Last year, Cameron Andrews’ first feature-length film, “Holocene” premiered at the Big Picture Theater & Café in Waitsfield. Andrews, originally from Fayston, graduated from Harwood Union High School in 2017 and went on to study film at Boston University. Andrews wrote, directed, and starred in “Holocene,” which was filmed in The Valley and co-produced and acted by fellow Fayston resident Phoebe Pacheco.
“I grew up going to the Big Picture,” Andrews said. “So many people showed up --- friends, people from town -- to see our movie genuinely had an effect on people, it’s absolutely surreal. Seeing people in The Valley where we filmed it cared about it was the perfect way for my first movie to premiere. It was incredible, possibly the best day of my life. It gave me a good launching point, confidence, and excitement.” He said he also learned from making his first movie that he prefers to focus on writing and directing, rather than acting in his own films.
After a successful premiere of “Holocene,” Andrews began work on a second film. He moved to Los Angeles in June 2022 to pursue his career in filmmaking while working as a personal assistant to an agent and as an Uber Eats delivery driver to pay the bills.
His new film, titled “Missing Pieces,” is a romance drama “about two young people trying to learn how to love each other in the wake of break-ups. More importantly, it’s a journey of self-discovery about learning to love yourself so you can love other people.” Currently, the script runs at 116 pages, which translates to about 1 hour, 50 minutes on film. Andrews said he hopes to get it down to 1 hour, 40 minutes.
He has three producers working on the new film, which he said allows him to focus on directing and the creative side of things. They’ve cast the eight main roles and still have a few smaller roles to cast. “I really like small sets; I like working with an intimate group of people. I want to try to keep it small-scale,” Andrews said.
He plans to begin filming in July, likely through September as most of the people involved work during the week so they’ll primarily be filming on weekends. They plan to crowdfund to cover the costs of production and are working on determining the final budget. Andrews encourages people to reach out to him at
Andrews plans to submit the film to film festivals and the premiere would depend on which festival(s) it’s accepted into, as some require films be premiered there, but he hopes to screen the film at the Big Picture. “In some capacity I’ll bring it back to The Valley at some point,” he said.
“I’m really excited to start making this. It’s a big step up from the 65 minutes that “Holocene” was. I’m working with people I really believe in and who I’m amazed by the talent of. It feels like things are really coming together.”
