Motivate Pictures on Location in Dripping Springs

“Finding Solace,” a film by Motivate Pictures, spent several days filming on location at Oneill Ranch Road in Dripping Springs.

At day 17 of an approximate 30-day production schedule, the Texas cast and European crew had previously been on location in Austin, Bastrop, Columbus and Temple. The full-length psychological thriller took up residence at a local Airbnb to shoot scenes for a funeral, which plays an important role in the story.

At the helm was independent film director Maurice Moore, who also wrote the screenplay.

“This is a very personal film,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “First and foremost, I want the audience to be entertained, and then I want to provide enough social commentary about the state of some of our communities to spark important dialogue about our lives and, on a larger scale, ‘life.’” Texas actors make up the 28-member cast — of whom approximately a dozen play major roles. Some of the actors are part of the Breathe Acting Studio in Austin, where Moore is the owner and teacher.

Behind the camera was Director of Photography Alex Rios. The film is captured on a high-quality Sony Venice 2 camera. Rios and 10 of his 22-member crew are from Barcelona as part of Motivate Pictures Europe.

When asked how someone who wears all the major hats in a production — writer, director, producer and actor — is able to carry the vision of what they’ve written through to the final edit, he said, “I’m very hands on with every hat I wear, and this story is very specific. If I entertain too much leeway it could veer from the story we’re trying to capture.”

“I communicate constantly with the actors and crew, and we have tons of rehearsal to reinforce what we’re doing,” he continued. “Our script supervisor also keeps us to the story line. The script itself has been honed through several versions, and while I’m always tweaking, the story I’ve written is the story I want to tell.”

Moore’s entry to filmmaking came at the age of eight after being cast in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film, “The Color Purple,” based on the 1982 Pulitzer Prizewinning novel by Alice Walker. From auditions, he landed a speaking part and became a cast member alongside Whoopie Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Rae Dawn Chong and Margaret Avery. Keeping his audition secret from his mother, grandmother and other relatives, he walked eight miles to the arranged meeting place. After a brief punishment for acting independently without permission, his mother and grandmother provided unstinting support. From that experience, Moore dedicated his life to the art of acting, filmmaking and everything else such a choice entails. After working in New York and Los Angeles, Moore relocated his company to Austin. He believes that Austin “is the new Hollywood” because of the state’s beauty and diversity of landscape, recently helped by new incentives. In June, the Texas Legislature passed two bills that provided reasons for Texas filmmakers to keep their work local. It increased support from $45 million to $200 million.

From personal and professional challenges, Moore has persevered to write and direct featurelength films, short films and documentaries, in ad-dition to his teaching, acting and television work. “Déjá vu,” “Fetch,” and “The Place She Dwells” are recent releases. “Finding Solace” is slated to be in theaters sometime in 2024. For more information, go to motivate.pictures or follow the movie on Instagram @findingsolacemovie.