42 MARCH 2021 By Mallory Gleich David Van Wie is a man who wears many hats, and one of those hats helped him win multiple awards at the annual Chandler International Film Festival. “I am a coach, filmmaker, realtor, real estate investor and a children’s book author. You only get one ride on this rock, so I want to make sure I try to get as much covered as possible,” Van Wie said. Van Wie grew up just outside of Detroit until about sixth grade when his family moved to Scottsdale. He attended Saguaro High School, received his master’s in education at ASU and moved to the Arcadia area in 2008. Before becoming a film director, Van Wie worked as a second- grade teacher and an elementar y school teaching assistant. He’s also coached for Madison’s youth RAMMS volleyball, St. Francis’ softball/ baseball youth league and JV softball at St. Mary’s High School. And how exactly did he go from being a coach to making his directorial debut? Van Wie had been on a board for Big Brothers Big Sisters and had voiced his thoughts about their commercials. “I told the CEO that I was going to make a commercial for them. I remember my wife staring at me a little confused, telling me, ‘You don’t know anything about making commercials,’ which was true, but I knew what I wanted it to look like,” he said. Van Wie wrote a script, hired a director and editor, and had a casting call at Valley Youth Theater. After showing the commercial to the CEO of BBBS, he was asked to produce five more. Van Wie decided to start a production company, which he named after a very distant relative: Fat Hendrick. Fat Hendrick was Hendrick Gerritse Van Wie’s nickname, the first Van Wie in the U.S. He immigrated to America and settled in New Amsterdam (later renamed Manhattan) in 1664. “I thought, ‘One day, I’m going to use that name for something.’ It is now the name of my production company and my pen name for my children’s book.” he said. Once his production company was up and running, Van Wie got to work on his first full-length film – Detroit Under S.T.R.E.S.S. The film is about a particular Detroit police unit started in 1971 called S.T.R.E.S.S. (Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets). The unit was very controversial. A year after its inception, Detroit had become the number one city for civilian shootings by police and the number one city for police deaths. His father, a former police officer, had been a part of the unit. “I knew I wanted to capture that history firsthand from the officers who were there, but they hadn’t talked to anyone in 50 years,” Van Wie said. “After about a year of hassling my father, he finally agreed to be interviewed on camera, and he got in touch with the other officers with whom he worked.” After seven years of tracking people down and doing exhaustive research, Fat Hendrick Production Company finished the film and began submitting it to various film festivals. In 2018, Detroit Under S.T.R.E.S.S. won the Best Documentary award at the Chandler International Film Festival. This year’s festival, held in late January, showcased over 100 films from national and international directors, producers and artists. Van Wie’s second film – Scout 10-5 – was honored with the People’s Choice Award. “ Scout 10-5 is another example of how time and perspective can blur history,” Van Wie said. “We have preserved the story from the firsthand account of the police officer that survived, who two years later, joins the S.T.R.E.S.S. unit. We balance the story with TV, newspaper and historical documents.” Van Wie is grateful his film was honored at the Chandler International Film Festival. “After all the research, scheduling, traveling, money, filming, editing, music, and refining that it takes to put together a full feature documentary, it is very humbling and rewarding to know that people appreciate it,” Van Wie said. “There are a lot of extremely talented filmmakers, and it is always an honor to be at any film festival with them.” After the excitement of the event ended, Van Wie put his producer hat back on and is now in the research phase for his third documentary. He and his daughter are also producing a new show on YouTube called Patriot Plates. fathendrickproductions.com Valley film festival awards coach-turned-director Wife Elizabeth and daughters Bridget and Marie Van Wie with David holding the People’s Choice Award at 2021’s film festival. PHOTOS COURTESY OF DAVID VAN WIE to make sure I try to get as much covered as possible,” Van Wie grew up just outside of Detroit until about sixth grade when his family moved to Scottsdale. He attended Saguaro High School, received his master’s in He’s also coached for Madison’s youth Van Wie wrote a script, hired a director and editor, and had a casting call at Valley Youth Theater. After showing the commercial to the CEO of BBBS, he was asked to produce five more. to start a production company, which he named after a very distant relative: Fat Hendrick. Fat Hendrick was Hendrick Gerritse Van Wie’s nickname, the first Van Wie in the U.S. He immigrated to America and settled in New Amsterdam (later renamed WHY ADVERTISE IN ARCADIA NEWS There is no better way to reach Arcadia and the surrounding area. 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