Author: Rick Horner

[caption id="attachment_175496" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Filmmakers Aaron Crocker and Justin Bridges plan to use backdrops in Fredericksburg and Stafford County for their psychological horror film, "Poison Tree."[/caption]

A pair of local filmmakers are preparing to shoot an independent horror movie in the Fredericksburg area.

669 Productions and JB Concepts are currently pre-production for their first full-length film, a horror movie entitled "Poison Tree." Filmmakers Aaron Crocker and Justin Bridges plan to use backdrops in Fredericksburg and Stafford County for their psychological horror film.

The pair plan to film at the newly rebuilt Chatham Bridge over Rappahannock River, linking Fredericksburg and Stafford, and George Washington's boyhood home, Ferry Farm.

According to Crocker, the film will be based on the William Blake poem "A Poison Tree," which was published in 1794. Crocker describes the film as a microscopic look at the problematic dynamics of a push-pull relationship. 

A brief story synopsis:

"Adam and Nichole Benson move to Fredericksburg to escape the friction of their past. However, when they make a tragic discovery in their new home, they are forced into a space where they must process their trauma and move forward or allow the darkness to take on an energy of its own."

In anticipation of the film, Crocker and Bridges have launched an online campaign called to raise $20,000. Through the campaign, the filmmakers also hope to foster community involvement in thier production.

"Our businesses were both established right here in Fredericksburg, and we're proud of our community, and we hope to highlight that fact in all that we do," said Crocker.

"Poison Tree" will be Crocker and Bridges' second collaboration. The duo produced a short horror film called "Slashed Ceilings" about a career woman who makes deadly decisions to get a promotion at work. The piece has attracted attention and earned awards, including Best Horror Short at the 2022 Awesome Film Festival and has been selected for this year's Bull City Run Film Festival and the Horrific Hope Festival. 

"Horror is a timeless conduit through which the 'tragic' and the 'awful' can not only be expressed but in some instances can become palatable in terms of working as not only an escape from our real-life horrors but also in the ways that the genre presents itself as a metaphor--often, the monsters and horror of real life are much more terrifying than the darkness lurking in closets and under beds. "

In March 2018, Bridges opened a photography business, JB Concepts, then moved into videography. Bridges started filming weddings and graduated to commercials and music videos. 

Crocker's company, 669 Productions, opened in 2021 to produce "Slashed Ceilings" and other films.

Fredericksburg and Stafford County have been a setting for many film and television productions. The most recent is the movies Loving (2016) and Dopesick (2021). Fredericksburg was also part of a hometown episode for season 23 of The Bachelor.

According to Margaret Finucane, Communications Manager for the Virginia Film Office, productions were shut down in early 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Key production organizations and leaders created strict set safety protocols that enabled them to ramp back up during Summer 2020. 

Many productions were key contributors to our hardest-hit industries, like hospitality and brick-and-mortar retail, when the economy was largely shut down. The economic impact of Virginia's film industry in 2020 was $648 million, creating nearly 4,000 full-time jobs, said Finucane.

"Poison Tree" has been in pre-production since December 2021 and plans to begin shooting in June 2022.