8/12/2025 - High Point Market

UNCSA and HPMA Announce Collaboration for Documentary Film

HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 12, 2025 – The High Point Market Authority (HPMA) and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) School of Filmmaking are collaborating to produce at least one documentary film featuring High Point Market, the world’s largest biannual home furnishings trade event.

HPMA’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Ben Muller, entered into the partnership with Deborah LaVine, Dean of the UNCSA School of Filmmaking. Together, they will be credited as co-producers. The productions will offer opportunities for UNCSA student filmmakers to participate in all aspects of the documentary filmmaking process as members of the crew.

“High Point Market has been an economic and cultural phenomenon in this region of North Carolina for over a century,” says Muller. “I’m excited to collaborate with Deborah and one of the nation’s top-ranked film schools to spotlight a genuinely unique and enduring community ecosystem.”

Two experienced filmmakers were tapped by LaVine and Muller to lead the project.

UNCSA alum Nathan Knox (B.F.A. ‘18) is an award-winning filmmaker and cofounder of Notable Human Films, known for celebratory, character-driven explorations of the human spirit. His work blends the rigor of documentary with the emotional power of narrative cinema. Over the past decade, Nathan has created films for leading nonprofits that illuminate how education, innovation, and creativity unlock human potential.

His films have earned numerous accolades and humanitarian awards, with selections at Oscar qualifying film festivals. His mission and approach to filmmaking have placed him in acclaimed social-issue festivals like NBC’s Meet the Press Film Festival while also connecting with story-loving audiences, including in North Carolina’s very own Riverrun, Reel to Reel and Beaufort International film festivals.

Alexis Brunnert is an impact-driven filmmaker, documentary editor, and multimedia storyteller with nearly a decade of experience crafting engaging, socially relevant storytelling for the nonprofit sector. Her passion for untold, inspirational stories led her to co-found Notable Human Films, where she wields the resonant power of documentary to elevate and celebrate changemakers.

Alexis has collaborated with a staggering diversity of incredible talent, entrusted by Cannes Golden Lion-winning directors and Grammy-winning musicians to bring personally meaningful yet universally relevant stories to life. In partnership with organizations such as World Wildlife Fund, the South Korean Embassy, TERC, the National Science Foundation, and other leading nonprofits, she continues to use storytelling to drive awareness that fosters tangible impact.

The production team will begin its research phase at Fall Market in October, immersing themselves in the five-day trade event and related activities. Its crew will include UNCSA School of Filmmaking students, with filming expected to take place during the Spring Market in April 2026, including interviews with industry professionals and area residents connected to the show.

“The documentary will stand as a testament to what can be achieved when creative education and industry expertise come together,” adds LaVine. “We are thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to our students to have hands-on experience in the production of documentary film. We plan to submit the film to festivals across the country that celebrate innovation, design, and community impact, ensuring the story of High Point Market reaches audiences who can truly appreciate its influence.”

The completed documentary is targeted for release in late 2026.

About the High Point Market Authority
The High Point Market Authority is the official sponsor and organizer of the High Point Market in High Point, N.C. Featuring an extensive selection of exhibitors spanning every category, style, and price point—and attracting tens of thousands of visitors from more than 100 countries twice each year—High Point Market is the driving force of the home furnishings industry. Find High Point Market online at highpointmarket.org, and follow on social media using the hashtag #HPMKT.

About the School of Filmmaking at UNCSA
Consistently recognized as among the nation’s best training programs for filmmakers, the School of Filmmaking has produced some of today’s most creative storytellers. Led by?Dean Deborah LaVine, the film school is a collaborative community?with personalized attention from its deep bench of award-winning directors, screenwriters, editors, cinematographers, production designers and animators, all committed professionals who continue to practice in the entertainment industry.

The award-winning faculty in the School of Filmmaking have decades of real-world experience and a passion for mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in concentrations that include animation, cinematography, directing, picture editing and sound design, producing, production design and visual effects, and screenwriting. Students learn the latest in filmmaking and technologies through the Media and Emerging Technology Lab (METL), housed at “The Cube,” dedicated to exploring the production of immersive and innovative storytelling.

Partnerships with the RiverRun International Film Festival and OUT at the Movies Festival in Winston-Salem, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, N.C. and the Sundance Film Festival provide critical networking and screening opportunities for students, alongside annual trips to Los Angeles and New York City. Under Dean LaVine, the School of Filmmaking is connecting students to filmmakers across the globe through international partnerships. New program offerings such as the Story Art Studio are broadening the scope of the training and making students employable across a wide spectrum of work. Students in the School of Filmmaking make more than 130 films a year with all equipment and financing provided by the university, and tuition is less than half of other prominent film schools.?The film school has a unique collaboration with the School of Drama?at UNCSA, providing access to student actors for films; the School of Music?in the M.M. in Composition for Film and Media, through which film students and work with composers to score their works; and a collaborative program with the School of Design & Production, whose students design hair, makeup, and wardrobe for student films.

Notable alumni from the School of Filmmaking include Danny McBride (“The Righteous Gemstones”); Craig Zobel (“The Penguin”); Vera Herbert (“This is Us,” “Don’t Make Me Go”); David Gordon Green (the “Halloween” franchise); Zach Seivers (“Will & Harper,” “Nomadland”); Brett Haley (“Hearts Beat Loud,” “The Hero”); Rebecca Green (“It Follows,” “I’ll See You in My Dreams”); Jody Hill (“The Righteous Gemstones,” “Vice Principals”); Jeff Nichols (“The Bikeriders," “Loving”); Martha Stephens (“To the Stars”); Will Files (“The Batman,” “Stranger Things”); Zoë White (“Will & Harper,” “The Handmaid’s Tale”), Alex Bickel (“Beef,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once”); Alex McCarroll (“Superman”) and Michael Brake (“Barry”); among many others.

About UNCSA
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is a top-ranked arts conservatory and America’s first state-supported arts school. The nation’s only public university of five arts disciplines on one campus, UNCSA prepares emerging artists for careers in dance, design and production, drama, filmmaking, and music at the undergraduate through post-graduate levels, as well as through a specialized high school with free tuition for in-state residents. UNCSA provides industry-leading instruction in an inclusive environment where students are encouraged to leverage the arts as a mechanism for change. Interdisciplinary opportunities arising from the unique arts ecosystem on campus at UNCSA prepare artists to enter an evolving global arts and entertainment industry. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina System when it was formed in 1972. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

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