The day that Nova Initia finally become a LLC, Andrew Smith, the owner of the film company, deemed this to be one of his greatest accomplishments. This accomplishment and more are what his mother set him up to achieve. As a child, his mom raised him to reach for the stars and be the best he can be. This ultimately inspired Andrew to work towards pursuing his dream of being a film director.

In the neighborhood of Prince George‘s County, Maryland there was a group of friends working on a film called Attack of The Care Bears. This was middle school Andrew’s first film. His mom helped him pay for a camera that he wanted. With this camera he got his first taste of editing videos. The camera didn’t have any editing software so he had to learn how to make his film look as good as possible using his TV, a VHS Tape and player. Throwback to the 90’s!

Andrew graduated from high school and was ready for college. He applied to a few film schools but had not yet been accepted. He decided to go to PG Community College in 2011 for a second year in a row. One day, his mom decided to give one of the film schools, Johnson C. Smith University, a call to see if he had been accepted. Andrew talked to his girlfriend at the time about not getting accepted to any schools yet. He planned on staying in Maryland with her. So when his mom came to him with the good news of his getting accepted, he wasn’t excited. He told her the school was wasn’t for him and he didn’t want to go. His mom didn’t like the idea and told him to either he go to his father’s house in Virginia or to school in Charlotte, North Carolina. After much thought he choose Johnson C. Smith University where he would be part of the new film program. The editing software was 2 or 3 years older than what he had been using. He was the first film graduate from the university and the only one to date.

Andrews mom, Donna Dixon, affectionately referred to as “Madre” raised him and his siblings alongside their father, Ronald Sr. Madre obtained her Master of Science and System Engineering degree from George Washington University in D.C and worked full time to take care of her children while wholeheartedly supporting every single dream each of them had. On October 20, 2017, she passed away; Andrew was 25. Since then, he knew the best way to honor her memory would be to continue pursuing his film career. Through a dark time a spark lite in him to keep moving forward because that’s what his mom would want. His mom dedicated her life for greatness and expected no less from her children

Dec 2017 Nova Initia officially became a LLC. After his mom passed, he decided to get his company trademarked to honor her memory. At the time, the company was named J.S Productions which stood for his middle name, Jeremiah and last name Smith. The name was already taken, so due to legal reasons, he had to come up with a new name. While talking to his coworker, who speaks Spanish, they were able to come up with the name Nova Initia which is Latin for new beginnings. The name stuck with Andrew because it described his current stage in life, a new beginning.

The first film that he directed and edited called is Death Wish. Andrew says this is one of his proudest moments. A classmate in his English class wrote it and gave Andrew permission to make it into a film. The film had a lot of technical issues but the story itself is what Andrew loves. Andrew’s mom always talked about wanting to make it to one of his film screenings but she was in Maryland and his screenings were in Charlotte. One day she did make it to a screening. This was another proud moment for him. Nova Initia becoming a LLC, as well as his film Family Ties marked the beginning of him taking his craft more seriously and moving forward as a business. This is a proud moment for him as well.

Andrew has been cooking up a few projects for Nova Initia. He is currently working on Family Ties, which is a romantic drama about a man dating a woman who has a secret that the man doesn’t know about. Andrew is also working on The Other Side of The Coin, a documentary that will ask tough questions regarding reconciliation in American society between minorities and other groups. He and the director Fred Murphy, travel across the south, interviewing participants about their experiences during the Jim Crow Era.

The goal for this year and for years to come for Nova Initia is to solely be a film production company. The focus would be short films documentaries and featured films. Right now Nova Initia does events and photography to help fund the company. He continuously works hard making sure his films are of good quality so that he will stand out in Charlotte and in the film world.

Nova Initia is a independent film production company that offers videography services, photography, and event videography. The company is located in the Carolinas but he is willing to work worldwide. To get plugged in with Andrew and Nova Initia you can visit the Nova Initia Website , his Facebook , and Instagram . Nova Initia also has a Youtube.

Check out Death Wish .