• Slow-Motion Highlights

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    Highlights from the Duluth vs. Peachtree Ridge football game. Filmed by Mark Coughlin Media in HD and 60p slow motion.
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  • The Full Film Online

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    A modern adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. Written by Alejandro M. Patiño and Ashley Barker and filmed by 19 year old filmmakers John Merizalde and David Torcivia, the project was produced on a budget of $0. It was filmed on a borrowed Sony EX1 with music produced by friends Daniel Forkner, Ben Jackson, and Patrick Stoica.
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  • Where Water Meets Sand

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    Footage shot at Bradenton Beach, off the gulf coast of Florida in order to test some new equipment.
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Welcome

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Welcome to Via Optima. Via Optima is a small and agile video and film production company founded by two lifelong friends. The latest creation following a string of successful organizations, Via Optima takes guerrilla and student filmmaking to a new level.
Via Optima translates to (more or less) the Best Way. This is the mantra that dictates how we approach filmmaking. Specializing in low and no budget filmmaking, we continually create new processes that allow us to produce work that many would have thought impossible without an enormous budget, armies of employees, and other standbys. We strive to be creative and professional in our never ending quest to find the Best Way.
This site contains much of the available media the company has produced in addition to updates as to what is coming next in our busy production schedule. Materials for other filmmakers will also be provided occasionally as we firmly believe in helping others in the industry in addition to those who are just beginning on the road of filmmaking.
To learn more about the incredible origins of the company, visit our About Us page. Questions, comments, propositions, and anything else can be sent to us through our Contact Us page. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.
Once again, welcome to Via Optima where the Best Way is the only way.

Welcome to Via Optima. Via Optima is a small and agile video and film production company founded by two lifelong friends. The latest creation following a string of successful organizations, Via Optima takes guerrilla and student filmmaking to a new level.

Via Optima translates to (more or less) the Best Way. This is the mantra that dictates how we approach filmmaking. Specializing in low and no budget filmmaking, we continually create new processes that allow us to produce work that many would have thought impossible without an enormous budget, armies of employees, and other standbys. We strive to be creative and professional in our never ending quest to find the Best Way.

This site contains much of the available media the company has produced in addition to updates as to what is coming next in our busy production schedule. Materials for other filmmakers will also be provided occasionally as we firmly believe in helping others in the industry in addition to those who are just beginning on the road of filmmaking.

To learn more about the incredible origins of the company, visit our About Us page. Questions, comments, propositions, and anything else can be sent to us through our Contact Us page. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.

Once again, welcome to Via Optima where the Best Way is the only way.

home title
home title

About Us

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Via Optima was founded by two lifelong friends: David Torcivia and John Merizalde. The two met in sixth grade where their interest in film allowed them to quickly bond. David Torcivia had run a daily news show in 5th grade and John Merizalde had already decided he wanted to be a director. Clearly, film was in their blood.
Soon after meeting, the duo created their first bit of media that someone, somewhere certainly considers a movie. Regardless of it’s quality (or lack thereof), the film would jump start countless productions the two would create.
After their first creation, a slew of poorly animated creations emerged from JASC Animation Shop. Tired of animating every frame by hand, the now seventh grade duo looked to new software and discovered the mother of all internet video: Macromedia Flash (as it was then called). Macromedia Flash presented a steep learning curve but after a few test creations (and more importantly – the discovery of motion tweening) a decent movie was made. This movie was expanded into a trilogy starring a type of character animation invented specifically for these films – Chibis (pronounced Chee-Bees).
Finally, in eighth grade, John Merizalde received a camcorder and the first live action short was create. Terrible though it was, it was light-years beyond the flash and JASC monstrosities the two had suffered through previously. Throughout high school David and John slowly built up their filmmaking skills through the creation of numerous shorts and school projects. During this time, several media companies were conceived, created, and then slowly corroded until a new one would rise again from the ashes. It was great sport and endlessly entertaining.
At the conclusion of their senior year, the two determined that they must create a final film before their departure to college that would epitomize all they had learned in their 15 years of combined film experience. David dusted off a script he wrote in ninth grade and production soon began. Thus was born The Shepherd. A film created on an incredibly low budget (many would say no budget) but made to look as professional as possible. David and John worked tirelessly to find the best way to do everything a two-man crew could. And so Via Optima, which translates to the best way, was created. It’s name is a mantra the two hold dear and follow everyday in the journey that is filmmaking.
In college the journey has continued and the pace has quickened. Quality and quantity have drastically increased as the duo begin to attract interest in the world of film.
Check back often for updates and new media at Via Optima. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., please contact us, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Via Optima was founded by two lifelong friends: David Torcivia and John Merizalde. The two met in sixth grade where their interest in film allowed them to quickly bond. David Torcivia had run a daily news show in 5th grade and John Merizalde had already decided he wanted to be a director. Clearly, film was in their blood.

Soon after meeting, the duo created their first bit of media that someone, somewhere certainly considers a movie. Regardless of it’s quality (or lack thereof), the film would jump start countless productions the two would create.

After their first creation, a slew of poorly animated creations emerged from JASC Animation Shop. Tired of animating every frame by hand, the now seventh grade duo looked to new software and discovered the mother of all internet video: Macromedia Flash (as it was then called). Macromedia Flash presented a steep learning curve but after a few test creations (and more importantly – the discovery of motion tweening) a decent movie was made. This movie was expanded into a trilogy starring a type of character animation invented specifically for these films – Chibis (pronounced Chee-Bees).

Finally, in eighth grade, John Merizalde received a camcorder and the first live action short was create. Terrible though it was, it was light-years beyond the flash and JASC monstrosities the two had suffered through previously. Throughout high school David and John slowly built up their filmmaking skills through the creation of numerous shorts and school projects. During this time, several media companies were conceived, created, and then slowly corroded until a new one would rise again from the ashes. It was great sport and endlessly entertaining.

At the conclusion of their senior year, the two determined that they must create a final film before their departure to college that would epitomize all they had learned in their 15 years of combined film experience. David dusted off a script he wrote in ninth grade and production soon began. Thus was born The Shepherd. A film created on an incredibly low budget (many would say no budget) but made to look as professional as possible. David and John worked tirelessly to find the best way to do everything a two-man crew could. And so Via Optima, which translates to the best way, was created. It’s name is a mantra the two hold dear and follow everyday in the journey that is filmmaking.

In college the journey has continued and the pace has quickened. Quality and quantity have drastically increased as the duo begin to attract interest in the world of film.

Check back often for updates and new media at Via Optima. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., please contact us, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

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