Documentaries That Make a Difference
Arrowhead Films is a full-service Austin-based script-to-screen film and video production facility producing award-winning documentaries. Whether it's a story about the heroes among us or the Earth we live on, we bring a passion for connecting audience and subject to every project we do. We believe in making a difference.
Who We Are
PATRICK FRIES
Patrick Fries has produced and directed award-winning short- and long-form documentaries and commercials for broadcast, educational, and corporate communications for 25 years. Before founding Arrowhead Films in 1995, Fries worked for NBC and ABC news affiliates and in corporate communications for the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Since founding Arrowhead Films, Fries has created programs for Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines, Universal Pictures, Disney, Hewlett-Packard, The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, BAE Systems, the Global Environmental Facility, Discovery Communications, Texas Worksource and many other clients.
Fries concepted and directed Discovery Communications award-winning documentaries In The Shadow of The Blade, and An Ocean Away: The Donald Matocha Story. He created “behind-the-scenes” documentaries for major motion pictures How To Eat Fried Worms (New Line Cinema, 2006), Friday Night Lights (Universal Pictures, 2005), The Alamo (Disney, 2004) and The Life of David Gayle (Universal Pictures, 2003).
RICHARD GAYLORD
Richard Gaylord is an award-winning production professional with comprehensive experience as a camera operator and director of photography for standard and high definition video projects including broadcast television news, commercials and feature-length documentaries; corporate communications; educational programming; feature film electronic press kit production; and digital web content. Richard’s skill set includes studio and on-location lighting and image and audio asset acquisition, post-production supervision and editing. Richard’s credits include public agency and corporate communications work for the University of Texas, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, the Texas Association of Registered Accessibility Specialists, St. Edward’s University, the Lower Colorado River Authority, the United State Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Morguelan Energy Institute, PBS, the Military Channel, Walt Disney Pictures, New Line Cinema and others.
CHERYL FRIES
Cheryl Fries is an award-winning Texas certified secondary English and history teacher and filmmaker. As a classroom English teacher at Westlake High School in the acclaimed Eanes Independent School District, Cheryl won student and administrative awards for her creative and energetic approach to student-centered, cross-curricular instruction. She pioneered the first inclusive classes in academic English at her school, co-created a tenth-grade English/World History collaborative course, and piloted the first technology-based instruction at Westlake High School through a University of Texas grant program. As co-owner of Arrowhead Films, Cheryl produced In The Shadow of The Blade, a feature-length documentary broadcast by Discovery that won awards in both the film and military communities and Believe It. Live It for the Boy Scouts, and directed A Touch of Home: The Vietnam War’s Red Cross Girls, which recently won best documentary in the GI Film Festival and is currently in consideration at the Women’s International Film Festival. As an instructional designer for Compass Learning, Cheryl concepted and directed 120 hours of highly engaging three-minute video lessons in TEKS-correlated English I and English II lessons for Compass’ software credit-recovery product. As the adoptive mother of a child with cerebral palsy, Cheryl is actively involved in best-practice, research-based special education inclusion issues and advocacy.
Prior to her teaching career, Cheryl worked for GSD&M Advertising as part of the team that created the award-winning “Don’t Mess with Texas” anti-litter campaign. As an Arrowhead Films principal, Cheryl has worked with the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, the Library of Congress, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the United States Army, the American Red Cross, the Lower Colorado River Authority, the Texas Association of Registered Accessibility Specialists and other public agencies, private corporations and NGOs.