Founded by Jim Weter in 2006, Cellardoor Cinema began in Oxford, MS, producing narrative short and feature length films as well as recording live performances by local musicians.  The group was mainly comprised of volunteer film and theater students willing to help out with the productions. Borrowing much of the equipment from the University of Mississippi, Cellardoor Film made 2 feature length films: "Crimson Twins" & "33" and 4 short films: "The Breakup", "Revolving Roommates", "The Note" & "Rose".

     Cellardoor Cinema then moved to Memphis, TN in 2008 and began working in documentary and commercial video production for national groups such as HGTV, Nationwide Insurance, Autozone, Servicemaster, as well as many local businesses. In 2008, Writer/Director Jim Weter started production of Cellardoor Cinema's first film after moving to Memphis, "Homecoming."

     Next, Cellardoor Cinema started working on it's first narrative

feature film in Memphis, "Blind People."  Starting pre-production on

"Blind People" in the summer of 2009, a general audition was held

on June 15, 2009 at the Artisan Hotel in Memphis where more than

100 local actors came to audition for parts in the film.  The parts for

the film were cast and production started in Oct. of 2009.  The

production wasn't without it's share of difficulties however, but

through damaged sets and re-casting actors, "Blind People" finished

production in Mar. of 2010.  Post-production for the film lasted 6

months and was finished in Sep. with a closed premier for cast and

crew on Oct. 3rd, 2010.

     Also tking place in 2010 was the first annual Cellardoor Cinema

Screenplay Contest, held by Cellardoor Cinema with a grand prize of

the finished film going into production by Cellardoor Cinema at the

end of the contest.  "At Stake: Vampire Solutions" (AS:VS) written by

Duane P. Craig won the 1st year's contest and was produced by

Cellardoor Cinema. AS:VS went on to show at numerous festivals

around the U.S.

     2011 saw the production of the 2nd Screenplay Contest Winner "Letters to Camille" by Liam Smith as well as the start of production on the sequel to AS:VS, "AS:VS - Back in Business" which wrapped production in the spring of 2012 and was initiall released in 2013, then later re-released in 2015 with added content.

     In 2011, the Cellardoor Cinema Screenplay Contest was reorganized and became the Unreal Film Festival. A sci-fi, horror, and fantasy only film festival bringing in genre films from all over the world to screen alongside many local films. The film festival was formed both to bring more films into Memphis that wouldn't normally screen here, and to give local filmmakers a new venue in which to show their work.

     Since it's founding in 2011, the Unreal Film Festival continued to grow and take on new partners and sponsors. The festival was held annually in the fall each year at Malco's Studio on the Square in Memphis, TN. Continuing to grow year after year, the festival began bringing in films from all over the world to Memphis, held advance screenings in conjunction with Universal Studios, and had a bi-monthly podcast called Unreal Radio which conducted interviews with actors, filmmakers, and fellow creatives.

     In 2017, Jim began work on his first film since the founding of the film festival,  a sci-fi, short film titled "Don't Say Goodbye". This was completed in the spring of 2017 and then began it's submissions into the film festival circuit, garnering multiple awards and a dozen official selections both in the US and abroad.

     In 2019, having held the position of festival director for 8 years, Jim Weter stepped back from the position and returned to his original passion of writing and directing.

     Cellardoor Cinema's next project became it's most ambitious to date. The feature length, sci-fi drama "The Last Earth Girl", written by Stuart Creque became the next priority. Filming and set building for this project took time do to the scope of the project, the number of locations, and the sheer size of the cast involved. Editing also took considerable time to complete due to the amount of VFX work required. The film was initially submitted to film festivals and had a limited run prior to covid, then released to the public in December of 2020.

     During covid, Jim continued to work and develop script ideas for future use, eventually landing on a short, cosmic horror film titled "Dreams of a Dead God". This film was set in the world of HP Lovecraft, but was an original story written by Jim. Falling back on his background as a stage designer, Jim set the entire film in a single location, compressing and encapsulating the actors inside a tiny shack. This shack, along with all the special effects required, were then designed and built inside a two-car garage. The set even featured an indoor, artifical rain-rig and LED lights to simulate the storm and lightning outside the cabin during the film.

     The film was completed in late 2025 and is currently being submitted to film festivals both in the US and internationally. To date, the film has already been accepted into multiple festivals and won multiple awards.

     We continue today with the help of a lot of supporters and contributors and are working hard on our next project. To keep up to date on the latest on our films, sign up for our quarterly newsletter on the main page of this site and be sure to like our facebook page at www.facebook.com/cellardoorcinema.