Ogden filmmakers complete feature film ‘Left for Dead’
Photo of cast and crew taken minutes before filming the first shot of “Left for Dead.” Provided
This story was originally published in the March edition of The Ogdenite print newspaper.
Ogden-based filmmaker and writer Ryan McDonald started production on his second feature film, “Left for Dead,” in summer 2025. This latest film from McDonald has been brought to life by New Ogden Cinema, an organization that McDonald helped start from the ground up and is focused on bringing indie film to Utah.
McDonald grew up in the Weber County area and graduated from Fremont High School before moving to study filmmaking at the University of Central Florida.
During his youth, McDonald recalls having an interest in being a lawyer, police officer or spy. But at the start of high school, he realized that those interests were formed due to his love of movies. From that point forward, McDonald knew he wanted to become a filmmaker.
After returning to the Ogden area from Florida, McDonald formed New Ogden Cinema with a handful of local filmmakers in 2010.
“When we first started, we were kind of more of a filmmaking group and it was about networking and creating a community around making films,” McDonald said. “A lot of that started to change as the years went by. The big shift was around when the pandemic hit. … At that point, we started making movies as a production house.”
“Left for Dead” is currently in the post-production phase of the filmmaking process. Shot around the Monument Valley area, “Left for Dead” takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and is the story of a man's survival as he is being hunted. The film stars Utah talent BJ Whimpey and is produced by Brandie Lee McDonald and Danielle Bendinelli.
Ryan McDonald has said that inspirations for his film are neo-Westerns like “No Country for Old Men” and action films like “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
The film was shot across Utah and used a cast and crew made up entirely of Utah talent. McDonald felt inspired by films like “The Searchers” and “Stagecoach” that were also filmed in Southern Utah. Some scenes in “Left for Dead” were shot at the same location as Sergio Leone’s classic Western film “Once Upon a Time in the West.”
“It’s pretty awesome. They made their movie in that spot in 1968 and here we are 60 years later filming in that landscape,” McDonald said.
While previous New Ogden Cinema productions have been self-financed, “Left for Dead” is working with a budget of just over $8,000 from an Indiegogo campaign McDonald and his team ran in May 2025. McDonald explained that more money equals more time when it comes to making a movie.
“Our lead actor, BJ Whimpey, has a consistent following through social media platforms … through his cosplaying of Senator Palpatine from ‘Star Wars.’ … Leveraging off that, we had the idea we might have a farther reach with an audience built in, we have the potential to raise some money,” McDonald said.
Once “Left for Dead” completes its post-production, McDonald hopes to submit the film to SXSW, Toronto International Film Festival and Raindance Film Festival, which is coming to Ogden in March 2027.
McDonald is grateful for First Assistant Director Teauhna Chavez plus the cast, crew and producers that helped bring “Left for Dead” to life.