Haven Theater invites Brookhaven and Lincoln County residents to a showing of a new film, “Duel at the Mound,” Friday at 7 p.m.

The film is a baseball drama about a couple of retired players who begin a “duel” at the mound, while they struggle with situations in their respective lives.

The film marks a return of “Duel at the Mound” writer and director, Travis Mills, to the Haven Theater stage. Having spent some of his childhood in Brookhaven, Mills brings his newest production for it’s Mississippi premier to a place he once called home. Mills still has family that lives in Brookhaven and has done work with the Haven Theater before. Of that work is a documentary short on the theatre entitled, “A Little Haven.” The video can be found on YouTube.

Mills attended Arizona State University from 2004 to 2008 and in 2010 started a film company, Running Wild Films, with playwright, film professor and colleague Gus Edwards. The company is based in Arizona and most of its work is dedicated to developing local film in Arizona.

Mills shared that he’s always been into film since he was a young child. Throughout his life, he’s lived in Arizona, Mississippi, Europe, and Africa.

“All those places have had some influence on my work, ” Mills said.

Since its start, Running Wild Films has produced more than 100 film projects and “Duel at the Mound” will be their fifth feature film. Just last year, the company finished up their project, 52 short films in 52 weeks. All filmed in Arizona and adapted from public domain stories from authors such as Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain. The films can be downloaded and viewed from the company’s Vimeo website.

It did not take long after the completion of 52 Short Films in 52 Weeks before Mills and the Running Wild crew began filming “Duel at the Mound.”

“I’ve always been interested in baseball and have always wanted to make a baseball movie,” Mills said.

He said the movie was about baseball and its effect on the two characters’ daily lives and the male friendship that grows out of it.

Greg Russell, executive director for the Brookhaven Little Theatre, wants the premier of “Duel at the Mound” to mark the return of movies back to the theatre. The theatre has purchased a screen and a projector, which will be brandished during next Thursday’s Halloween @ The Haven. Russell said doors are open for other independent films in the future, but at the moment their focus is on Travis Mills and “Duel at the Mound.”