Angie Sue Staheli

Angie Sue Staheli’s music video Ain’t Nobody Sees Them will be screening at the Utah Film Festival Friday January 6th at the Town Hub in American Fork Utah. 

Ain’t Nobody Sees Them follows Patience Leslie who has been greeting residents of Holly Springs, North Carolina for the past 120 years; watching people’s comings and goings – the dead, that is.

What was the inspiration to make Ain’t Nobody Sees Them?
From the moment I moved to Holly Springs, North Carolina, I knew there was something special about it. I felt compelled to learn its history so that I could help tell its story. After years of research and interviewing, I wrote a play (that I later turned into a musical) called Finding Patience.

The character of Patience Leslie (based on a courageous woman who lived in Holly Springs during the Civil War) takes the audience on a journey through the town’s history, interweaving it with her own.

We were grateful for an incredible response from the community resulting in two completely sold-out runs – the first in 2017 as a stage play and the second in 2022 as an original musical, comprising a total of 26 sold-out performances. I worked with a gifted Director of Photography (Rene Olmos) and Music Composer (Jeremy Phillips) to create this music video as a marketing piece for the musical. I wanted the musical to live outside of the stage and onto the screen.

From idea to completion, how did Ain’t Nobody Sees Them change?
To be honest, due to lack of budget and time (I was about to start rehearsals for the musical with a cast of 40+), it began as a much simpler project, but as Rene Olmos (Director of Photography) and I storyboarded the video, it  began to take a beautiful shape that felt right. We wanted to give more to it and let the spirit of the song really come to life. We felt that the stories of those who had lived and died in the town deserved to be honored through this piece.

What was the biggest challenge in getting Ain’t Nobody Sees Them made?
The biggest challenge was time (isn’t it always?). Everything always takes longer than you think it will – especially with outdoor shoots. Also, we would’ve loved to have made a music video for every song in the musical and hope to still do that.

What do you think is the most important takeaway from your music video?
There is often a longing for what comes ‘next’ in life and a certain loneliness to walking in our purpose as we wait for that ‘next’ season to come.

Sometimes it feels as though we are stuck. We may see others move forward, as we are left behind. But whether we know it or not, there is a divine orchestration guiding our entrances and exits. We are never forgotten. There is purpose in the waiting.

If you could have a do over with your film is there anything that you would have done differently? If so, what would you change?
Yes, I would have taken more time on the ending and added in shots from the church. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending portion with all of the people dancing. I would’ve pushed for more slow-mo, varied, etc. shots of individuals dancing and then leaving and walking away to go to their own “light”. We were short on time, so we did the best we could with what we had.

What do you have in the works?
I’m working on adapting the Finding Patience script into a screenplay.