By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

When it comes to major filmmaking hubs, Middletown is probably not cracking the list.

It does have one major film on its IMDB page – the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, which was filmed at St. Andrew’s and at the Everett Theatre, among other locales in Delaware – but even though it is short on major film credits, there is no shortage of local interest or talent in the filmmaking arts – something a local filmmaking program is looking to grow upon.

Enter Peter Hoopes, a film studies teacher at St. Andrew’s and the director of the Everett Community Filmmaking Program, who began development of the program back in 2020.

Last year, the program finished their first short film, The Prompt. 

Hoopes explained that after being a member of the Everett board since 2017, he was impressed by the volume of interest in stage productions and saw an opportunity to expand into film production.

“I was amazed by how many people were involved in our stage program, our stage musicals at all different ages and levels and from a wide geographic area,” he said. “I thought, if we can do community stage theater, why not try community filmmaking?”

By combining the Everett’s success in mounting stage productions with its long history as an artistic hub, Hoopes sees the potential of the Everett to continue growing its legacy.

Founded in 1863, The Everett, originally known as the Town Hall and Opera House, served as a center for arts and community for over a century, enduring two fires and rebuilding the ground up. The theatre hosts film screenings, stage productions, art exhibits, classes, workshops and now film production thanks to Hoopes.

“We have a lot of talent in the area - people who know how to do certain things such as knowing know how to shoot, how to direct, how to act and how to edit,” Hoopes said. “By combining all of those elements together, we can create our own work just by working together as a community program.”

Collaboration and learning

According to the program’s website, its’ goals are “to foster the creation of original material stories and scripts; to create a filmmaking educational program focusing on the basics of storytelling, cinematography, production, and editing; and to create short films of the highest quality possible each year, with the goal of submission to festivals.”

The volunteer-based program is open to people of all ages and skill levels emphasizing collaboration and learning, which are essential tenets for Hoopes.

“The goal is to sort of bring the community members together who are interested in either doing or learning,” he said. “It’s about giving the opportunity to learn and to do just like it is for our stage program or for our visual arts program.

“It’s still a bit of a bold experiment. Not every aspect of what we’ve tried has gone perfectly, but most of it has been reasonably successful so we’re hoping to continue to grow and sort of provide more opportunities for people to get involved in different ways.”

So far, The Prompt is the first film produced by the program and is available for viewing on the program’s website. It follows main character Megan as she “tries to balance her career and social life while grappling with the voice in her head that has taken on a life of its own.”

Hoopes created the concept of the film and directed it, in partnership with Everett community member Lisa Moore, who wrote the script. Produced in 2024, the film took nine months to complete, but Hoopes said he is looking forward to seeing the Everett program create more films – one to two a year – moving forward.

“I wouldn’t say that it actually takes eight months to make a film, but sometimes, because this is all volunteering, we do it as we have the available time,” Hoopes explained. “I’m hoping to cut that down now to maybe closer to three to four months, so we’ll see.”

Hoopes is already working on the next film for the program and just completed the first meeting to begin the process all over again.

“We literally just had our first meeting to get this one off the ground, and it involves a much darker, sort of sci-fi story about two passengers in a car and the melding of self-driving cars and AI and sort of all these things,” he said. “I can’t give too much more about it, because we were literally still working on the script, but it has very much of a twilight zone or Black Mirror feel to it.”

Hoopes explained that once the script is near finished, pre-production can begin, including casting, location scouting, equipment, wardrobe and nearly every other fine detail that is necessary for filming. After filming comes the final steps of editing and postproduction that put all the pieces together into the completed film.

For Hoopes, the filmmaking program is about more than just the film but about connecting a community of passionate artists and film lovers who have previously never had a community to come to.

‘I want the Everett to become the center for filmmaking in Delaware’

“The problem isn’t that the talent doesn’t exist,” he said. “The problem is that there’s not a lot of coordination and communication. In other states they will have directories of creative professionals available and you can look up in an area who does hair, makeup, who does set design, and who does camera. You actually have a giant directory, and Delaware is not there yet.”

Hoopes – who has worked in many roles in film production, including directing and producing his own film The Weak Force - has high ambitions for the Everett Theatre in solving that issue as he sees it.

“I want the Everett to become the center of filmmaking in Delaware,” he said.

The ambitious goal is not only one Hoopes himself believes in, but it’s goal he sees with a larger purpose beyond the Everett Theatre and Middletown community. 

“I think there are lots of people who are interested in filmmaking but for our area here, in the middle of Delaware, there are no real avenues for exploring that with someone who knows how to teach it or has an experience,” he said. “Creating a center where we are building a connection and a directory and relationships – that’s what I find the biggest benefit.”

So, although Middletown isn’t Hollywood, for Hoopes and the Everett Theatre community, celebrating the local talent and eventually building to support the surrounding artistic communities of the state is purpose enough.

“My goal is to sort of continue to reach out and connect and make connections, so that when project ideas come up, or when project funding comes up and we want to get something off the ground, we've got a solid network of people living in and around Delaware who are able and interested to participate,” Hoopes said. “It’s not that we don’t have people in the area. It’s that we just don’t know who each other is yet.”

To learn more about the Everett Community Filmmaking Program, visit

www.theeverett.org/filmmaking, or email [email protected].

To contact Contributing Writer Gabbie Burton, email [email protected].