A scene from "September Morning" (Photo by Paul Gleason courtesy Ryan Frost)
Ryan Frost started college at the University of Richmond just three weeks before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Living away from home for the first time, he and a group of freshmen who barely knew each other came together for support in the time of crisis.
“You’re in a new environment, you don’t really know what’s coming next, you don’t really have familiar faces in your time of need. You just look to who’s there and gain strength from that,” says Frost, who is from Moorestown, New Jersey.
Now a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, Frost turned those experiences into a feature film called “September Morning.” Initially written and performed as a play titled “September 12th” in collaboration with Virginia Repertory Theatre, his film follows a group of college students as their innocence is stripped away.
Frost raised $5,047 for his film through crowdfunding, donating half to the Twin Towers Orphan Fund. The total cost was $250,000, he says.
“September Morning” will be released theatrically Sept. 8 in New York and Los Angeles through Candy Factory Films, and more widely through video on demand. The Byrd Theatre, in partnership with the University of Richmond, to offer a free showing of the film at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11, followed by a discussion with Frost.
