Independent Film & Documentary Production

Orange Archway: Compelling stories about extraordinary people.

Orange Archway Productions is a boutique film company built by two partners who believe the most powerful stories are already out there — in survivors, in witnesses, in people who quietly did the bravest thing in the room. We find them, earn their trust, and put them on screen.

Explore Our Films Work With Us
  • Founded by Patricia Wilson-Smith & Germain Green
  • Two titles in the library
  • NAACP Image Award nominee

Our Films

Two titles. Both about people who refused to be defined by what happened to them.

One is a feature documentary about a death that changed a country. The other is an animated short about a man who could not see, and still led five strangers to safety.

In Post-Production Key art for the documentary Garner: The Breath That Breathed a Movement — a young boy overlaid with an American flag and archival protest imagery, with the title in bold yellow lettering.

Feature Documentary

Garner: The Breath That Breathed a Movement

Eric Garner's death in 2014 was captured on video and heard around the world. This feature documentary examines it not as an isolated tragedy but as a window into the systems — policing, public policy and civic indifference — that made it inevitable. Blending archival footage, public testimony and critical reflection, the film asks not only what happened to Eric Garner, but what continues to happen in his name.

Format
Feature-length documentary
Status
Post-production · fundraising
Director
Dr. Arshley Emile
Executive Producers
Gwen Carr, Dr. Arshley Emile, Patricia Wilson-Smith, Germain Green
Full Project Details Support or Partner

Where it stands: the film is in post-production, with editing, sound design and final narrative shaping underway. Completion support and impact partners are actively welcome.

NAACP Image Award Nominee Key art for the animated short Walk In The Light — a white-haired man in a blue polo holding the hand of a young girl with braided pigtails amid rubble, with the title in white lettering.

Animated Short Film · 2024

Walk In The Light

The Oklahoma City bombing, told through the eyes of Raymond Washburn — a blind man who led five people to safety through smoke and wreckage he could not even see. Nearly thirty years later, Raymond recounts that day to his eight-year-old granddaughter, Aiyana, and uses the story to teach her to embrace her Native American heritage and shine her own light into the world.

Format
Animated short · 24 minutes
Year
2024
Writer & Director
Princella Smith
Executive Producer
Patricia Wilson-Smith
Recognition
NAACP Image Award nomination — Outstanding Short Form
Featuring
Gil Birmingham, Brenda Strong, Kevin Sizemore, Ryan Merriman
Full Project Details Host a Screening

The Partners

A two-person company. On purpose.

Small enough that a partner is in the room at every stage. Experienced enough to take a story from first conversation to final delivery.

Portrait of Patricia Wilson-Smith, founding partner of Orange Archway Productions.

Patricia Wilson-Smith

Founding Partner · Producer

An award-winning screenwriter, producer and technology executive, Patricia has spent her career building organisations and telling stories that bridge deep American divides. She executive produces both Orange Archway titles.

Portrait of Germain Green, founding partner of Orange Archway Productions.

Germain Green

Founding Partner · Producer

Germain co-founded Orange Archway Productions to develop and produce feature documentary work, and serves as an executive producer on Garner: The Breath That Breathed a Movement.

Read Our Full Story & Bios

What We Do

We develop, produce and shepherd films that need to exist.

Orange Archway is deliberately built as a production home rather than a service shop — but the same craft is available to partners, institutions and filmmakers who need a team that can actually deliver.

Documentary Features

Long-form nonfiction storytelling grounded in testimony and archival record — developed with the same rigour we would want applied to our own history.

Animated Storytelling

Animation lets us tell stories that live footage cannot reach — and carries difficult history to audiences of every age, as Walk In The Light does.

Development & Packaging

Story shaping, treatment and pitch materials, director and crew packaging, budget building, and the introductions that move a project from idea to financed.

Production Services

Producing partner for institutions, nonprofits and brands who have a story worth telling and need experienced hands on schedule and on budget.

Impact & Outreach

Films are the beginning. We build screening events, moderated talkbacks, panel programmes and community partnerships so a film keeps working after the credits.

Festival & Distribution Strategy

Festival submission planning, market positioning, press and media relations, and path-to-audience planning for theatrical, streaming and educational release.

How We Work

Four stages, one partner in the room throughout.

01

Listen First

Every project starts with the people in it. We spend time with subjects and collaborators before a single camera decision is made.

02

Shape the Story

Research, archival work and structure. We find the spine of the story and build the treatment, budget and schedule around it.

03

Produce It

Direction, crew, animation, editorial and post — assembled per project from a trusted network of specialists rather than forced into a house style.

04

Take It Out

Festivals, screenings, press, partnerships and release strategy — so the film reaches the people it was made for.

Recognition & Press

The work has travelled further than we have.

Walk In The Light has been covered nationally and nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Garner has drawn coverage and community support ahead of its completion.

The Oklahoman

Animated film about an OKC bombing survivor has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award

Coverage of the nomination for Walk In The Light.

Los Angeles Tribune

Princella Smith Started With a Laptop and a Promise — Now Walk in the Light Is Changing Everything

Profile tracing the film from concept to festival circuit.

40/29 News

Arkansas native's film nominated for NAACP Image Award

Regional coverage of the nomination.

KOCO News

'A blessing': Director of short film inspired by OKC bombing hero reacts to NAACP award nomination

Reaction from the filmmaking team.

WABE

Gwen Carr brings documentary on Eric Garner's death to Atlanta

NPR affiliate coverage of the Garner preview and fundraiser.

The Atlanta Voice

Eric Garner Documentary Previewed in Atlanta; Mother Calls Film "A Call to Action"

Coverage of the Atlanta preview screening.

Have a story that needs to be told?

Tell us about it. We read every inquiry ourselves and reply within two business days.

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