Film Production

David Smith and Bob Beverage formed Nautilus Film Project, LLC in March 2022.  Their goal was to make a short documentary film about the work of Ben Krywosz at Nautilus Music-Theater and the contributions of his late mentor, Wesley Balk.  As the project has progressed, however, its scope has broadened to become a showcase of the development process for new work in opera and other forms of music-theater all around the United States over the past decade or two.  While only two or three new operas were premiered on major stages twenty years ago, now more than twenty are premiered each year, and major opera houses from the Metropolitan Opera to small regional companies are making room for new works in their programming.  The film will go behind the scenes to highlight the amazing talents of composers and librettists and the difficulties of developing a successful new work.

David and Bob are acting a co-executive producers on this ambitious project and are seeking support from opera companies, institutional donors, and individual patrons of the arts.