Junior Ashwood’s story did not begin on a film set. It began on the west side of Detroit, in what he calls the “school of hard knocks.” Growing up dyslexic and struggling with reading, Ashwood remembers how challenging it was for him to read but one thing always captured him: television and film.
Right after high school, Ashwood enlisted in the United States military, beginning a 30-year career of honorable service that took him around the world and into leadership. During his second deployment to Iraq, he experienced war from a perspective that left him with things he says he will never be able to unsee or unhear.
Through it all, his passion for film remained.
While still serving, Ashwood made his first movie, an early version of Never Too Late. He laughs about that first attempt today and promises it will never see the light of day, but it proved the passion was real. Then came a nearly 20-year pause as his military career and responsibilities took priority. Retirement gave him another chance.
Ashwood moved to Jacksonville in 2014 to be closer to his daughter and eventually retired in 2018. He began to see Jacksonville as the city of opportunity. With time, stability, and, as he puts it, “a couple of nickels to rub together,” Ashwood bought a camera and started again. Better equipment followed. Better actors. Bigger productions. Today, he is reshooting Never Too Late, returning to the story where his filmmaking journey began. In many ways, the title reflects his own life. It really is never too late.
Now his mission is bigger than making movies. He wants the film industry to pay attention to the 904. Through ID4 Nation Studios, Ashwood is building films, television projects, and a long-term vision for a million-dollar entertainment company. Within the next decade, he plans to establish an ID4 Nation film studio and help make Jacksonville a place where filmmakers, actors, crews, and creatives can build without having to leave the city to find opportunity.
But legacy for Ashwood is bigger than business. Married to his wife, Phyllis, for 18 years, he is a father of five and grandfather of 14. He has served his country, traveled the world, gone to war, led others, raised a family, and completed a 30-year military career.
He could have retired and stopped there. Instead, he picked the camera back up.
The kid from the west side of Detroit who once struggled to read is now writing, directing, producing, and building something designed to outlive him. The goal is not simply to make another movie. It is to make Jacksonville impossible for the film industry to ignore.
You will know ID4 Nation.
You will know Junior Ashwood.
About
Junior Ashwood
FIRST COAST AFFAIR
Feature Film | 2023
She is engaged. The wedding is approaching. The dress is waiting.
There is only one problem: she needs to fit into it. Determined to be wedding-day ready, a bride-to-be hires a personal trainer. What begins as a professional relationship soon develops into an attraction she never planned for, forcing her to question the future she thought was already decided. But when she realizes the affair has gone too far and tries to walk away, she discovers ending it may not be entirely up to her. First Coast Affair is a story of temptation, infidelity, obsession, and the consequences of crossing a line that cannot easily be uncrossed.
RIGHTS OF A FATHER
Feature Film | 2024
Two young professionals fall in love and begin building a future together. Then an unplanned pregnancy changes everything.
When the couple disagrees over whether the pregnancy should continue, their deeply personal conflict becomes a legal battle. The father takes an extraordinary position: he wants the mother legally required to carry the pregnancy to term, give birth, and relinquish the child to him to raise. What follows is a provocative story about love, parenthood, bodily autonomy, fathers’ rights, and what happens when two people believe they should have the final say over the same pregnancy.
THE HUNTING CLUB
Feature Film | 2026
A father’s worst nightmare becomes his reason for living.
After his daughter is kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered, a grieving father is left with a pain no parent should ever experience. When grief gives way to rage, he sets his sights on the people responsible. The Hunting Club is a dark revenge thriller centered on a father pushed beyond the limits of loss, justice, and morality.
The question is no longer whether those responsible will be punished.
It is what a father with nothing left to lose is willing to become to make sure they are.
NEVER TOO LATE
She was raised in the church. He was the childhood love she never completely left behind. Never Too Late follows the daughter of a preacher whose faith has shaped the expectations surrounding her life. When she reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, love pulls her toward a world that challenges everything she has been taught.
As she becomes increasingly entangled in his lifestyle, she finds herself caught between two powerful forces: the faith that helped make her who she is and the man she loves. Eventually, she must decide how much of herself she is willing to sacrifice for either one.
Feature Film | In Production
THE COUGAR’S DEN
Television Series | Pre-Production
Three married women. Three seemingly settled lives. And one unexpected reminder that desire does not always disappear just because you said “I do.” The Cougar’s Den follows three women who have grown bored and disconnected within their marriages. When attention from younger men unexpectedly reignites feelings of youth, attraction, and excitement they thought were long behind them, harmless flirtation begins crossing increasingly complicated lines.
What starts as a taste of the lives they once knew soon forces each woman to confront what she wants, what she is willing to risk, and whether the excitement of feeling desired again is worth the lives they have already built.
Filmography
AWARDS & Nominations
Showcase your recognition
Best Director
Global Film Festival, Los Angeles
Best Screenplay
Rights of a Father
Nominee, Best Supporting Actor
Detroit Film Awards
Nominee, Best Editing
Detroit Film Awards