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STAUNTON — An aspiring writer, Lysandra Petersson grew up on a farm just outside of Staunton, graduating from Stuart Hall and Hampshire College in Massachusetts before moving to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams.
She lived in the “City of Angels” for a decade, meeting her eventual husband there and discovering her true calling — filmmaking.
As kids, Petersson and her brother, Zan Gillies, loved making movies with their parents’ camcorder. It was just fun for Petersson, not something she seriously considered as a career. Gillies, on the other hand, went on to earn is Master’s of Fine Arts in film and electronic media from American University. As an independent filmmaker he’s directed and produced more than a dozen short films and music videos.
It took Petersson, a creative writing major in college, a little longer to rediscover that path. It was a workshop in the spring of her senior year at college where several Hampshire graduates spoke to students about filmmaking. She got an internship with the alumni’s company in Los Angeles, moving there in 2007.
“That was my first sense that this was actually possible,” Petersson said. “Up until then LA felt really far away and big and scary.”
She had an aunt in LA and was able to live in an apartment above her garage, calling that a soft landing for someone moving to a city of nearly four million people. It was still culture shock, but she was eager to explore the world. Having family there helped.
“I liked the big city, I liked the idea of Hollywood and everything,” Petersson said.
She found little ways to get into the industry, working in the production offices of low budget films. While she wasn’t getting rich, she was getting experience.
When she and her husband, Zach Laliberte, had their first daughter, the family decided to move back east to be closer to family. Lalibete was from Chattanooga, Tennessee, so Staunton is only a few hours away. He was an actor, first in Chicago and then in Los Angeles. He is also a singer/songwriter.
Petersson, Lalibete and Gillies started Deep Structure Productions in 2014, eventually moving to Staunton three years later to operate it. Originally Petersson and Lalibete worked out of their house in Staunton, but in 2022 they moved into a building on the corner of West Beverley and South Jefferson streets.
Petersson took a business class through Staunton’s Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, which taught her how to run a company. To that point, she said the company was more of a hobby.
“Our idea was we will take client work and have that pay to run the business,” Petersson said. “Then have our creative projects.”
One example of client work was filming the Dawbarn Award presentations for the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge. They’ve done work for the Queen City Silviculture, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and New Bridges Immigrant Resource Center. They’ve also shot political commercials.
Deep Structure has also produced feature and short films, currently finishing “500 Fireflies.” Petersson hopes that film will be done by this summer. The company has also shot music videos and documentaries.
Perhaps the biggest project to date, and the one they are focusing most on promoting at the moment, is “Life in the Heart Land,” a documentary that divesdeep into the heart of America to meet people creating unique solutions to rural America’s toughest challenges.
The eight-episode series premiered in March on VPM PBS and featured stories from throughout the state. Several of the stories focused on Staunton, including a thriving community garden started by Staunton sisters Naomi and Sarah Jones and the issue of a growing jail population focused on Middle River Regional Jail.
The idea for the docuseries was originated by K.T. Eaton before the pandemic. VPM greenlit the project and was scheduled to start filming in April 2020. That didn’t happen once COVID shutdowns began. Eaton had changed career paths once VPM was comfortable to start shooting, but she referred the company to Deep Structure.
“It basically just got handed to us as this idea,” Petersson said. “K.T. and I are kind of kindred spirits on the kinds of stories we’re interested in, they counter the sort of hopelessness that I feel you see in a lot of media.”
Having a postiive impact on the world and discourse among people is one of the goals of Deep Structure. Petersson feels this docuseries is very much aligned with that goal.
Starting this Sunday, May 7, and running every Sunday in May at the Visulite Cinema in Downtown Staunton, there will be screenings of the episodes of “Life in the Heart Land.”
The screenings are free to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the first of two episodes will begin at 7 p.m. It’s a double feature, with two ½-hour episodes showing each Sunday night, followed by a talkback at 8 p.m.
“We’ll have a panel with people associated with the series who will answer audiences’ questions,” Petersson said.
Petersson is feeling a bit vulnerable putting her work on display, not only in her hometown but with her there, in person. Online, she said the comments about Deep Structure’s work are what they are. Good, bad, it’s all kind of impersonal. This will be very personal.
“But I think that’s the responsibility of a filmmaker to be in front of an audience,” she said. “Like, really understand what kind of a feedback you’re getting. If you’re not willing to do that then you’re not really an honest filmmaker.”
For the future, Petersson wants to continue with the community building aspect of art making, which is important to Deep Structure. They’ve recently started a writers group that meets every Saturday.
“That’s been a fun thing,” Petersson said. “It forms friendships as well as it generates creativity and helps people tell their stories. There’s something really healing about that.”
Petersson said they want to have an economic impact in the community. They are working closely with Silver Line Theatre Exchange, working with students and talking about how you don’t have to live in a big city to be a working artist.
Those are just some examples of projects Deep Structure wants to involve itself in.
“We have lots of big plans,” Petersson said.
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— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
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