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Mount Olive Filmmaking Duo Remain Hard at Work

Jan 09, 2023 12:29PM ● By Coraline James

At the War Heroes Pilot Episode Premiere, Jack Thomas Smith, Mandy Del Rio, Kris Paronto & Glenn Nevola, January 2019

A couple things become apparent about Jack Thomas Smith and Mandy Del Rio when talking to them for the first time. They are very nice people and they love their work. They’ve made five documentaries for cable news company Newsmax in the last year and a half. Del Rio said of their expediency “the way we do it so quickly, we, Jack and I, we work around the clock. Luckily we live together, we’re a couple so it’s easier for us to do that. Work around the clock. Once we get these assignments we’re in it… Everybody pulls together to pull these out as quickly as we can, while still keeping the quality.” For some of the films themselves the deadline is tight, requiring more of the same dedication. 9/11: The Day That Shook The World, the second film they made for Newsmax, a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks, they only had a six week timeframe to complete the film. “I had to write the treatment for that, Mandy found guests for that, we had to find locations. We shot three different days, got roughly nine guests. And we put that thing together in about six weeks,” Smith says of putting out a documentary on such short notice. 

The relationship between the filmmakers and Newsmax began in March of 2021, “We submitted to them a documentary that we made called War Heroes, and they ultimately decided on licensing that documentary.” This initial success paved the way for the continued relationship they have fostered with Newsmax. Before Newsmax, Smith primarily worked making feature films and music videos. In 2014 he wrote, directed, and produced a ‘dark thriller’, Infliction, which won awards at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival and the Macabre Faire Film Festival. Del Rio got her start in the entertainment business as a child, as an extra on the movie Angels in the Outfield. Del Rio and Smith began their personal and professional relationship on the set of Infliction. “That’s where I got a taste of watching him and learning from him… all hands on deck kind of thing.”

 Prior to their collaboration Del Rio had founded a company called Songbird Media Consulting, “helping independent artists manage their careers”, as well as singing with various bands. “He and I have been basically working together ever since we met on Infliction,” Del Rio said. From 2014 to 2017 Del Rio hosted and produced a cable access show called the Indie Lounge, a talk show highlighting professionals in various fields working on independent projects. Smith acted as director and executive producer on the program. In 2018 the two were engaged on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Though both of their starts were in feature filmmaking and artist management, their love of politics, and ardent support for the armed forces moved them, over the years, toward the path they have taken with Newsmax, and making War Heroes.

The duo followed up War Heroes with four more films. Socialism In America, 9/11: The Day That Shook The World, Day Of Outrage, about the events of January 6, and America Burning, about the death of George Floyd and the riots that followed. Shame Of A Nation, their latest documentary, focuses on the civil and judicial ramifications of the January 6 arrests and the subsequent committee.

 

“A lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, and learning on the way.”  This is how Del Rio describes the journey her and Smith have gone through making all of these films over the course of the last year and a half. She later says “This opportunity is the perfect marriage of our love of cinema and our love for politics. And our love for telling the truth…We want to work on these 24 hours a day.” Smith concludes, “It’s been an awesome ride, man.”

 

To learn more about Smith and Del Rio’s films and projects, visit www.jackthomassmith.com.