Dark Thirty Films, a film production company from New Orleans, started filming “The Craving” in the Golden Triangle with the assistance of both locals and the Mississippi State University community.
Dark Thirty Films and their sister company, 13 South Productions, named after Hwy 13 South in Mississippi, predominantly make horror and thriller films.
Director Bryan W. Carpenter said “The Craving” is going to be a frightening suspense horror full of engaging and beautiful imagery.
“We like to make smart movies that utilize suspense horror,” Carpenter said. “We want our films to give you that good creeping feeling up your spine.”
“The Craving” is expected to finish filming at the end of the month and will take approximately two months to edit. Carpenter said the company will then decide whether they want to take the film to a festival or take it straight to a network like Netflix.
Carpenter, originally from Carthage, said he is the only member of the original crew who is Mississippian by birth. He is a veteran private military contractor currently working in the film industry as an armorer, trainer, stunt performer and producer.
Bryan spent 20 plus years immersed in strategic operations and has undergone extensive training during his time there.
As a Mississippi native, Carpenter said he hopes to bring the benefits of the film industry into the state in order to create an economic boom.
“I have been trying to push for sometime to bring film into Mississippi,” Carpenter said. “I know there have been films hit and miss over a wide range of time, but we are wanting to film for a substantial time. I think Mississippi truly has an amazing amount of untapped resources.”
Carpenter said the problem with bringing film to Mississippi is the state tax incentives are not great enough for most movie companies to bring larger films into the state.
Carpenter said currently, Mississippi only gives rebates back to money spent inside the state – this includes the crew, actors, directors and producers. However, there is not enough direct talent for film crews at certain levels to pick from, so actors and directors must be brought in from outside the state.
Carpenter said these limited support and minimal tax rebates forced a smaller scale film studio in Canton was forced to shut down.
However, Carpenter said his idea to bring film back into Mississippi is based not around tax incentives, but around the gracious and helpful people who live here.
“As much as we lack in tax incentives, we make up in hospitality,” Carpenter said. “That has certainly been the case since we have been here.”
Since being in Mississippi, Carpenter and his crew have worked closely with the Golden Triangle community and MSU.
Melanie Harris, instructor for the Department of Communication at MSU, said she is working as a member of the film crew, so next time she will be able to find students who can fit the roles needed by the production company.
In her time on set, Harris has found this film to be a major economic benefit to the community since the crew is staying in hotels, renting equipment, buying supplies and costumes and eating out. Harris said they are basically temporary residents who end up boosting the local economy.
“The crew is very cognizant of supporting local businesses,” Harris said. “Even if it is easier to Amazon it, they would prefer to buy it from somewhere in town. They want to spend money in and support the community they are filming in.”
Assistant Professor of Theatre Performance Tim Matheny said the theatre department was notified about the “The Craving” at the early part of last week, and was hopeful the MSU theatre department would connect with and learn from this film crew, since these productions bring different skillsets and cultural backgrounds into Mississippi.
“While there are differences in film and theatre, the two are close cousins and able to work together in many ways,” Matheny said.
Since their arrival, Dark Thirty Films had their nationally acclaimed costume designer, Alina German, speak at Harris’ costume design class.
Carpenter said they are thankful to everyone in Starkville and West Point, especially Keith and Christie Heard and the housing at old Waverly golf course, for opening their community to this production.
Based on the currently filming success, Carpenter said he hopes the production team can be back to Mississippi in the next few months in order to start filming on other projects at the start of summer.
In regards to future films, Carpenter said he hopes this film can show all of the possibilities filming in Mississippi has to offer. 
Dark Thirty Films has contributed to many sucessful movies such as: The Expendables, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Magnificent 7. The company is composed of 12 highly trained individuals with various backgrounds in the military, videography and computer engineering.