RESS COLUMBUS — Local girls, the Solace sisters, must come to terms with their pasts with each other and themselves as they careen headlong into a series of murders in the small town of New Liberty. Alexa Solace, played by award-winning actress, producer, and writer, Marissa Falsone, is the left-behind younger sister who is a wild child and carries a grudge for being left behind by her older sister, Austin Police Detective Simone Solace, played by Kelly Dealyn. Dealyn brought home a Best Supporting Actress award at an indepen- dent Toronto film festival. Finding So - lace is an independent film set in a small town called New Liberty.
Finding Solace Writer and Producer/ Director Maurice “Mo” Moore fell in love with Columbus as the setting for New Liberty. This hard-hitting psychological thriller had Columbus written all
over it when he envisioned a place to film critical scenes. When he wrote his script, he had never visited Columbus, but when he visited this small town, it seemed his script was written specifically for it.
Moore keeps it real by remembering he is, first and foremost, a father, a part ner and a family man. He said, “I was raised by some of the greatest people in the world that was predominately women.
They made me - the good parts of me- are all because of them. Everything I do is to honor them.” As an artist, Moore is a storyteller.
He got his first taste of the big screen when, at eight years old, he auditioned for a movie set in his small hometown in North Carolina. Before that, he had never been to a film or a theater. He won a part in this movie that became very popular. Moore said he is listed in the credits as the #1 Child in the film The Color Purple.
His passion lay dormant until he attended college and became interested in theatre. However, a setback that could have derailed a budding actor and director became evident when he was asked to read a part in a Shakespearean play.
Moore could only read on a fifth- grade level.
Travis Malone, a college professor, saw the potential in Moore even with his sparse reading ability. Malone mentored Moore, and each morning at five, he would come to Malone's office and read a newspaper. This went on for months, and the rest, they say, is history.
Moore acted and then formed Motivate Pictures, based in Austin, to work around his acting. However, he found that he enjoyed being behind the camera and started producing a number of indie films and using students from his acting studio, Breathe. Now, he points his camera at small-town America and shoots gritty, down-to-earth, movies that keeps everyone watching through the twists and turns that have made Maurice “Mo” Moore an award-winning movie maker.
Not bad for a young, black boy from poverty to a brilliant artist whose next movie could rival The Color Purple.
