About US

Kailee McGuire, Briana Aceti, Ryan Callaway and Sophia Zalipsky (The Demon's Waltz)

"One Winter Night Premiere" - Jessi Clayton, Genevieve Tarrant, Ariella Mossey, Brittini Schreiber, Cadence Ellissa, Ryan, Melania Zalipsky, Isabelle Boulton, Denise Engle, Breanna Engle and THE MAN Hiram Ortiz

Ryan Callaway grew up in Weird NJ as an aspiring writer/entertainer. He had two novels published in the early 2000's, and later became the co-host of a Christian radio program called "Passion4Purity" with Pete Chryss. Ryan had made plenty of fan films such as "Jeepers Creepers 3" and the like with his buddies, and was thinking of attempting a serious effort to do something original. Pete suggested he go all the way with it and they initially set out to make an action/thriller called "Avenger of Blood", but after casting, gathering the crew, and location scouting the funding literally fell out from underneath them. Ryan then had to choose whether to give up, wait for someone to come and drop money in his lap, or go out and do his own thing. When he decided to do the latter, Shady Dawn Pictures was born. The goal: scrounge together whatever money, equipment, and people could be found and do the best to make it into something cool.

It started with short and very amateur feature films (most of which will never see the light of day but were great learning experiences), and then led to "The Yearly Harvest" and "The Girl in the Cornfield", projects that his now wife Amy Callaway jumped on board with. She contributed to funding, development, locations, and pretty much everything behind the scenes, and continues to.

We've continually learned through each project, and strive to turn out entertaining and thought-provoking films with whatever amount of money we're given. The actors we've been blessed to work with have been essential, as they've really brought the visions to life, and have been indispensable behind the scenes - helping manage the set, and keeping Ryan going (and vice versa) on those late nights and long 15 hour shoot days. The parents of the younger actors have also been great helps, many of them rightfully earning producer credits for enduring long days and helping in every facet imaginable (most notably Christina Zalipsky, Deborah and Victor Lupi, and Melissa McGuire).

We don't necessarily strive for "Hollywood", we just hope to continue making movies that people see (and some really enjoy) and if they get bigger and bigger.... cool.