Vandroid Set to Film in Pittsboro

Chatham County, NC – There’s a buzz in the air in Pittsboro, NC and it has nothing to do with reindeer’s or candy canes. Nope. There’s a new villain in town and his name is Vandroid.

From Comics to Movies

The mastermind behind this ’80s-based thriller is Chapel Hill resident, Tommy Lee Edwards.

After studying film and illustration at the Art Center College of Design, Tommy moved from Los Angeles to Chapel Hill, NC with his two children and wife Melissa. Comic collectors may know Melissa’s work as a colorist on various books like Earth-X, Disavowed, Static Shock and Zombie World.

Edwards, who spent his early years in Texas and Michigan, moved here from Los Angeles in 1996. “I like North Carolina, and I like raising my kids here … We wanted a place that had seasons, that wasn’t too far north or too far south.”

Though he often flies elsewhere for his film work (he recounts being on the set of The Book of Eli in Mexico and texting his wife that they couldn’t talk because “Denzel’s about to blow some stuff up”), Edwards is deeply entrenched in his adopted state, whether it’s regularly attending local film revival series, going to local concerts or taking motorcycle trips through the state on his Yamaha V-Star 1100.

“It’s refreshing to meet people who love movies and comics and music and things like that with a sense of pure joy,” he says of the area’s artistic scene. “There’s a cool kind of energy here that helps charge your creative batteries.”

Vandriod

After years of doing concept, design and illustration work for movies like Batman Begins, Star Wars and Harry Potter, Edwards is delving into the movie business himself

Planned as a short film tribute to ’80s action movies, Vandroid will be filmed in mid-December near his studio in North Carolina. In addition to the short movie, Vandroid will also come with a soundtrack album and, yes, a comic book.

Filming will take place December 16 near downtown Pittsboro and December 17 around east Chatham County for some thrilling driving sequences and pyrotechnic stunts.  A casting call is being held at Chatham Mills.