Givan Onuaguluchi-May stars in the post-apocalyptic “A Light Amidst Ashes,” an independent film set to premiere at the Little Art on July 3. (Film still)
Small budget, big premiere
- Published: July 4, 2025
The Little Art Theatre will host the premiere of “A Light Amidst Ashes,” an independent feature written and directed by 20-year-old Dayton-based filmmaker Rose Combs, on Thursday, July 3.
The film tells the story of 17-year-old Elijah Notch, played by Givan Onuaguluchi-May, who navigates a post-apocalyptic world in the wake of a mysterious virus, accompanied only by his pet cat. In speaking with the News last week, Combs compared “A Light Amidst Ashes” to the 2007 film, “I Am Legend,” in narrative, if not necessarily in tone.
“It is post-apocalyptic, so there are horror aspects,” Combs said. “But I definitely lean more into the drama genre.”
The film was produced by Alpha-Marshall Productions, a studio founded by Combs’ friend, Joshua Matthieu, in 2023, in collaboration with core members Jerry Ward, Brianna Halsey and Combs. Alpha-Marshall’s first project was 2024’s “The Rake,” a horror film based on the internet monster of the same name and completed on a shoestring $2,000 Kickstarter budget.
“We turned the proceeds from that first film into this one,” Combs said. “So [‘A Light Amidst Ashes’] had about a $1,500 budget.”
That budget was stretched by way of community connections and goodwill. Shooting locations included Vandalia Butler High School and the Toll House Tavern in Union, secured via personal connections within the production team. Though “The Rake” and a second Alpha-Marshall project, 2024’s “Writer’s Block,” involved mostly the company’s core team, most of the cast for “A Light Amidst Ashes” was assembled through online calls and local outreach, bringing in new faces to the group. One cast member, however, came from closer to home — the main character’s feline companion.
“This was my pet cat,” Combs said with a laugh. “You don’t really work [with a cat]. We followed it with a camera, and it did what it wanted. So we didn’t have pet auditions.”
Combs, who just finished her sophomore year studying biology — with a minor in film — at University of Dayton, said she wrote the first draft of the script while in a high school media production program. She finished a final draft in April 2024, and filming took place from May through August 2024. Combs edited the film herself, wrapping post-production just in time for this summer’s premiere.
Combs said working on “The Rake” was a learning experience for her and the entire production crew of close friends, but stepping into the director’s chair for her own feature-length film really pushed her to stretch her filmmaking muscles.
“I remember the first day we were on set; we had this empty high school to ourselves for five hours,” she said. “There were 30 people on set … and this was the first time that we had kind of branched out of our own little group, so it was scary, and I had a lot of people I didn’t know looking to me as a director. I had to really grow into that role.”
Originally from Union, Combs said she first fell in love with film watching movies with her family — especially her late grandfather. Making movies — and one day, hopefully, a television series — feels like her “calling,” she said. Though she hopes “A Light Amidst Ashes” will turn a modest profit, it would all be in service of creating Alpha-Marshall’s next film — the model she and her fellow creators established with their first film.
“It really has been a labor of love,” Combs said. “I could not have done it without all the people who came together and helped me — people I got to know, and then people I’ve known for years. They all kind of embraced the project and supported me, especially through the harder bits.”
The Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs — a town Combs has visited her “entire life,” she said — felt like the natural choice for the film’s premiere.
“I think Yellow Springs kind of has a magic to it,” Combs said. “It’s kind of like going on vacation in Ohio. … There’s a small-town warmth.”
“A Light Amidst Ashes” will screen at the Little Art Theatre at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 3; go to http://www.littleart.com/showing/a-light-amidst-ashes for more information. A second screening will be held Wednesday, July 30, at The Neon in Dayton.
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