Delaney Tarr
Tucked into a venue off a Fayetteville road, there’s an interesting scene unfolding: A quirky crew of country club employees are trying to fend off a squirrel invasion during a 16th birthday party for the son of the country club board president. All while trying to hide some dire finances from the club’s wealthy patrons.
But it’s all totally fictional – and part of Christian Noél’s proof-of-concept television pilot “Cobb County Country Club” through the Trilith Institute’s Emerging Creative in Residence program.
Noél has spent most of 2025 developing the half-hour workplace comedy pilot as a writer and star. Crew members compared it to “Superstore” and “Parks and Recreation” with near-nonstop laughs. The writer-performer is the second-ever “resident” of the year-long program.
As a Trilith Institute resident, Noél lives and works at Trilith while industry professionals help him develop the original script into a full-fledged pilot with a $100,000 budget. Last year, the Trilith Institute kicked off its year-long residency program with Ebony Blanding and her feature film “A Mess of Memories”.
Trilith Institute President and CEO Jeffrey Stepakoff said the nonprofit created the residency to directly invest in the next generation of Georgia-based storytellers.
“We launched the Emerging Creative Residency to give Georgia storytellers what they too often have to leave the state to find,” Stepakoff explained. “Support, funding and a professional ecosystem that helps them bring their ideas to life right here at home.”
The residency is designed to provide aspiring writers and directors with the tools, mentorship and funds necessary to make their own fully realized projects. In the long run, the institute aims to make it easier to work in Georgia film. It also wants to boost the homegrown entertainment economy.
But for Noél, the whole experience was a “happy accident.” He is originally from Richmond, VA, but moved to Atlanta to continue his work as an actor and playwright. He developed several plays and even got one produced in Mexico. He has been an extra in a few projects filmed at Trilith studios, too.
Things didn’t really align until a friend tried to send Noél a link to a play reading at Trilith. He clicked the link, but it took him to the application for the Emerging Creative Residency.
“I had already had an idea for this (pilot),” Noél explained. “Then I was like, ‘Oh, this could be my way of getting the idea out!’”
Noél submitted a mix of plays and screenplays, but he decided to pitch the pilot concept for “Cobb County Country Club”. The story is based on his own experience working at a country club, with a hefty dose of shenanigans added in.
“It’s perfect for this program because it forced me to focus on the story,” Noél said.
Trilith representatives said Noél had a “really strong voice” and a great sense of humor that won him the spot. The $100,000 was the biggest Noél had worked with, but he said it was a perfect size for an emerging creative. As he went through the development process, Trilith professionals helped make the rest of his project the “perfect size,” too.
Mentors asked him to cut the script from 36 pages to 30 and keep the cast to five characters instead of eight. Other people at Trilith also read the script and gave him notes. Noél aims to be involved in post-production, too. It’s an involved process.
Stepakoff said the program aims to help filmmakers close the gap between an idea and a finished project through “access, mentorship and resources that accelerate both their projects and their careers.”
But Trilith also plugged Noél into a network of local filmmakers and he tapped into it to find a director for the pilot. The writer had previously met Georgia-based creative Andrew Sloth through the institute. Sloth had worked with Trilith through the University of Georgia’s Master of Fine Arts in Film, Television and Digital Media.
In 2025, Sloth received the Trilith Institute’s Creative Excellence Fellowship Grant for his comedy short “TENDERLOIN”. He also worked as one of the institute’s summer interns.
Sloth said he met Noél and felt “like we hit it off.” So when Noél asked the newly-graduated filmmaker to direct his pilot, it was an easy yes. Both the director and the writer-actor said it was a wonderful set throughout the five-day shoot, with a mix of veteran crew members and young creatives who knew Noél and Sloth.
As “Cobb County Country Club” moves through post-production, Noél plans to keep a laser focus on the edit. But the Trilith Institute sees this as an investment in Noél’s talent and in Georgia’s creative landscape.
“Projects like “A Mess of Memories” and “Cobb County Country Club” show that bold, original storytelling can be conceived and produced in Georgia, building a foundation for lasting creative careers,” Stepakoff commented.
The CEO isn’t the only one ready for Georgia talent. Sloth said there’s “a lot of great talent” in Georgia, and there needs to be productions to match. “I really, truly believe in the institute’s mission of creating a homegrown industry,” he continued.
“If everything can come from here, then we can have a fully sustainable industry,” Sloth said.
Applications now for the 2026 program are now open. Learn more here.
Images by Delaney Tarr
