By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

Earlier this year, the four founding members of Make Productions – David Daniel Pierce, Matthew Pearsall, Kyle Hutchison and Ben Moore – made a ten-minute film entitled “Letters and Cigarettes.”
Shot mostly in downtown Wilmington, the film, written and starring Pierce, is about something lost and something gained, seen from the life of a young man looking to make his way in the world.
Visually, it's a short and simple stunner of a first effort, put together from scratch by a group of young men who have known each other since they were students at the Delaware Military Academy. The film then led to an investor who saw it, and quickly realized that the the talents of Pierce, Pearsall, Moore and Hutchison should not go unnoticed, nor be limited to just making short films.
“Ben had been filming movies since he was about 12, Matt was into directing, and Kyle and I were both into writing,” Pierce said. “We had this idea one night that we should not just use Make Productions to make films, but to use it for anything creative.”
Six months ago, Make Productions launched itself as a Wilmington-based company, and in the process, became a mission of collaboration that will bring photographers, graphic designers, film editors and writers all under one roof, to create videos, visual artistry, social media promotion and advertising, as well as coverage of special events.
In the short life of the company, Make Productions has already produced video work for a local theater company, a Delaware politician, as well as other smaller projects, as well as begun their next film, a comedy entitled “He's With Me,” which is filming now in Wilmington.
However, their latest project, done in partnership with Kennett Square native and resident Monty Wiradilaga, may soon become their most fascinating – and wide-reaching – to date. 
“Moe Train Eats: Kennett Square” a three-episode video series that will be broadcast on Podcast, Youtube and social media, will capture Wiradilaga as he explores the food, fun and nightlife throughout Kennett Square. In each hour-long episode, the team will visit five locations, and so far, the roster of the places Wiradilaga will visit in the first episode reads like a who's who of Kennett Square must-sees: Kennett Design, The Creamery, the Kennett Brewing Company, the Half Moon Restaurant & Saloon and La Michoacana.
For the past several years, Wiradilaga has been a familiar face on the local social scene, and in a variety of ways. He has hosted “Moe Train's Tracks,” an independent and uncensored music, entertainment and interview show that features some of the leading voices and personalities in the music and entertainment industry. He has also become a fixture on the competitive eating circuit, having appeared at Wing Bowl, and winning the Fried Mushroom Eating Contest at the annual Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. This year, he will be serving as the official master of ceremonies for the festival's eating contest, and recently, was on the look out for a production company to help him create a video to help promote the annual event.
“I had worked with Monty when I was in college, and we got along really well,” Hutchison said. “Around the time we formed the company, I heard that Monty wanted to do a promotional video to highlight the Mushroom Festival, and was looking for a production company to help him.
I called him and said, 'Hey, I have a production company,' and he said, 'Great. Let's get this thing off the ground.'”
The second episode in the "Moe Train Eats” series will take Wiradilaga and Make Productions to the Victory Brewing Company, the Galer Estate and Winery, the Summer Concert Series in Anson B. Nixon Park and other locations. Teh third episode will showcase the Mushroom Festival.
“We want to see Monty's personality shine through and capture his energy, in a way that showcases the energy of Kennett Square,” Pierce said. “We're excited to be able to work with Monty, to say the least.
“From the beginning, Monty wanted the show to have energy, but it's tough to write energy. This series is more of a thing that needs to be captured in the moment. This is the first time ever I've done the least amount of writing for a project. I'm meticulous when it comes to writing and developing, but now, it's more of an outline, and allowing Monty to take it from there.”
Both Pierce and Hutchison see their work with Wiradilaga as the groundwork for what they hope will be the biggest break yet for their new company –  a regular series to be broadcast on Netflix, VICELAND or Amazon Prime – that would enable them to create similar themes and episodes promoting other towns and cities.
“Kennett Square is the perfect place to begin this concept, but I'm thinking that in a few months, we'll be able to go to other towns with this idea,” Pierce said. “I want to wait to see if anyone would pick us up. If someone comes to you, they're more apt to give you what you need, in terms of creativity.”
The first episode of “Moe Train Eats: Kennett Square” will be launched on Sept. 1 and will be available for viewing on Youtube, the Make Productions website, and a new website that will be developed for the show, as well as various media markets in the area.
For a sneak peek of the “Moe Train Eats: Kennett Square” series, and to learn more about Make Productions, visit www.makeproductionsllc.com.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail [email protected].