CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Greg Frith first started researching Virginia football when he was preparing to take his daughter, a current second-year UVA student, to orientation last year.

Frith, a senior producer and director with NFL Films, lives in New Jersey and described himself and his family as not huge college sports fans. Through that research, he learned more about the on-campus shooting in 2022 that claimed the lives of UVA football players Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry, as well as how there was some real positivity around the program ahead of the 2025 season.

“As I’m looking up the Virginia football team, there was some positivity heading into the 2025 season, (I’m) reading more about coach (Tony) Elliott and his background, and the tragedy that had happened in 2022,” Frith told Cville Right Now. “And I’m like, ‘This is a pretty good story that they got going on if things turn around for this football team.'”

Sure enough, things did turn around for the program, and just under one year after the Cavaliers’ program-best 11-win season, Frith’s new documentary “1 15 41 Tragedy to Triumph” premiered to a sold-out crowd at the Paramount Theater on Sunday and served as the closing night film for the 39th Annual Virginia Film Festival.

The premiere was attended by UVA head coach Tony Elliott, UVA Director of Athletics Carla Williams, the families of Chandler, Davis and Perry, and a number of current and former UVA football players, many of whom were interviewed for the film.

After the screening, Frith and Elliott, along with UVA football player Will Bettridge, who was a high teammate of Perry and wears his No. 41, participated in a discussion about the film, moderated by the “Voice of the Cavaliers” John Freeman.

“We knew that ultimately, the story needed to be told,” Elliott said during the discussion. “The legacies of Lavel, Devin and D’Sean needed to go out for the world to see and make an impact.”

The project came together quickly, beginning with an email from Frith to Williams in July. Just one month later, with NFL Films and UVA on board, Frith and his crew arrived at the end of training camp and started filming. That work continued throughout the season, which Frith called “one remarkable turn after another.”

“This story wouldn’t, certainly would not be the same had it been done in 2023,” Frith said. “I think people had approached UVA about doing something then, and the program just didn’t feel like they were ready to do this, they weren’t ready in their healing process, it was too soon, and the story wouldn’t have been resolved to the point it was resolved in 2025. So, it was good timing.”

While Frith and his team initially didn’t know how the film would end, it eventually culminated in a 10-day stretch, in which the shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., was sentenced to life in prison in Albemarle Circuit Court on Nov. 21, just over a week before UVA beat rival Virginia Tech to clinch a spot in the ACC Championship.

But Frith added it was his idea not to include Jones’ story in the film, instead keeping the focus on the victims and how the people affected by the shooting healed afterward.

In addition to Elliott and many of the players on last year’s team, all three of the mothers were interviewed for the documentary, as was Mike Hollins, a former UVA player who survived the shooting. Frith said those were not easy interviews, nor the type he and his crew were accustomed to doing. But he also believes this is “the most meaningful film I’ve ever done, for sure.”

When Frith was back on Grounds for this year’s UVA Strong Day on Sept. 26, he talked to all three of the mothers, who he said were very appreciative of the film.

“It meant a lot to them, and that meant a lot to me,” Frith said. “I mean, awards are nice and positive reviews are nice, but the fact the three of them said to me they appreciated it, they love that we showed their sons in the light we did and kept their memories alive, that probably meant more than anything could.”

At the start of the Q&A, Freeman recognized the family members of the three players who were in attendance that night, and they received a standing ovation from the audience.

Bettridge sat with the Perry family during the film, and said during the discussion they still talk regularly. He also highlighted the work they do through the D’Sean Perry Foundation, which runs a number of event and initiatives aimed at benefiting young people.

“I think his parents and his whole family do a great job of keeping the legacy alive, keeping the name alive, that every young boy and girl growing up in Miami, play football or not, will know who D’Sean Perry is,” Bettridge said. “And if I can just do a little bit to wear 41 or to do something like this, just to keep that name alive, and in people’s mouths, and in the air, so everyone knows who he is, it’s special.”