Rocky Walls said everything he does is centered around storytelling.
Almost 20 years ago, he and his business partner, Zach Downs, founded their production company, 12 Stars Media. In 2023, they produced its first feature film, “Dirty Laundry,” a coming-of-age story set in the late 1990s and filmed in the historic Tony Ray Laundromat.
More recently, Walls has focused on local documentary filmmaking through Hoodox, a nonprofit he and Downs launched in 2021. The organization created hoodox.tv, a streaming platform; PitchDox, a $10,000 documentary film competition; and DreamDox, a local film industry conference.
Now, Hoodox has created a new opportunity for Indiana filmmakers, in partnership with Indiana Humanities, Free Press Indiana and Heartland Film. LIFT will give five filmmakers $5,000 awards to help them create short nonfiction films “to raise the spirit of Indiana,” Walls said. The films will premiere at the 2026 Indy Shorts International Film Festival in July.
“But a big part of this program is also the mentorship opportunities. We don’t want to just throw out an application and then give five filmmakers $5,000 and hope that it all works out,” Walls said. “We want the entire process, starting with the application, to be an opportunity for filmmakers to learn and grow.”
In an interview, the movie buff talked with Mirror Indy about his tips for applying for LIFT, the movie he watched twice last year on a 20-hour flight and three of his favorite recent documentaries from Hoosier filmmakers.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s a pro tip for someone who’s never applied for a grant?
We are asking for things like an explanation for how you’ll budget for the project — how you’ll be able to keep the project within a scope that’s reasonable for a $5,000 award.
We’re not looking for overviews of organizations. These aren’t promotional videos for a nonprofit organization that explains their mission.
Strong LIFT stories need to focus on one person or a very small group. You’ve got five minutes or less. So the more narrow you can keep the story and the more focus you can put on an individual, the better.
They don’t have to all be big stories. They could be small things. It could be individual choices or individual contributions that people are making that ultimately create a positive ripple effect.
Apply for LIFT
The grant program will award $5,000 to five filmmakers to create short nonfiction films (5 minutes or less) that “raise the spirit of Indiana.”
How to apply: Fill out an application before March 15.
Note: LIFT is a partnership among Hoodox, Indiana Humanities, Heartland Film and Free Press Indiana.
What made you want to get into filmmaking?
I had a huge library of media, and I watched movies all the time on VHS tapes and then eventually DVDs. I had hundreds and hundreds of movies.
Just out of curiosity, I looked at box office records for 1996, 1997 and 1998. And when you look at the movies that were out during those times, almost every single one of them, I remember watching in theaters.
When I was in middle school I was most excited about going to Media Play, which was kind of like Best Buy. But they also had books and a lot of music and stuff. Every time a new “Goosebumps” book came out, I was so thrilled to buy it, and I would read it in one sitting.
What are some documentaries you watched recently that people should check out?
There are three that are fairly recent, but that are really diverse in their storytelling.
“Root Black” by Manon Voice
The story of a family’s history of sharecropping in Mississippi and how Black farmers are reclaiming their connection to land.
The storytelling is a little experimental, where there’s dramatic readings, spoken word—there’s kind of an actor portrayal of some of the themes. Deonna Weatherly, a powerful filmmaking force in Indianapolis, was involved.
“Beyond El Barrio” by Nicole Martinez-LeGrand
A history of Indy’s first Mexican-American neighborhood on the eastside.
She did a great job finding lots of really great personalities, but also people who could speak to the history. She even found a cassette tape (with) recordings from past interviews that were able to be included.
“The Amateur Circus” by Erik Thein
The story of the annual circus in Peru, Indiana, “the circus capital of the world.”
Credit: Provided by Hoodox.
The filmmakers took a very cinema vérité approach, where they’re just kind of observing. They have some people talking in the film, but it’s all very casual and conversational.
What’s something you watched in 2025 that you thought was cool?
A movie that just blew me away was “The Life of Chuck.” I watched it on a plane to Shanghai. My mind was blown so much that I looked at the clock, and I was like, well, I’m on this plane for another nine hours, so I might as well just watch it again.
What are you working on right now?
At 12 Stars Media, we’re working on another documentary in our “More Than Corn” series. It’s about a farm called Sugar Creek Malt. The farm grows heirloom grains that they take through the malting process and end up getting used in beers and whiskeys all over the country.
If you had a couple words to describe the film scene in Indiana to outsiders, what would you say?
Two answers. Extremely talented and growing quickly. But for me, it’s not necessarily about the industry. What’s really special about filmmakers in Indiana is that they have the attributes that Hoosiers tend to have innately anyway. And one of the best, I think, is sincerity.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Mesgana Waiss covers arts and culture. Contact her at 317-667-2643 or mesgana.waiss@mirrorindy.org.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
