Meet Andrew Levy, Cartter Fontaine, and Sam Birdsong of DT Productions in Athens

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Levy, Cartter Fontaine, and Sam Birdsong.

Andrew, Cartter & Sam – please share your story with us. Where does it begin?
The story dates back to 2010 — Cartter kicked things off at the University of Georgia. While most of his friends were partaking in typical college life, Cartter would regularly wander off with a camera. Spending a lot of time in the woods – he earned the nickname Dirty Toe, which would later evolve into our namesake. Today, Dirty Toe stands for a person willing to do whatever they can to make the greatest possible film imaginable.

Shortly after college, Cartter’s roommates graduated and moved on from Athens; luckily, Sam and Kelly moved in and began helping Cartter with his films. For the next few years – Cartter, Sam and Kelly made films together as a hobby.

Fast forward to 2013 (the actual birth of the company), Cartter, Sam and Kelly release a film about a local Athens luthier, Jason Booth (Deadwood Guitars). This film is very well received and caught the attention of Andrew.

At the same time, Andrew is working for Live Nation integrating marketers into concerts. At Live Nation, clients would constantly ask for video as a part of their campaign; however it was not a product that Live Nation offered. After a couple similar conversations in a row, it seemed like there was an opportunity.

July 2013 – Cartter, Sam and Andrew get together over burgers to discuss the possibility of starting a company (Kelly had left to guide Fly Fishing in Wyoming). After a quick decision to try it out, Andrew leaves Live Nation, Kelly is called back to Athens and the company is born.

During his departure, Andrew sent an email to his clients at Live Nation notifying them of this new venture. Fortunately for DT, a regional bank responded and signed up for ten videos the first official day of the company.

This was a huge win for the company, as it not only funded the startup costs, but it also sent DT down an unlikely but important path.

With no formula for banking films, the team decided to make the project as creative as possible. This caught the attention of many industries that our peers paid little attention to, such as Real Estate, Medical, Education, Financial Services, Industrial, etc. It was a great opportunity to grow the company, and it eventually led us to our mission.

In 2014, we were sent to the border of Texas and Mexico to capture a family’s struggle to achieve the American dream. We spent two weeks bonding with the Calderon-Rojas family; they are incredible. Four of them lived in a tiny trailer, the mother (Maria) took English and financial classes, while the husband (Juan) commuted all the way to Tennessee for work. It was dedication none of us had ever seen before. On the last night, Maria invited our whole team over for dinner, which we politely declined. We already had a food budget, and they certainly did not have extra food to give.

But Maria wasn’t hearing it – she demanded we eat together. It was an emotional meal to say the least, and towards the end we asked her — why? Why do you work so hard? Why do you take all of these classes? Why are you sharing your food with us? Her response: “Chispa” (which translates literally to Spark in English). “There is a spark inside of me that drives me to build a better life for my family.”

Our team was speechless; the concept of Chispa resonated through us all. There was a spark inside of us to be filmmakers, and we were inspired to find stories and people that had Chispa.

Over the next three years we used this force to get better every day. Time allowed our films to improve and our clients to expand. Today we have 11 team members and Chispa is the driving force of what we do.

No matter if the work is industrial or consumer-centric alongside an agency, we focus on the people involved.

Some of our recent clients include: SAP, Checkers (FitzCo), The Bachelor (ABC), Barrick Gold, Your Pie, Pace Academy, UGA and many more.

Additionally, our commercial work has allowed us to produce some of our own originals. Last year we released The Way Out: Wedding, we are currently working on a short film about the American Bull Rider, and we head to Tanzania next month to begin a film in partnership with the non-profit Team Nelson about the education of orphans in Arusha.

The journey itself has been unlike anything we could have imagined, and although there have been many difficult challenges along the way, we feel very fortunate to tell stories for a living.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
In April 2016, we wrapped a shoot in Corvallis, Oregon. We decided to take the scenic route along the coast back to Portland. Half way through the trip we stopped at Rocky Creek State Park, a beautifully scenic overlook of the Pacific Ocean.

At the stop, Kelly and Andrew went down to the rocks to take in the view. Moments later, they were hit by a sneaker wave, a rogue wave many times larger than typical waves in the area. The water rushed well over their heads, tossing Andrew into the rocks and pulling Kelly into the water. That day Kelly was lost at sea.

After the incident, the team huddled together — speechless, yet filled with thought: what just happened? what are we doing with our lives? what should we do next? should we continue with DT?

The idea of Chispa expanded immensely that day. Kelly’s dream was to be a filmmaker, and he accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. We cherish his spark, and we are driven to carry his legacy and our own to new heights.

DT Productions – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a humanity focused film company. We love people and the stories they share with us. Something unique about producing films is that we get an all access pass to life — people invite us into all sorts of restricted areas and it is fascinating. We have filmed surgeries, gold mines, bull riders, sky divers, and so much more.

So what do we do? We look for Chispa, spark, dedication to the craft. Our unique skill is allowing our subjects and partners to show off their talents. They do all the work; we just turn our cameras on and enjoy the experience.

The Chispa of DT

The Way Out: Wedding (Most successful release)

Checkers (FitzCo)

The Bachelor (ABC)

Your Pie

SAP

Detering Company

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
We want to feed our families, provide a roof over our heads and be filmmakers for the rest of our lives. We love what we do.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1368 Prince Avenue, Athens, GA 30606
• Website: www.dtproductions.com
• Phone: 7134590638
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: instagram.com/dirty_toe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dirtytoeproductions/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dirty__toe

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