On a sweltering July evening in 100-degree Texas heat, a small crew of Moody College of Communication alumni, faculty and staff finished shooting the last scenes of their film on the grounds of the Austin State Hospital. By the time they wrapped, the sun had long since gone down behind the pecan trees and live oaks. It was 2:30 a.m. when they packed up their gear to go home.

The movie, “I'll Be There,” is a collaboration between Radio-Television-Film professors Cindy McCreery and Andrew Shea, and tells the story of McCreery’s personal experience reconnecting with her older brother and caring for him while he was going through bladder cancer in Los Angeles.

This happened to be during the same time as Michael Jackson’s death, and the hospital her brother was being treated was next door to the coroner’s office where the pop star was being autopsied.  Andrew Shea, who directed the film, reached out to McCreery one evening asking if she had written anything that would make for a good film, and she responded with the script for “I'll Be There.”

The film won the 2023 Austin Film Festival Audience Award for Texas Independent Feature.

It was important for both McCreery and Andrew Shea to put together a crew that included students.

Filming faced setbacks because of the pandemic. They had started the work four and a half years ago, and in August, finally wrapped.

“I think it worked out well actually with the pandemic because more people can relate to the caregiver story,” Andrew Shea said. “It worked out for us even though it did take longer.”

At the Ascension Clinical Education Center, one of the locations for the hospital in the film, Mattison Gotcher, a radio-television-film alum and former student of McCreery’s, was steam ironing clothes as she was prepping costumes for the actors. As she was working, she talked about how she became interested in costume design.

“Sketching clothes was something I always did. I would actually sketch the clothes and make new outfits for characters of my favorite tv shows,” she said.

Gotcher said the skills she learned as a student helped her on set.

“Understanding a script and the continuity was also an important skill and I was able to use it on set,” she said. “It’s really important for people in the film industry to understand filmmaking from an analytical point.”

McCreery said it was transformative to watch Gotcher on set. She recalls attending Gotcher’s fashion show while she was a student and being blown away by her work, remembering how shy she was in her class. McCreery knew she wanted to work with her, and it was fantastic to see her former student in her element. “Over the course of the film, she grew more confident and never hesitated to step in if there was something she wanted to fix on someone.”

Andrew Shea said he loves being in the classroom and working with students. He enjoys testing his ideas and helping others navigate their paths in the film world.

“All these years of teaching have contributed so much to my own filmmaking as a director,” he said. “Teaching is integrated into my creative life. I really can’t imagine not teaching.”

McCreery feels the same. She said she loves being a part of the University and to be part of something outside of the television and film world. “Seeing students actually produce stuff is really exciting and to see them flourish and to find their voice is really rewarding.”