While many high school seniors are still trying to figure out their career goals, Salisbury High senior Charlie Morton is already making his dreams a reality.
Morton started his own production company and wrote and directed his first major film called “Friend.”
Morton told 69 News, “It focuses on a high school student who walks into school Monday morning and discovers that a kid who previously mistreated him was killed in a car accident over the weekend.”
The 70-minute film follows his mental health struggles.
“He really needs to get his life in order before he meets a similar fate,” Morton said.
The entire cast of 167 is made up of Morton’s friends, and he made the film on a tight budget.
“The equipment was actually a tripod that I bought myself,” he said.
The film was shot entirely on his phone and edited with school equipment.
After five months on the job, he was released in April. But last month it was screened at the Emmaüs theater. MP Susan Wild was present. Morton contacted her because of her interest in mental health.
Morton said, “I really thought it would resonate with her and that I, as a high school student, could only take it to a limited scale, where she could take it to an entire community.”
As for the message he hopes viewers take away from his film?
Morton said, “Not being satisfied with our unhappiness, and there’s a lot you can’t change about your situation, but there’s a lot you can change about how you view your situation.”
As for the future of the filmmaker? Morton wants to put movies on hold and concentrate on the military. He dreams of one day becoming a Navy SEAL. But he said cinema will always be a part of his life, one way or another.
