. Completely mad and believing himself to be the greatest knight in history, he sets out in his cardboard armor to find love and glory and to restore chivalry to the broken world. What could possibly go wrong?

The Lookalike

Feature Film

Directed by Richard Gray
Written by Michele Gray
Starring Justin Long, Jerry O’Connell, John Corbett and Scottie Thompson

Sadie’s death propels a former basketball champion, a deaf beauty, a drug addict, and an aspiring actress into an unlikely romance and a desperate quest to appease drug-lord William Spinks.

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So You’re Dating A Vampire

iPhone App

Directed by Jason D. Buch
Written by Jason D. Buch
Starring Taylor Roppolo, Garrett Hines and Ashton Leigh

Grace is a college girl getting ready for a date with Vincent, the eternal bad boy. He just might be the man of her dreams, if she can survive the night. Players experience the fun of interactive story choices combined with a live action film as they make decisions about what to wear, what to talk about, or where to go. A wrong choice can lead Grace or Vincent into a sometimes hilarious, sometimes violent end in this interactive app!

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Caddywhompus – “Age of Wild Spirits”

Music Video

Created for the New Orleans 2012 24-hr. film festival, Neutral Ground Films was paired up with the band Caddywhompus to create a music video for their single, “Age of Wild Spirits”. Combining the nightlife of the French Quarter and a regular hangout on the levee, NGF wanted to capture the pain of losing a friend through the good times they had and will never forget.

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Subtidal

Short

Directed by Jason A. Waggenspack
Written by Michael Dardant & Owen Hornstein
Starring John Swider, Ashton Leigh and Michael Dardant

Official entry to the 2011 48hr Go Green International Eco Film Competition.

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Trust Bob

Short

Directed by Jason A. Waggenspack
Written by Jason D. Buch & Jason Daniel Malloy
Starring Mandi Turner, Nick Gomez and Michael Dardant

The Audience Choice Award Winner at the 2010 New Orleans 48hr Film Festival.

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Below Sea Level

Comedy Series

Directed by Jason A. Waggenspack
Written by Michael Dardant
Starring Chris Fontana, Armando Leduc, Michael Dardant, Lyndsey Crow

How do you restore a sense of normalcy to a place that was never normal to begin with? This is the question posed to an eclectic group of entertainers trying to make ends meet in post Katrina New Orleans. Below Sea Level is a comedy series about six friends living in the French Quarter after the storm of the century and the absurdity that makes ‘The Crescent City’ one of the funniest places on the planet.

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Star & Dagger – “In My Blood”

Music Video

Produced by Donnelly, this “The Shining” based music video was for Star & Dagger’s debut single “In My Blood”. With incredible talent coming from White Zombie & Cycle Sluts From Hell, this all-female, blues/rock trio was formed in New Orleans in 2010 when the legendary guitarist Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith, REM, Soul Asylum) insisted that Sean Yseult and Dava She Wolf form a band.

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