One victim, 10 suspects, who is responsible for the disappearance and murder of Misty? Sophomore Derek Roberts is directing an indie murder mystery movie with the help of his friends. The movie, “A Modern Murder,” is planned to release in 2024. 

The movie follows the storyline of a girl named Misty Manchester, played by junior Daphne Cockerham, and her disappearance. Detective Dwayne Buell (sophomore Zayah Burke) is trying to solve his girlfriend Misty’s disappearance and murder by questioning each and every suspect. 

“I have always loved filmmaking and the art of filmmaking,” Roberts said.

Roberts has been working on this project for about a year. He saved $700 over the summer to buy a Canon camera to film with. His passion for filmmaking and for this movie has kept him motivated throughout this project.

“I just love directing,” Roberts said. “It’s really awesome just to see the shots come out.”

Roberts is not only directing his movie but also acting in it. He plays a character named Foggy Foe who is Buell’s moral compass. Roberts envisioned that the characters should be based around the actors that play them, so that’s exactly what he did. 

“I took Theater 1 with Daphne and we did a lot of projects together in that class,” Roberts said. “Which of course involved acting and she is very good at acting so I just felt that she had the right skill set to play the character.”

Roberts has always had support from his friends and fellow castmates. Many cast members have come and left the project but Burke and Cockerham have stayed since the beginning. 

“I believe in Derek, I believe in what he’s doing and I think this could actually work,” Burke said.

The movie is planned to stream on YouTube on the “A Modern Murder” channel when it releases and will be free to stream. The trailer is already posted on the YouTube channel. 

CORRECTION Nov. 16, 2023: In the original version of this story, Zayah Burke’s character, Dwayne Buell’s name was spelled incorrectly, and the character of Misty Manchester was incorrectly labeled as Foggy Foe’s sister. Manchester is B.R.’s (the narrator’s) sister. We apologize for these errors.