2 East 8th Productions

08/25/2026

A few raw/unedited images from our upcoming short, “One For The Road”

08/22/2026

We’re back in the saddle! Our first official Grand Rapids production is a short written by Justin Strandlund called “One For The Road” starring Brandon Ruiter and Rick Meyering and shot on the DJI Ronin 4D
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Writer/Dir: Justin Strandlund
DP: Nate Fischer
Sound: Jake R. Morgan
Grip: Alejandro
Scripty: Amanda Olson
Executive Producer: Drew Dull
Special thanks to GR Community Media Center Tom

08/05/2026

Some good news out of the 2 East 8th camp.

THE LIFE & DEBT OF A LIBERAL ARTS MAJOR — a feature screenplay from our co-founder Drew Dull — is an Official Selection of the 2026 Cindependent Film Festival. It's a comedy about the distance between what you were promised and what you can afford, and the increasingly poor decisions that fill the gap. The pink ski mask is not a metaphor.

Real thanks to Cindependent Film Festival. They built a festival that puts filmmakers first — screenplay programming, a filmmaker lounge, lodging for visiting artists — and that kind of care is why Cincinnati's film community is actually growing instead of just talking about growing. We're grateful to be part of it.

September 17–19 at Memorial Hall in Over-the-Rhine. Drew and Justin will both be around all weekend.

07/15/2026

2 East 8th has officially optioned the film rights to The Sheriff's Son , the newly published memoir by Van Wert native Jim Clay.

The book — currently a top 150 Amazon bestseller in U.S. Biographies — tells the true story of Clay's childhood growing up inside the Van Wert County Jail in the 1960s, where his father, Wilmer Clay, served as county sheriff.

The connection runs deep. Jim Clay coached 2E8 co-founder Drew Dull in basketball more than twenty years ago in Van Wert County. The two reconnected this year when Clay reached out about the memoir he'd spent nine months writing.

Now in development as a feature film. Ohio-based production. Community premiere planned at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Van Wert.

This is exactly the kind of story we were built to tell.

Coverage from the VW Independent: https://thevwindependent.com/news/2026/07/14/movie-in-the-works-based-on-book-by-local-author/

The book is available now on Amazon.

Van Wert, Ohio breaking news and local information from the Van Wert Independent.

07/13/2026

We're excited to share that 2 East 8th Productions has optioned the film rights to The Sheriff's Son , the newly published memoir by Van Wert native Jim Clay.

The book — currently a top 150 Amazon bestseller in U.S. Biographies — is the true story of Clay's childhood growing up inside the Van Wert County Jail, where his father served as county sheriff. It's a coming-of-age story rooted in a piece of Ohio history that has never been told on screen.

We're developing it as a feature film to shoot in Ohio, working with the state's 30% Motion Picture Tax Credit, and planning a red carpet community premiere at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Van Wert when the film is complete.

This is exactly the kind of story 2 East 8th was built to tell: story-first, character-driven, and rooted in real places and real people.

More soon.

📖 The book is available now on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0bsRZm2I

04/02/2026

We made this social media video for Justin Doyle Homes — but honestly, it's a film about what it means to design with intention.

Tarah DeLeo-Murray is the lead designer behind The Obsidian, a luxury custom home in Cincinnati. She had a vision for it: calm meets contemporary. Spaces that feel lived-in before anyone's lived in them. We followed her through it. Sit rooms, drone passes, and a designer who actually has things to say. That's the kind of project we show up for.

Watch the full video ↓