The new kid must confront the mystery of the unknown—Scott moves to a small town in Georgia and hears of a local legend about a sasquatch that lives behind his house. The boy is warned of people venturing into the woods and never returning.

The film The Wildman of Shaggy Creek, filmed in Murfreesboro, Tennessee—primarily in the Oaklands Park woods—tells how this tale unfolds. The director, Jesse Edwards, carefully selected the locations to align with the movie’s narrative, incorporating area parks and residences.

Edwards Family

“For me, filmmaking begins with a core idea and a meaningful setting,” the director says. “I try to find a theme I want to explore, an argument I want to make, and then build the story around that. I start by selecting a setting that embodies the narrative, then develop the characters and plot, solidifying the beginning and ending before filling in the details.”

This film’s story is adapted from the first book of the Frightland series, The Wildman of Shaggy Creek, by R.H. Grimly.

“So when I looked at that book, it was right away I knew this was something that I can make in Tennessee and that I would want to make close to where I am,” says Edwards.

The Rutherford County community’s involvement extended beyond the settings, with local talent like Rockvale High School theater student Brycen Patterson bringing authenticity to the film. Patterson won Best Young Actor at the New York Film Awards for his performance in The Wildman of Shaggy Creek. Several students from Rutherford County served as extras, while homeowners generously opened their properties for filming.

The primary home used in the film is a private residence right off Lascassas Pike.

“We were able to create movie magic because of the incredible support and resources right here in Murfreesboro,” the director says, pleased with the collaborative nature of his Rutherford County team.

The movie also features Allee-Sutton Hethcoat, Miss Tennessee 2017.

“We found Oaklands Park because our barista at Shelli’s Coffee had been hiking there and he told us we had to check it out,” Edwards says. “Oaklands made the permitting process really easy and we loved being welcomed by everyone we met.”

Edwards intended to create a family film in the spirit of classic movies such as The Iron Giant by balancing suspense and humor for multi-generational appeal and challenging the notion that family films must be bland or uninteresting.

He also compares the film’s forest location (where the bigfoot monster may or may not live) to the planet Dagobah from The Empire Strikes Back.

“It’s foggy, it’s big, it’s dark,” Edwards says. “You don’t know what’s in there. There are weird sounds, you know, and it’s an intimidating setting and scene for the characters.”

Sometimes, filmmaking means using what you have.

“We shot a critical scene in my daughter’s bedroom, turning our family space into a movie set to capture the exact moment that clarifies the story’s emotional arc,” Edwards says.

In just eight days of shooting, this local film defied industry standards by capturing an ambitious 16 pages of script daily with a minimal crew and the director personally handling everything from equipment movement to atmospheric effects.

Ultimately, The Wildman of Shaggy Creek film offers something refreshingly genuine; sometimes, the most compelling storytelling comes right from our own backyard.

The Wildman of Shaggy Creek is set to release in theaters on Aug. 1, distributed by Family Movie Events and BMG-Global.

“Hopefully we can get it into Murfreesboro then!” Edwards says.

For more on the project, visit wildmanmovie.com.