Gary Wheeler (filmmaker)

Gary Wheeler is an American filmmaker, producer and director, who resides in North Carolina. After working on a number of films such as The List in 2007 and Heart of Christmas in 2011, he founded Level Path Productions and has served as its President since.

Over the past couple of decades, Wheeler has worked on numerous films in writing, producing and directing capacities. This included directing numerous holiday films, including Christmas in the Smokies. In more recent years he has worked on action/western films, including directing the 2023 film, Far Haven. He is currently working on the Blue Ridge series, which he is the creator of.

Wheeler was born in New York, but spent most of his childhood in Boone, North Carolina. Growing up in North Carolina during the late 1970s and early 80s, he recalled in interviews watching classic TV series like I Love Lucy, Batman, and The Lone Ranger. While at high school he purchased his own VCR, further allowing him to delve into American film culture.

Wheeler took his interest of films and television into his education when he pursued a higher education at Appalachian State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcasting and English. He then completed his graduate studies Regent University’s School of Communication & the Arts in 1990.^[1]

Beginning with his 2007 debut feature The List, Wheeler made an immediate mark as a confident storyteller in the world of faith-based film. Adapted from a novel by Robert Whitlow, the legal thriller starred Malcolm McDowell and Hilarie Burton and showcased Wheeler’s early strength in adapting thoughtful, morally complex material into accessible, emotionally engaging cinema. He continued his collaboration with Whitlow on The Trial (2010), a courtroom drama featuring Matthew Modine as a grief-stricken attorney rediscovering purpose through a high-stakes case.

In 2011 Wheeler, released a made-for-television film, The Heart of Christmas, based on a true story. It stars Candace Cameron Bure, Jeanne Neilson, Eric Jay Beck, Christopher Shone and Matthew West in his film debut. He has also made another film with GMC called Somebody's Child. He then served as writer and producer on the 2013 feature film Jimmy, starring Kelly Carlson, Ted Levine, Ian Colletti, and directed by Mark Freiburger.

Wheeler's recent projects include Final Solution, which was shot in South Africa and stars Tony Award winner John Kani, Midnight Clear, a Christmas Special starring Stephen Baldwin and The List, a legal thriller starring Malcolm McDowell, Hilarie Burton and Will Patton which was based on the novel of the same name by Robert Whitlow.^[2] Gary Wheeler has also directed the courtroom drama The Trial. This has actors like Bob Gunton and Matthew Modine.

In 2016, Wheeler produced and co-wrote Savannah Sunrise, starring Shawnee Smith and Pamela Reed as mismatched travelers on a reluctant road trip, and Heritage Falls, a father-son bonding story led by David Keith.^[3] Though he did not direct either film, his signature themes—reconciliation, generational legacy, and community ties—remained intact. The next year, he returned to directing with Mountain Top, based on another Whitlow novel and starring Barry Corbin

Wheeler then directed and produced Christmas on the Range, a rural romance starring Erin Cahill and Nicholas Gonzalez in 2019. Around this time, his work began shifting away from holiday dramas and toward modern Western and law enforcement narratives with INSP Films. In 2020, he wrote the screenplay for The Warrant, a Civil War-era frontier story starring Neal McDonough and Steven R. McQueen.^[4] He then worked on Blue Ridge, which followed a small-town sheriff played by Johnathon Schaech.^[5] Wheeler would go on to write two more films in INSP's County Line series—No Fear and All In—starring Tom Wopat as an aging but principled sheriff navigating crime and corruption in the American South.

In 2023, Wheeler returned to directing with Far Haven, another INSP Western featuring Bailey Chase and Bruce Boxleitner. He also penned The Warrant: Breaker’s Law, continuing his contributions to INSP’s growing slate of family-friendly action dramas. His transition to television came in 2024 with the TV series Blue Ridge, a continuation of the 2020 film, where Wheeler again took on full creative control.

• Gary Wheeler at IMDb