Local judge & filmmaker hosts encore screening for new TV show set in Columbus
Zack Collins has lived a lot of lives.
He grew up in Columbus, attended Baker High School, joined the Air Force, studied music business at the Art Institute of Atlanta, ran a studio for producer Manuel Seal and walked on as a football player at Auburn University.
After he was injured and couldn’t play football anymore, Collins attended law school at Faulkner University.
He now is the Circuit Court Judge in the 26th Judicial Circuit in Russell County.
Collins also is a writer and director.
In his latest project, “Going Postal”, he tells the story of a middle-class blended Black family from Columbus that faces new challenges when they receive a surprising new addition to the family.
Collins and “Going Postal” producer Paul Rowe hosted an encore premiere of the pilot episode at the IMAX theater in the National Infantry Museum on June 27 after the sold-out premiere on May 24.
“It was a homegrown product,” Collins told the Ledger-Enquirer. “And that’s why I wanted to do it twice.”
“Going Postal” was filmed in Columbus, with the entire crew being from the Columbus area.
“Everybody’s local,” Collins said. “That’s really important. And we also need more people to get involved behind the scenes.”
The production is willing to provide some on-the-job training to potential crew members if they are serious about working in the film industry, Collins said.
What is ‘Going Postal’ about?’
“Going Postal” is a dramedy following a Black man named “Mailman” Mike, who is trying to navigate the challenges of having a blended family when he suddenly finds himself responsible for a young boy abandoned by his parents.
The pilot episode touches on issues surrounding interracial adoption, alcoholism, grief and infertility.
Mike is working on how to connect with his two stepchildren while coming to terms with his infertility when a white couple abandons their 13-year-old son to his care after attempting to commit an armed robbery of a gas station.
This notion of a middle-class Black family taking in a white child aims to flip a common trope, Collins said.
It is a story Collins hadn’t seen, he said, and it opened the opportunity to make “Going Postal” have a more grounded route, focusing on the pressures of the blended family.
“When you bring in a child, whether it’s the same race or not, you bring … all the pressures that come along with that,” Collins said.
But despite the serious aspects of the pilot dealing with crime and fate of older foster children, “Going Postal” still sparked laughs during the screening with comedic police officers and banter in the dialogue.
“They always tell us that we should write what we know,” Collins said. “I take a little bit of this from my world on the bench, a little bit from the real world, from my personal life, from everybody’s life. I do a lot of people watching. I steal a little bit from everybody.”
Back by popular demand
It was decided to have a second screening of the “Going Postal” pilot after people in the community said they wanted to watch it again or hadn’t been able to attend the first screening, Collins said.
“It’s been motivational,” he said. “It’s been heartwarming. It’s been surreal. It’s a great feeling when you see something come from the blank page to the IMAX screen, and people love it.”
The positive emotions intensified when he saw the audience laughing at the intended comedic parts and when they felt sentimental at the appropriate points in the show.
Although the show hasn’t been picked up by a TV network or streaming service yet, Collins and Rowe are optimistic about its chances.
“This is one of the approaches to getting your work out there in the industry,” Rowe told the Ledger-Enquirer. “There are so many different ways to do it, and this is one of those that has a higher probability.”
Collins self-funded the pilot episode. Having the show on film will help others in the industry see and feel what the show will be like, Rowe said.
“Most people hate reading scripts these days,” he said. “So, if you invest in your own stuff — and it looks great, which is what happened here — it’s pretty easy to sell.”
Now they are working to convince a network to select the show, Rowe said, and they are considering self-funding a full season and selling it to a streaming service.
Events like the screening at the NIM help to get people talking about “Going Postal.” Collins hopes the Columbus community will support the show and other projects from the local film community by talking about it on social media and participating in crowdfunding campaigns they may see online.
“Support the local film community because not only are we creating jobs, but we’re helping create an industry,” Collins said. “Support independent film.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
