I’m a pretty big Kevin Smith fan. You may have heard of some of his films: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma ,and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. In fact, for many years I’ve used a monologue from Chasing Amy, one of the movies Kevin Smith wrote and directed starring Ben Affleck. So, it was pretty cool to hear that he was coming to Sarasota to shoot a new film. When auditions were announced, I moved a few mountains to be available for them. Then, when I got the call, it felt like Hollywood had indeed landed in the middle of Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Killroy Was Here is a short film in the horror genre and it’s meant to be the first of an anthology. Produced by Ringling College of Art and Design and Semkhor Productions, the film stars Azita Ghanizada (Alphas) and Ryan O’Nan (Fargo). As Kevin says, “Killroy is like the Golem, the Boogeyman and the Grim Reaper combined.”
In fact, Kevin reveals a number of details in his Facebook Live post from one of the days of filming at Benderson Park. (Beware of some strong language.)
The students at Ringling College are truly getting some awesome hands-on experience with this project!
My character, Ava, is in the opening scene and I had a blast working with the film’s stars, Azita and Ryan, as well as what I like to call the “Sarasota Contingent”, actors Cindy de la Cruz, Brendan Regan and Michael Perez. Plus, I got to reunite with two of my favorite make up artists Jess Marie (Barry Baker Aspiring Serial Killer) and Eri Vincent (Check out my Fairytale photoshoot: Princess | Evil Queen | Steampunk).
The Sarasota Contingent: Michael Perez, Brendan Regan, Kevin Smith, Kathryn Parks, Cindy de la Cruz
This lovely little boy played my son. He was a joy to work with and very entertaining!
Kevin was a wonderfully gracious director. He had an infectious energy and treated everyone with the utmost respect.
I’ll be sure to keep you posted when the film premiers so stay tuned to my Facebook page for updates!
