Crew Bios

Mariah Smallwood, Director

Mariah Smallwood is the Managing Director of Visions7 Film Festival & Conference and functioned as a Co-Director of Hospitality for last year’s event. Mariah loves making schedules and treats her spreadsheets like they are her babies. Along with running a film festival, Mariah is currently working on her Senior Thesis Documentary titled Circles (2017). Mariah has also worked on various film shorts like You Mean Chickens? (2015) as the sound mixer and as a makeup artist for Open Mic (2016) and The Rite Side (2016). Mariah recently worked on the narrative short film, Baby OIl (2016) as the Co-Producer and Unit Production Manager.  Her personal interests include pop culture, gender studies, and how societies function. She hopes to utilize these interests to create films that document social interactions and how they shape individuals. All while finishing up her education at UNC Wilmington, Mariah is still searching for the perfect puppy(s).

Rebecca Firth, Producer

Rebecca Firth's ambitions lie in traveling the world, experiencing diverse cultures, and filmmaking that creates change. After backpacking around South Korea, Rebecca knew she wanted international culture to be present in her film career. She has been involved in several short films, including Gilded (2014), Healing (2015), and Amateurs (2015). Outlast (2015), a short film Rebecca casted, recently showed at Cucalorus Film Festival. Rebecca interned at EUE/Screen Gems Studios and worked in the Department of Development and Fundraising for Visions Film Festival & Conference. Rebecca recently produced her first feature-length narrative, One Summer Night, and she can't wait to see what her future holds.

Hugh Stephens, Director of Photography

Hugh Stephens is an aspiring filmmaker with a wide range of skills to draw from. He has multiple credits to his skills as a Boom operator and Sound mixer (Issues(2016), Good Will Hunting (Student Project)(2015), The Warrior(Student Project)(2015)); as well as having a background in camera, lighting, and grip from his experience as a Director of Photography (The Sunny Side(2016)), internships (Cinepartners inc.), and various other experiences as a Swing (Resilience(2016), The Cleansing(2016)). He has additional talents in storyboard artistry and sound mixing.

Matt McFarling, Sound Mixer

Currently residing in Wilmington, NC, 21 year old Matt McFarling has done a variety of work in the art of filmmaking. Whether it be directing (Bygone Barns, 2016), acting (Entrapment, 2016), or sound design (Resilience, 2016), he loves to collaborate and is always looking for new ways to contribute. Matt is also the current marketing director for Visions Film Festival and Conference, a volunteer Young Life leader at New Hanover High School, and the first ever media intern at Christ Community Church.