Biography of Fran
Francis J. “Fran” Leazes, Jr established Elmcrest Films, LLC in 2016 to be a documentary film production company that specializes in Humanities based storytelling focused on bringing to life compelling stories about lesser-known New England individuals, places and events. A life-long resident of New England, Fran uses his knowledge of the region to bring back to life individuals whose untold stories are compelling. He made his filmmaker debut in 2017 with “A Road to the Alamo: The Albert Martin Story” which has been broadcast several times on Rhode Island PBS station WSBE-36. Fran produces, directs, and writes scripts for the Elmcrest Films LLC. In the last few years Elmcrest Films LLC has produced three feature length documentaries, a storybook of a dozen short biographical films featuring individuals interred in Providence’s North Burial Ground, and currently has two projects in development.
Fran is a graduate of Holy Cross College and holds advanced degrees in History, Public Administration and Political Science. He was named Professor Emeritus at Rhode Island College in 2022 as a successful, award-winning Professor for 38 years and has a long publication record in the field of Public Administration. Most recently has authored a series of biographies focused on New England’s connection to the Alamo.
Biography of Scott Rancourt
Since 2016, Scott Rancourt has been part of Elmcrest Films as the Director of Photography and Post-Production. Scott Rancourt is a lifelong resident of Southern New England who is a well-respected member of the Rhode Island music and film scene as a sound and film editor. He brings a musician’s ear to his work. For about 20 years Scott owned a recording studio that produced over three hundred records with various award-winning artists such as Throwing Muses, The Cowsills, Roomful of Blues, 'Til Tuesday, Belly, Deer Tick, and Beaver Brown. He has worked on tracks for dozens of major labels and was assistant engineer to producer/engineer’s Phil Green and Tom Soares.
Scott recorded and mixed the song "Get Right Church" with RI native and 2013 RI Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, legendary blues artist Paul Geremia, which became the opening track on the Grammy nominated record "Preachin the Blues, the Music of Mississippi Fred McDowell" (Telarc Records). Scott also has recorded tracks for the legendary band The Yardbirds working with Drummer/Founding member and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jim McCarty.
In the film world Scott has worked on all aspects of pre-production, production, and post-production on dozens of television commercials, corporate videos, documentaries and commercial films. Scott worked as ADR recordist on the film "Moonrise Kingdom" with Director Wes Anderson. His was nominated in 2014 for a Maverick Movie Award for Best Sound Design/Editing for the film “Night”.
More information about Scott can be found at his IMDB page.
