Just over 100 years ago, as Hollywood started in the west, “Great Uncle Jim” strongly believed in keeping filmmaking on the east coast. Jim Sammon was a veteran of World War I and an early collaborator with Walt Disney. Today, however, his legacy lives on as one of the world’s first to create “talking” films.
With big ideas for keeping film production along the Atlantic, he set out to create the “Hollywood of the East.” A mere four days after purchasing a studio in Sarasota, Florida, the catastrophic stock market crash of 1929 upended much of the world, including the burgeoning world of film production. Amidst the depths of the Great Depression, Jim Sammon was forced to cease operation.
Roseland Pictures was Jim’s production company.
Fast forward to the present day, and Jim’s great nephew, John Sammon, alongside his wife, Nancy Saade, launched their own film production company. In a grateful nod to Jim’s legacy, they aptly named it Roseland Pictures. “We wanted to create a link back to our family roots that started filmmaking,” said Sammon.
Their headquarters? Right here in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Sammon and Saade are far from novice filmmakers. Sammon, an acclaimed, award-winning film and television director, was based in Los Angeles for nine years before relocating to Dubai, UAE, to work as a director and producer for multiple documentary and reality television series. Saade began her career producing multinational television commercials before moving to Dubai with a desire to focus on more in-depth storytelling through documentary filmmaking. As fate would have it, Saade found Sammon through their network, hoping to snag him as a director for an upcoming production. They found love instead. Collaborating on a few productions after getting married, they dove into entrepreneurship and founded Saluki Media, a full-service film production company.
Like many who find their way to the Triangle area, Sammon’s family in New York relocated up the road to Louisburg, North Carolina. After visiting the area several times for holidays and family gatherings, Sammon and Saade discovered Wake Forest. They instantly knew it was a special place to live, work, and raise a family. They hatched a several-year plan to move to the community and raise their family. “We realized how strong and amazing the financial and economic development was, along with the beautiful, small-town feel, and absolutely fell in love,” said Sammon.
With the help of a decade-old business in Dubai, Saluki Media became the genesis for Wake Forest-based Roseland Pictures. “We saw a need for a proper film and television production company in Wake County. There is a lack in comparison to the numerous businesses that need professional and high-level communications,” said Sammon. “We also wanted to create a hub here for our North American, South American, and Western European filming. It made sense for us to found a company that could service — for Saluki and Roseland — all the shoots that require us to be on this side of the planet, as well as enable our desire to live in America.”
While Roseland Pictures provides a hub for the North American continent, its business model aims to specifically serve Wake Forest, Raleigh, Wake County, and beyond. Since launching just over a year ago, Roseland has done various locally-based productions, as well as shoots in Santa Ana, California, Denver, Houston, and Austin. Sammon and Saade explained how the US market allows them to diversify from documentaries and corporate communications to narrative and feature filming. “There are multiple levels,” the two said. “On one level, we’re a local production company. We’re Wake Forest proud and want to develop that local base. The second is the national shoots we get, and lastly is the potential to break into feature films.”
The duo explained how although Saluki Media is an 11-year-old production company, Roseland Pictures is still in the launch phase, and no client is too small. “We want to talk to, and work with, everybody,” says Sammon. “Anybody who thinks they have a storytelling need or message they want to convey, a brand they need help to define, or a story they want to come across through moving picture storytelling, that’s where we come in.” Just ask locals such as Fishin’ Shrimp, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School, and Saving Grace Animal Rescue, among others. Their location in The Loading Dock coworking space has also served them well as a local networking catalyst.
When asked about the impact Wake Forest has on Roseland’s current success, Sammon immediately exclaimed, “This is where we mention the amazing support we’ve received from the Town!”
Like many businesses coming to town, Roseland started at the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce. “We first met with Liz Simpers and became members. Through the Chamber is how we met Jason Cannon of the Wake Forest Business and Industry Partnership (WFBIP) and other players in the town. We ended up being able to premier our Fishin’ Shrimp film in front of the entire town’s Economic Development Forum. The support we’ve received, from the second we landed and said ‘Hi, we’re here to make movies,’ has been extraordinary.”
Saade adds, “Between the Wake Forest BIP and the Chamber, we have been very well-received. We’re incredibly grateful — and thankful. We’re dedicated to this town and its surrounding area.” Sammon adds, “We live here and don’t see ourselves ever leaving. At the end of our website, it says we’re here to stay, and we mean it.”
