'I came from here and I am doing it': Former Neptune quarterback's latest film a holiday thriller

NEPTUNE - DeShon Hardy has gone from calling plays under center to directing scenes from behind the camera, and says his path has helped in Hollywood.

"I like to stay close to my roots and just continue to build. I want to build. Where I am from; the guys, the people, the kids and the students that want to dive into this world, it can happen, because I came from here and I am doing it," Hardy said. "And they didn't set me back, I just took that and made it another chip on my shoulder."

Hardy first made his mark in high school, making football history as a quarterback for Neptune High School in 1997, a team named one of the Jersey Shore's greatest ever by the Asbury Park Press in 2020, five years after the Press had also named Hardy one of the Shore's greatest players.

Now he is partnering with athletes like retired Super Bowl Champion Vernon Davis and NBA superstar Chris Paul for projects, as well as Garrett Temple of the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, both of whom are producers of his newest film, "What Lies Under the Tree."

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"I stay close to my roots with football and sports, and bringing those people back into this world," Hardy said. "I put at least three to four kids in college every year with the connections to guys I played with, guys that coached me that are now head coaches."

He added that "this year we got four (New Jersey student athletes) scholarships."

'You have to be a good teammate'

Hardy knows that the same skills that made him a success on the field have helped him thrive as a filmmaker.

"Whether you're in the game running a play or directing a scene in a show or movie, it all correlates together," he said.

"Understanding managing personalities, managing people it is kind of like the same thing, and being a team player. You're on set with these folks. Between talent and production crew, you take that same kind of mentality and apply it because you have to be a good teammate and you have to play your position well," Hardy said.

Hardy has always been a writer.

"I love writing, since my freshman year I was winning state poetry contests at Monmouth Regional," he said. "I remember being in elementary school in Neptune and them giving my mom folders and folders of my writings."

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When he attended University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he was still writing.

"I did plays, I had writing credits," Hardy said. "Then I went to New York Film Academy. I wanted to learn how to write for film. I got great reviews coming out of there."

After the director of his film school sat him down and told him to pursue a career, Hardy called his agent and began working for the production company behind "The Bachelor" TV series.

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"When you go to Hollywood, you start doing acting and I got a role in 'Ocean's 13' as the pit boss, and honestly when I went, it was this big set and I didn't like how they were kind of running the set for the little people," Hardy said. "I said I want to be behind the camera. I really, really want to pursue this."

Then he financed his first film.

"People called me crazy. (I'm) going to spend (my) own money, that is stupid, why would (I) do that … then I became a genius after that," Hardy said.

A dream isn't enough

He said that from his high school career through his college scholarships and the opportunities that opened after that, "it was all off of determination and ambition."

"If you don't have vision, it is just a dream. You have to take these thoughts and manifest and go after it," Hardy said. "Even for Black writers, Black filmmakers it is very, very hard to break into Hollywood and when COVID hit, the scope of distribution had changed."

His first film, "The Lake on Clinton Road," was released in 2012 on RedBox.

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"My first three films were horror films. The reason why I wanted to do that was I didn't need bigger names. Horror films sell internationally, worldwide," Hardy said. "I did a couple of (horrors) then I went to thriller (as a genre) because to the networks and studios, thriller sells."

In January 2022, he released the drama-thriller "Dear Best Friend" on the streaming service BET+ after working as the director and screenwriter for the project.

"I went to BET because I grew up on BET movies and grew up on independent (films) and I wanted to change the narrative of filmmaking, of Black cinema," Hardy said. "Last year I did seven original movies for BET, which is insane. My work ethic is different."

He clarified what he meant by "Black cinema."

"You hear about the Oscars and the people sitting at the table making the decisions don't look like you and I. We're still fighting that fight," Hardy said. "So when you hear me say Black cinema or Black film, there was always a stereotypical thought of what that actually should look like. It doesn't have to be that, it could be something that looks like Netflix or Marvel.

"Women are the biggest demographic for all of these platforms, streaming and studios. Eighty-eight percent of women are between 21 and 55, so you have to make movies for them," Hardy said.

He is aware that a lot of thrillers can be formulaic at times. "We've seen the same stories over and over again with different faces," he said, so he is working to be original, not derivative.

"I try to make sure I step out the box a little bit, but try to follow that same (winning) model," Hardy said. "I just kind of learned the data and have been in these meetings with these studios … so it is kind of like giving (the people) what they want."

In the long term, Hardy has ambitions of getting his films on Netflix. Right now, he wants to celebrate the holidays with his psychological thriller "What Lies Under The Tree," which was released on Dec. 8 via AMC Theaters and will be available on all VOD platforms on Christmas Day.

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com @CharlesDayeAPP

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Neptune NJ native's latest movie is 'What Lies Under the Tree'