Written by: Travis Gupton
![Jason Miller](https://uca.edu/alumni/files/2020/11/Copy-of-Jason-Miller.jpg)
The University of Central Arkansas allows students to explore their creative endeavors through academic majors such as digital filmmaking. One UCA graduate has made his first big mark on the film world with the release of his first feature film.
Jason Miller ’11, ’15 is co-writer of the film “Echo Boomers,” which was released Nov. 13. The film, starring Patrick Schwarzenegger, Michael Shannon and Alex Pettyfer, is a crime drama centered on a group of millennials stealing from the wealthy to allow themselves a more upscale lifestyle.
“This is the most incredible thing in my career so far,” Miller said, adding that having such big names in his first feature film was a big catch.
“It really is surreal having someone like Patrick and Shannon in your first produced film,” Miller said.
![Jason on set](https://uca.edu/alumni/files/2020/11/Copy-of-CGN_0473.jpg)
“Echo Boomers” began as a 30-page script written by Arkansas-raised filmmaker Seth Savoy, who directed the film. Miller met Savoy while they were both students at UCA. Savoy would leave Arkansas to attend Columbia College Chicago, but the two remained in contact.
After reading the script, Miller suggested it needed to become a feature.
“Turning the script into a feature was pretty straightforward because the short version was already packed with potential,” Miller said. “We just started fleshing out what was there. It changed a great deal once we got into it. Honestly, it’s difficult to remember what the script looked like back then. It evolved so much. It went from being about general vandals to having this Occupy movement theme.”
“Echo Boomers” took five years to complete before it was announced and set for release.
“It took a long time to find the money, and the project went through a number of hands before things started to take off,” Miller said. “Not all of those hands could deliver on what they said they could, and Seth and I learned a lot about how these things work in the real world — what’s realistic, what’s flattery, that kind of thing.”
Miller, who earned both his bachelor’s and master’s in digital filmmaking at UCA, attributes his time at UCA to being prepared for the moment he started work on “Echo Boomers” shortly after his graduation.
![](https://uca.edu/alumni/files/2020/11/Copy-of-CGN_1888-1.jpg)
“I think my experience at UCA gave me a lot, not just in screenwriting, but in my directing experience as well,” Miller said. “Directing several short films at UCA prepared me for my role as creative producer on ‘Echo.’ Learning to tell a story visually, how to communicate to cast and crew, I feel I was able to contribute some of that to the film working alongside Seth. You can learn all of that outside of school, of course — you learn it by doing — but UCA gave me the opportunity to work on sets that I would not have found on my own.”
“Echo Boomers” was originally announced as a February release and is instead being shown in about 25 theaters across the nation this month as well as on video on demand. Savoy has also reached out to various independent theaters so the film can get more exposure.
Miller said he looks forward to seeing and hearing the feedback people have after viewing the film, adding that the audience will have to decide which characters they side with — and which they don’t.
“Hopefully, people enjoy the ride we take them on,” Miller said.
Photos provided by Set Photographer: Caty Gainer