Arkansas Director Jason Pitts, the filmmaker behind “The Forest Through the Trees” and “Voorhees Night of the Beast,” is planning to shoot a spooky documentary series titled “Arkansas Ghost Stories” at King Opera House in Van Buren. Pitts said the docuseries, his first work of nonfiction, may be released by the end of the year at the earliest but will probably be released in early 2027.
“I have some friends that are in the paranormal community,” he said. “I’m kind of a skeptic on that kind of stuff, and I’m fascinated by stories by people that have had experiences, so I thought it’d be cool to do a show that kind of showcases people and their stories and their experiences that they’ve had.”
Set against the backdrop of the allegedly haunted King Opera House, the series will feature interviews with people who say they have witnessed paranormal occurrences. Pitts said he hopes to release the series on Tubi and through Fayetteville Public Television.
“People are fascinated by paranormal stories, and Arkansas just has such a rich, long history, and a lot of it is pretty dark, you know, going back to the Civil War and even further,” he said. “I think it’s just something that a lot of people gravitate and resonate with. People love history, and people like being spooked out for some reason, too.”
He added that he also recently finished the first draft of a screenplay for “Mad World,” which he expects could be his first studio film.
“It’s kind of like a mix between ‘Seven’ and a Japanese film called ‘Cure,’ and I’m really excited about that,” he said. “It was written to be my first studio film with a very big budget if I ever get that opportunity.”
He added that the film is about a rash of violent murders in which people seemingly snap, and the two detectives tasked with investigating the crimes. To aspiring filmmakers in Arkansas, his advice was simply to start making movies.
“Don’t wait for permission. If you want to make films, just do it,” he said. “We all have pretty impressive cameras in our pockets now. You can shoot something on an iPhone, or Galaxy or whatever. Whatever you’ve got in your pocket, you can shoot on, and it still looks pretty good quality. Practice as much as you can. Create a team. Surround yourself with positive, passionate people. If this is what you really want to do, just go out and do it.”
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