As a little girl, Theresa always wanted to be an actress, (and missionary nurse). She began
dancing at 5 years of age and teaching dance at 16. During High School in Elkhart, Indiana she was active in Theatre
Production as well as TV and Radio. She also ran a local Dance Studio for a year.
After graduation from High School, Theresa and her family moved back home to Mars Hill, North
Carolina. Her plan, was to go to New York or L.A. to pursue her dreams. But, at 19 she fell in love with a local boy, married
and began a family. At the same time, she attended Mars Hill College as a Theatre Performance major. She also began her own
Dance Studios, later to evolve into "Backstage Studio Performing Arts Center."
Theresa continued to wait for the Film Industry to find her. After the first 4 of 6 children
her dream finally became a reality. She wasn't an actress but in her mind, perhaps even better, she began working as a Casting
Associate. For the next 15 years Theresa worked closely with Casting Director: Shirley Fulton Crumley on numerous Feature
Films and TV Movies. A few of the Movies Theresa has worked on are: "The Last of the Mohicans",
"A Time to Kill", "The Chamber", "Ali", "Heavyweights",
"Richie Rich", "The Rosa Parks Story", "The Fugitive",
"Forest Gump" and "The Patriot", etc... as well as numerous commercials.
In the 1990's Theresa developed a series entitled "Legends of Appalachia"
and formed Legacy Films. A premiere was held for "The Ballad of Frankie Silver" in 2000. For the
175th Anniversary of her wrongful hanging, a re-release is scheduled for 2008.
In Early 2006, Theresa's son Ryan became her partner in Legacy Films Ltd. They are currently
busy working on more legends and a new series "Sojourn to:" (a short journey) to locations
special to the Legacy Films' mission as well as a new Webisodic series they are developing.
"I'm more proud of our projects in the "Legends of Appalachia" and "Sojourn to:"
series with budgets of under 50k, because of the love and support of the Cast/Crew and others involved on these more
intimate projects, than I am of the movies I've worked on with budgets of millions. There's no question about it!"
Theresa E. Phillips
