GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Coming home during the COVID-19 pandemic led Ridgeview alum Guy Fisher III to reflect on what he’s accomplished in the film industry and what he wanted to build on.

His screenplay, “The Jackal” was a 2021 summer semifinalist at the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards. Fisher describes “The Jackal” as a neo-western about an aging barfly returning home.

“Ultimately, the goal is for it to become a feature with production behind it,” Fisher said. “It’s about the concept of home in your life and what that means.”

The screenplay mirrors Fisher’s own pandemic experience in Los Angeles and moving back to Green Cove Springs. He was working as an assistant editor when the pandemic began. Suddenly, many in the film industry had job uncertainty and the city was hit hard. Masks and groceries were not readily available, Fisher said.

“It felt like the end of the world,” Fisher said. “For example, Hollywood Boulevard was completely barren. There wasn’t a soul there. It was like that feeling before a hurricane.”

Fisher, who could continue to work post-production jobs remotely, figured it would be a good time to spend with family in Green Cove. Though grateful he could keep working, it was strange to work on films from his room, he said.

“It’s a weird juxtaposition,” Fisher said. “I would have dreamt to be in LA and work on movies [in high school], but I can come back to my childhood room and be closer to that.”

No path to Los Angeles is the same. Fisher and his friends began with putting googly eyes on Mexican food for a small YouTube following on a channel called “Chalupa Wars.”

“We were always making little videos and putting them on YouTube. We deleted [the channel] out of embarrassment,” Fisher said with a laugh.

At the University of South Florida, Fisher majored in biomedical science for a short time. He recalled trying to make a news show at the school while realizing all the work a medical degree required. A tough conversation with his parents followed soon after about his career change.

Fisher said the transition from medical aspirations to the editing and post-production field required hours upon hours of video tutorials and focus.

“I realized then, I didn’t want to give up this path. I wanted to explore,” he added. “There is a chance to be creative and be OK and be stable. It was not a clear path. It took eight months to find my first job.”

Fisher has worked on TV shows like the “Handmaid's Tale,” “The Expanse” and “The Mysterious Benedict Society.” He has credits for the horror film “The Unsettling” and with marketing on the TV adaption of “The Lion King.” He was a production assistant with “America’s Got Talent” in 2019.

“It’s exactly as crazy as you think it would be,” he said.

Fisher’s torso was used on the poster for the feature “Free Guy,” which was released in August. The star of the film, Ryan Reynolds, was too busy and his head was photoshopped in later.

“That was fun timing for a guy named Guy to be on ‘Free Guy,’” Fisher said.

The next couple of things on the horizon for Fisher are a pair of music documentaries. Fisher said he didn't know what his journey would look like, but his work put him in the right direction.

“It’s a journey that’s continuously unfolding before me,” he said.