By Georgia Entertainment staff
Writer and director Matthew Simpson sat down with Georgia Entertainment to discuss his micro-budget feature “Before Me,” a romance and psychological drama in which a heartbroken photographer falls for an aspiring writer, only to watch his retroactive jealousy over her secret past threaten to ruin everything they have built. Shot entirely in Carrollton, Georgia, with an all-Georgia cast and crew, the film used local settings such as Hobbs Farm, Lake Carroll, Sutton’s American Grill and the University of West Georgia, Simpson’s alma mater. Many of the people who brought it to life, from the on-set crew through the editor, colorist and sound designer, were students or recent graduates of UWG, Georgia State University and the Georgia Film Academy. Working on a shoestring, the team shot every weekend for five months across 2025 to finish production. Billed as the first feature film about retroactive jealousy, “Before Me” held its world premiere at the Tara in Atlanta on June 14, 2026.
Can you tell us a little about your film and what inspired the story?
SIMPSON: “Before Me” is a romance and psychological drama that dives into the subject of retroactive jealousy: a condition where an individual has an unhealthy, obsessive fixation on a partner’s past romantic or sexual history. The movie follows a heartbroken photographer falling for an aspiring writer, but in his mind, her romantic past could derail everything they’ve built together. I wrote this story three years ago following my own experience with retroactive jealousy. As I worked through and researched the condition, I learned that I wasn’t alone in this struggle. In fact, retroactive jealousy is becoming increasingly common in modern dating due to the access that social media gives us to visualize someone’s past. When I couldn’t find any movies that dealt with this topic in a way that felt realistic or relatable, I decided to write one. I wanted to craft a story that created awareness around retroactive jealousy and opened a space for conversation. I wanted to explore the question, “Does someone’s past matter?”
What were some of the biggest resources, from locations to crew to community support, that helped bring your film to life?
SIMPSON: This movie is a love letter to the city of Carrollton, Georgia, where I lived for four years. When I watch the film now, I’m blown away by the variety of locations the city offers. It allows our film to feel much bigger than our budget, and it gives me a time capsule of that moment in my life to look back on. I never could have completed this film without the support of the University of West Georgia, my alma mater. Special thanks to Nathan Ploeg, who offered up his office for a central location in the film and helped us find other locations across campus. Many of the core crew members of “Before Me” were either current UWG students or UWG alumni. Without UWG, this film would not exist.
Did you find Georgia’s film ecosystem, from crew to post-production, supportive of indie projects? How so?
SIMPSON: Absolutely. The cast and crew were all Georgia folks, and for many of them this was their first feature film. They were so eager and enthusiastic to make this film that they sacrificed their weekends to get the project across the finish line. Local film community organizations like the Atlanta Film Society and the Georgia Film Academy offer lots of great opportunities to meet other creatives who want to work on passion projects. You just have to be willing to talk about your project and be honest about what you’re asking of people. For post-production, I posted in the Atlanta Editor’s Collective Facebook group about looking for post-production positions, and I got so many replies from people wanting to work on the film.
You collaborated with several different universities and educational institutions to produce this movie. Tell us about that experience and why integrating students was important to you.
SIMPSON: It was just what was most comfortable for me at the time. I wrote the script around resources I knew I had access to. I turned to the people I knew, and a lot of them were fellow alumni of UWG. From there, word of the movie spread through the Georgia Film Academy, and eventually I brought on a lot of students from Georgia State University. Students are so eager just to work on something and build their skills. Even if they don’t have a ton of experience, they will put in the time and sweat on a project, and I’m so thankful for all the hard-working crew on this project.
What were the biggest challenges you faced while making this film, and how did you overcome them?
SIMPSON: Balancing scheduling was by far the hardest aspect of this film. We had to juggle actors’ and crew’s shifting availability over a period of five months, since we shot entirely on weekends. What really worked was having multiple backup plans. On our scheduling spreadsheet we had different tabs for different contingencies. This allowed us to stay on schedule even when we had to switch up our plans for a particular day.
What do you hope audiences take away from your film?
SIMPSON: I hope this film makes people evaluate their own ideas and beliefs about jealousy and cheating in relationships. I hope people ponder what their deal breakers are about someone’s past, or whether someone’s past even matters at all. My goal was to create characters that aren’t fully good or fully evil. I want characters that are complicated and messy, because I find that’s how most people are in real life. Hopefully the audience can see parts of themselves in these characters.
Independent filmmaking requires a lot of resourcefulness. Was there a particular moment on set where creative problem-solving saved the day?
SIMPSON: There is a pivotal scene in “Before Me” that takes place at a dinner party. We only had access to the location for this scene for two weekends, all night shoots. Unexpectedly, our lead actor was unable to be there for one of the weekends. We had to abandon the shot list I had created in pre-production and get creative with our blocking to mask the absence of the lead character. We had to shoot as much of the scene as possible without our lead, and then shoot his portion of those same shots at a later time. We paid special attention to maintaining consistent lighting and set decoration. Shout-out to my cinematographer, Adhitya Rajendran, for keeping the lighting so consistent. I also credit our colorist, Lucas Bryant, who made everything look seamless for the final cut. I’m really proud of how that dinner scene came together. It looks completely seamless.
Looking ahead, what’s next for you? And do you plan to continue making films in Georgia?
SIMPSON: I want more people to see this movie! Currently, I’m waiting to hear back from film festivals here in the Southeast. Hopefully many of them will play “Before Me,” and those screenings will allow me to connect with new audiences as well as other filmmakers to collaborate with on future projects. After that, I plan to do my own theatrical roadshow, where I take the film to independent theaters in different cities. The premiere further cemented my belief that collective viewing in a theater is the best way to watch movies. Hearing the audience react to the film made all of this struggle worth it.
The Georgia Entertainment Indie Spotlight, sponsored by Universal Production Services at Assembly Studios, is a recurring feature dedicated to showcasing independent filmmakers with strong ties to Georgia. Through written Q&As, profiles, and other coverage, we aim to celebrate the creativity, resourcefulness, and impact of local filmmakers who are contributing to the state’s growing film ecosystem.
