Black Lagoon Pictures

Black Lagoon Pictures, founded 2000, is the evolution of Starlite Productions. Starlite began in 1982 in a small South Georgia town, when its founder, Jeffrey C. Ballentine, at the age of 10 picked up an 8mm camera and started making movies. Recruiting a dedicated group of friends, Starlite continued making short movies throughout high school and college. When Jeff moved to Atlanta GA in 1996, the movie making hobby took a 2 year respite.

Starlite re-entered the scene with the acclaimed PIRATE TITANIC (1998). Not only is it available online, it has aired on Atlanta Public Access, at the Fountainhead Lounge (Atlanta), and on Public Access Shows and local viewings across the country.

During the Summer season 1999, Starlite produced a weekly Public Access TV show, "Feature from the Black Lagoon", on People TV (Atlanta). While we still intend to produce occasional shows (perhaps quarterly), we do not have the time and resources to continue making movies AND maintain a weekly show.

Starlite's final movie (at least in name) was THEY CAME FOR THE SILION (2000), a year and a half long project that was, to date, this movie-making entity's largest. With a cast of over 20 people, the movie peaks at 38 minutes long. Filmed on Hi-8mm and non-linearly edited with a Pinnaclesys DC10+ (a card we DO NOT recommend, as we were plagued with DC10+ related problems), the movie cost only $800 to make. We printed up some sleek, glossy video sleeves for an additional price tag of $1000, but hopefully we'll be able to make some of that back through sales. After 18 years of movie making, Starlite's fitting burial comes after the successful completion of SILION, and it gets its name on a video sleeve, too.

Enter BLACK LAGOON PICTURES. Why the name change? While some were upset to see STARLITE retired, the time for change had come. Starlite's name came into being in 1982, or shortly after. The name itself has a very 80s ring to it. BLACK LAGOON PICTURES gives us the indy feel that represents who we are.

So we retire Starlite Productions. All of the movies are still there, they are ours, and they represent our roots. We are very proud of Starlite's work, and even more excited to see what BLACK LAGOON PICTURES will offer.