When the idea for something new is born in our minds, it is a kind of magic that can take hold of us and lead us to faraway places. The most successful creators have fulfilled their dreams with the support of their crew, their company, their team. For creators in the Rogue Valley, one such team is Siskiyou Productions. Matthew Spickard (producer,) Justin J. Talbot (screenwriter,) Patrick Liam Dolan (director/actor,) Jared McLean (cinematographer/editor,) and Kenneth Vibert (production manager/sound and music editor) have made it their mission to bring the ideas and dreams of artists in the Rogue Valley to life with their equipment, their knowledge, and their unbridled love of film and its creation.

Like so many great stories, the birth of Siskiyou Productions was made possible when the right pieces fell into place. “Our company kind of happened naturally. Our buddy Matt here wanted to buy a motorcycle, and he was saving up a bunch of money for it, and then got into a play to hang out with his daughter,” said Viberg in a recent interview with the Messenger. “And then he started to run into a bunch of us. There were several of us doing a comedy show as well at the same exact time, and it kind of fortuitously fell together, where all of us joined forces to make something that we wanted to do. So we pulled together the five of us, who all are experts in our own field.” Since then, the company has produced two short films: Presence and Home and has an upcoming “rural murder-thriller” titled From the Dark, in which a young woman’s last day at her job, and going away party, spiral into something far more sinister. Additionally, Siskiyou Productions has been working with creator Freddy Trujillo on a nature and music documentary series “Life List”, of which Trujillo is co-creator, which features a guest appearance by Jenny Conlee of The Decembrists.

During the interview, I asked the company about their favorite aspects of what they do. “There’s something different being able to create with all these other people and create different mediums and being able to put that together as a unit. And that itself is just fantastic to me,” says Vibert. “So, I get to create the way I want to create, and elicit the emotions I’m going for without having to worry about people not holding their share, because this group of people, really, they put their all into it, and I think that’s why we’ve been as successful as we have.”

“It’s always been kind of stressful, but doing this, hanging out with these guys, they bring a lot of passion that makes me feel like I almost don’t really have to do all that much work,” says Talbot. “They do such a great job afterwards that all I have to do is write a script, then they do the rest.”

“Being on location has been one of my favorite things.,” says Spickard. “Seeing everyone show up, casting people and having the perfect people for the role show up, and being blown away by the talent that is around, and is here. And that people are waiting to do things, and we got everyone involved in this to volunteer, was what made it possible, because there was not enough money. So that’s the best part for me.”

“I’ve finally gotten the opportunity to take all these skills that I’ve cultivated for a decade and a half, that I went school for, to good use,” says McLean. “I’ve done a whole lot of small, minor projects my whole life, but now we’re finally able to make some things that are going to gain traction and notice. And it’s really rewarding, in that respect.”

Information about Siskiyou Productions and From the Dark can be found on their website at siskiyoupro.com.