Welcome to 1716.
The past, present, and future of film production company 1716 Digital.
Hi, my name is Luca Huff and I’m the creator of 1716 Digital.
A little about me: I’m Filipino-American, born and raised in Virginia.
I love to meet new people, spend time with friends, and tell stories.
I also love cats, thunderstorms, playing guitar, learning other languages, and watching the Carolina Panthers.
A decade ago I was living in central Virginia and shooting movies on a camcorder in the parking lot of my middle school.
Just this past month I made the move up to New York City to further my career in the film industry.
Buckle in to get involved for the next chapter of this exciting journey… and welcome to the 1716 Digital Substack.
Let’s briefly recap on the past several years to get ourselves caught up to speed!
In 2021, my best friends and I spent our senior year of high school documenting our filmmaking adventures and sharing them online from our hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia.
Our first viral posts offered a behind-the-scenes look into the zero-budget production of the coming-of-age miniseries Water Under the Bridge, which would mark the beginning of our posting on TikTok.
That same fall, I began attending UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where I quickly met several of the artists who I’d collaborate with to create Days of August in 2022, a feature-length historical drama about a forbidden romance.
1716 Digital would also begin supporting the release of other filmmakers’ work in 2023, such as Lorenzo Zottoli’s short Gone West. In 2024, that would be joined by Grace Stromatt’s The Free Bleed and Giancarlo Zarich’s Florida Fangs.
That same summer I directed the short Shallow and the feature Space Cowboy, with both films exploring adolescent angst and loss of innocence through the coming-of-age genre.
In early 2025, I produced the Appalachian horror short White Rat, before graduating UNCSA that spring. 1716 Digital supported the release of Yannie Tan’s short Lili that summer, and was quickly followed by the long-awaited Days of August.
Which brings us to the present…
We are a film production company and nationwide community of emerging filmmakers striving to uplift diverse voices and tell tomorrow’s stories.
What can you expect from this next chapter of 1716 Digital?
Although “headquartered” in New York, our filmmaking endeavors will certainly not be limited to any single city or state.
My goal going forward is to champion and uplift more storytellers’ work on the 1716 platform than ever before, and that starts by getting the word out and building this community of artisans and technicians.
Conversely, even if you are not a filmmaker yourself (or not yet one), there will always be a place for cinema-lovers and aspiring artists in this community.
Whether popping up on your social media feed, shooting on-location in your city or hometown, or screening at a film festival nearby, my goal is to bring 1716 to you.
Thank you for joining me for the future of 1716 Digital.
There’s a lot of work to be done and I’m excited to continue telling stories with wonderful collaborators, familiar and new alike.
If you’re interested in getting involved behind-the-scenes, please shoot me a message through our website , consider joining our Discord server, and subscribe to this Substack to receive our monthly newsletter!