Interview with actors Madison Wolfe, Brec Bassinger, Skai Jackson and Gavin Warren, and Director Warren Skeels of the film “The Man In The White Van” by Suzanne 12/2/24
This is a very suspenseful and chilling thriller, set in the early 1970’s. You don’t want to miss it when it opens tomorrow, 12/13/24, in theaters. Madison Wolfe stars as a young women, Annie, targeted by a serial killer. Brec Bassinger stars as her sister, Margaret. Skai Jackson plays Patty, Annie’s friend. Gavin Warren plays Annie and Margeret’s younger brother, Daniel. Sean Astin and Ali Larter play Margaret and Annie’s parents. I hope you enjoy our video interviews! I was particularly glad to speak to Brec Bassinger, since I was a huge fan of her show, “Stargirl.”
STARRING: Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Goonies), Ali Larter (Final Destination, upcoming Taylor Sheridan series, Landman), Madison Wolfe (The Conjuring 2, Malignant), Brec Bassinger (CW’s Stargirl, Final Destination: Bloodlines), Skai Jackson (Disney’s Jessie and spinoff Bunk’d), Gavin Warren (Night Swim)
SYNOPSIS: Based on true events. In 1975 Florida, a series of violent disappearances go unnoticed, and young Annie (Madison Wolfe) is targeted by an ominous white van that stalks her every move. As the menace escalates, her parents dismiss her fears, and Annie is soon plunged into a terrifying nightmare that shatters her world. Also starring Brec Bassinger, Skai Jackson, Ali Larter, and Sean Astin. Directed by Warren Skeels.
GENRE: Thriller
Madison Wolfe was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She began acting at the age of seven, and made her debut alongside Kristen Stewart and Amy Adams in “On The Road.” In the years following, Wolfe landed many roles in various critically acclaimed films and television shows such as Jessica Brady in “The Campaign,” starring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, Audrey Hart in “True Detective,” opposite Woody Harrelson and Matthew Mcconaughey, and Young Poppy in “Mr. Church,” starring Eddie Murphy. She can also be seen playing Bryan Cranston’s daughter in “Trumbo,” and acting alongside Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Lawrence, and Bradley Cooper in David O. Russell’s “Joy.”
Wolfe is best known for her lead role in James Wan’s “The Conjuring 2.” Starring opposite Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, she plays Janet Hodgson: a young girl from Enfield, England who is traumatized and haunted by the possession of demonic spirits. Wolfe is also well known from her lead role in Oscar winner Anders Walter’s “I Kill Giants.” Rotten Tomatoes names Madison’s “powerhouse performance” as troubled teen Barbra Thorson one of the highlights of the film.
Most recently, Wolfe can be seen playing Tessa Mayfair opposite Alexandra Daddario in AMC’s “The Mayfair Witches.” She has completed production for her next true crime thriller, Warren Skeel’s “Man in The White Van.” Set in 1974, Wolfe portrays the lead role of Annie Willains: a free spirited teen from a small town in Florida who becomes the obsession of a horrific stalker. Being a musician, Wolfe also wrote and recorded an original song for the film’s soundtrack to be released. The film is not yet rated.
Brec Bassinger, born May 25, 1999, is an American actress best known for her leading role as ‘Bella Dawson’ on the Nickelodeon series “Bella and the Bulldogs,” her role as ‘Catherine’ in the “47 Meters Down” sequel, her recurring roles in “School of Rock” and “The Goldbergs,” and her starring role in the DC Universe series “Stargirl” (2020).
Brec grew up in a small town in Texas, and first went to Los Angeles for acting when she was 13 years old. Growing up she enjoyed gymnastics, cheerleading, volleyball, and natural-beauty pageants. She was crowned the 2009 World’s Our Little Miss. Her acting career started with a recurring role on Nickelodeon’s “Haunted Hathaways.” She graduated high school at 16 and continues to expand her education. A Type-1 diabetic, she has become a huge advocate for diabetes research and is a national ambassador for JDRF. She had the leading role of Stargirl for the CW for two years, and then she plays the titular role in the miniseries “V.C. Andrews’ Dawn” on Lifetime..
Gavin Warren is an American model and actor. As a child he played the piano and did gymnastics before, inspired by Adam Sandler, he decided he wanted to become an actor. In 2015, Warren won an acting and modeling competition, after which he was accepted into a local artist agency. This was followed by his first roles in the short film Two Wongs Make a White and in the film drama Back Roads, before Warren was seen in Damien Chazelle’s film biography Awakening to the Moon alongside Ryan Gosling in 2018.
In order to focus on his acting career, Warren switched from public school to home schooling. In subsequent years, he made guest appearances in the television series Daybreak and NCIS: New Orleans, while he took on supporting roles in the films Mack (2019), A Hard Problem (2021) and 12 Mighty Orphans (2021). In 2023 he appeared in the eighth season of the horror series Fear the Walking Dead before playing a leading role in the horror film Night Swim the following year.
His other announced film projects include the thrillers The Descendant and Geechee, the drama film Unbreakable Boy and the crime film The Man in the White Van.
Interview with director Robert Schwartzman and actor David Arquette for the film,”The Good Half” by Suzanne 8/6 and 8/8/24
This movie is one that everyone should watch. It does deal with family drama and grief, but it’s also heartwarming and funny, and it has some romance. To my mind, it’s not morbid, nor is it overly sentimental. It’s out in theaters now, and you shouldn’t miss it. Nick Jonas stars and shows us that he is a fine actor (and not just the great singer he has proven many times over). There are many lovely performances in the movie. It has a great cast. David Arquette has a small but important role as Nick’s stepfather. He plays it masterfully. It was so interesting to speak with these two about this movie. Don’t miss it!
Starring Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David Arquette,
Alexandra Shipp, Matt Walsh and Elisabeth Shue
Directed by Robert Schwartzman
**Official Selection – 2023 Tribeca Festival**
Directed by: Robert Schwartzman (The Unicorn)
Written by: Brett Ryland
Produced by: Russell Wayne Groves, Robert Schwartzman, and Brett Ryland
Starring: Nick Jonas Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect) David Arquette (Scream) Alexandra Shipp (Anyone But You) Matt Walsh (“Veep”) Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas)
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother’s funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones, before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
Interview with Demetrius Grosse, Nika King, and Bishop and First Lady Donna Martin of the film “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” by Suzanne 6/28/24
This is a very powerful and uplifting story of a couple who changed the lives of many children, as well as the other people in their town. These are religious people, but the film is not too preachy, so if you’re not that into religion, it shouldn’t bother you. Faith is definitely the motivation for these people, in everything they do. Demetrius Grosse and Nika King turn in powerful performances as the real-life people Bishop and First Lady Donna Martin, who lived in a small town in Eastern Texas. After a tragedy in Donna’s life, she decides to adopt children. She and her husband not only adopt many children, but they get all of the people in their parish to do so as well.
It was a really interesting set of interviews. I’ve only interviewed the “real life people” in movies a few times. I was a foster child myself, and my mom was adopted as a baby, so this is an issue that hits home for me. Some scenes in the movie were hard to watch because some of the troubled children reminded me of other foster kids I knew. I told the actors and their counterparts about this, and how much the movie touched me. It was interesting to see how each paired group reacted completely differently! It was very unusual, to say the least. Let’s just say that the two ladies were much more relaxed and fun, and the two men were very serious.
The movie premieres today, July 4th. I hope you can go see it. Maybe it will inspire you to adopt children or foster a child who needs you. The foster care situation was bad 50 years ago when I was a child. It’s much worse today. I know that the Martins and everyone connected with this movie hope that their film gets people thinking about the foster care crisis.
This film is from Angel Studios. They produce the hit TV show “The Chosen” and many good, uplifting movies. They make great films with positive messages and outstanding acting, without being preachy or boring. They tell amazing stories.
The fight for kids begins July 4. Inspired by the powerful true story, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot, follows Donna and Reverend Martin as they ignite a fire in the hearts of their rural church to embrace kids in the foster system that nobody else would take. By doing the impossible–adopting 77 children–this East Texas community proved that, with real, determined love, the battle for America’s most vulnerable can be won.
Tagline:
The Fight for Kids Begins July 4
Rating:
PG-13 for thematic material involving child abuse, some violence, language and brief suggestive material
Run Time:
2 hours and 09 minutes
Fast Facts:
Inspired by the true story of Bishop and First Lady Donna Martin, and their tiny Bennett Chapel church, in the town of Possum Trot in the woods of East Texas.
Twenty two families linked arms and courageously adopted seventy seven of the most difficult-to-place children in the local foster care system
76 kids were adopted between 1998-2000. Another was adopted in 2011. The Martins have 2 biological children and adopted 4 during this time period.
This act ignited a national movement for vulnerable children that continues today.
Executive produced by Letitia Wright (BLACK PANTHER)
Directed, written, and produced by Joshua Weigel (THE BUTTERFLY CIRCUS) for Peacetree Productions.
King’s talents as a comedian and actor are versatile and dynamic. She is best known for her comedic abilities, but in her breakout role playing Leslie on the Emmy winning HBO series Euphoria opposite Zendaya and Storm Reid, King showcases a much more dramatic side of herself. Nika also had her directorial debut in the short film, which addresses grief and mental health in the life of a Black married couple.
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King’s comedy has landed her roles on Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black, the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, Canada, the Netflix Is A Joke festival, and hosting Nika King & Friends, a monthly show at the Improv Lab in Hollywood CA. She has also acted, written and produced on award winning webseries Funny Married Stuff, which is currently streaming on KweliTV.
Beyond acting, directing, and stand up, King co owns Blue Tree Cafe, a vegan soul food restaurant with her mother in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. King was also compelled to establish a non profit that helps to improve the quality of life for individuals and families from underserved communities by compassionately serving their mental health and wellness through healthy eating.
Demetrius Grosse (Reverend Martin)
Demetrius Grosse is an award-winning actor and producer. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree from its School of Drama and completed a visiting student program at the Howard University College of Fine Arts in his home city of Washington DC, Grosse took his craft to the international arena, studying and performing both classical and contemporary drama with the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. Grosse also performed in Cape Town, South Africa with UCT. At Portland Center Stage in Oregon, Demetrtius starred as Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee William’s American classic, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Off-Broadway, in 2010 performing Black Angels Over Tuskegee.
Grosse has appeared in the HBO series Westworld based on the 1973 film of the same name. He also appeared in Michael Bay’s feature film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016). Grosse is known for taking on many complex characters from various backgrounds and from all different genres. His range is unparalleled. He made his TV acting debut in The Wire (2001), Numbers (2005), and is well known for his film roles in, Saving Mr. Banks (2013), This Is Martin Bonner (2013). His other television credits include AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead, Criminal Minds, ER, NCIS, Bones, Dexter, CSI: Miami, Frontier (Netflix), and Swagger for Apple+. Grosse also made appearances in The Inheritance (2011), and Hollywoo (2011).
Grosse has credits for producing Last Cry for Katrina (2013), Moonshiners, and A Quiet Fire (2009), and most recently, Survival. Demetrius stars as Clark Randall in the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries romantic comedy Spring Breakthrough. The film was produced under Hallmark’s Mahogany banner and had its on-air debut in 2023. Grosse resides in the US with his wife, their children, and a bearded dragon named ‘Shang-Chi.’
Interview with Jane Badler of the film “Trim Season” by Suzanne 6/6/24
It was awesome to speak with Jane. She seems really nice and is an amazing actress. I admit that I did gush a little, since I’m a huge fan of her from her days back in the 80’s when she played “Diane” in the scifi movies and TV show “V.” This is an entertaining horror film. Don’t miss it!
TRIM SEASON | The Ultimate Nightmare Blunt Rotation | Directed by Ariel Vida & Starring JaneBadler, Bex Taylor-Klaus, & Alex Essoe | In Theaters 6/7
Presents
TRIM SEASON
The Ultimate Nightmare Blunt Rotation…
From Award-Winning Filmmaker & Production Designer Ariel Vida
* In Theaters and On Demand June 7th, 2024 *
Presents
TRIM SEASON
The Ultimate Nightmare Blunt Rotation…
From Award-Winning Filmmaker & Production Designer Ariel Vida
* In Theaters and On Demand June 7th, 2024 *
Directed by Ariel Vida (“Vide Noir”)
Written by David Blair, Sean E. DeMott, Cullen Poythress, Megan Sutherland, & Ariel Vida
Produced by Aaron B. Koontz, Sean E. DeMott, Paul Holbrook, &JaneBadler
Executive Produced by Leal Naim&Jake Hearns
Co-produced by Cameron Burns
Starring: JaneBadler (“V”, Ricky Stanicky) Bex Taylor-Klaus (“Scream”) Alex Essoe (Starry Eyes, “Midnight Mass”) Bethlehem Million (Sick, “And Just Like That…”) Ally Ioannides (Synchronic) Cory Hart (“Fear the Walking Dead”)
Jobless and searching for purpose, Emma and a group of young people from Los Angeles drive up the coast to make quick cash trimming marijuana on a secluded farm in Northern California. Cut off from the rest of the world, they soon realize that Mona – the seemingly amiable owner of the estate – is harboring secrets darker than any of them could imagine. It becomes a race against time for Emma and her friends to escape the dense woods with their lives.
RT: 100 Minutes
“A suspenseful, uniquely crafted story highlighting pain and sacrifice that should spark some powerful conversation around women and gender. Mesmerizing performances, an innovative story, beautiful stylistic choices, and a little bit of witchy weed make Trim Season a must-see horror film.”
– BLOODY DISGUSTING/Michelle Swope
“From Badler’s commanding performance that contributes to the uneasy atmosphere Vida expertly curates to the stomach-churning sequences of body horror, there is undeniable greatness here that’s well worth seeking out.”
– SCREEN ANARCHY/Kyle Logan
About Ariel Vida
Ariel Vida is a director and writer of the strange and fantastical, who has also production designed over a hundred shorts, music videos, and feature films. Her design work has received high honors, including ‘Best Production Design’ at Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival for Moorhead & Benson’s THE ENDLESS. Her music video directorial debut -Lord Huron’s The World Ender-was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick and awarded ‘Best Music Video’ at several festivals. The videos for Lord Huron’s The Night We Met, which Ariel produced, and Childish Gambino’s Sober, which she art directed, have both been viewed over 100 million times on YouTube.A frequent collaborator with Rustic Films, Ariel’s most recent design work includes Amy Seimetz’s Neon Release SHE DIES TOMORROW, Spectrevision and Adam Egypt Mortimer’s ARCHENEMY, Alma Har’el and Bob Dylan’s SHADOW KINGDOM, and Moorhead & Benson’s SYNCHRONIC as well as their Sundance 2022 premiere SOMETHING IN THE DIRT, which Ariel also second unit directed.
Ariel’s feature directorial debut, VIDE NOIR – written and scored by the band Lord Huron – released in November 2022 through 1091 Pictures. Her first published short fiction will be printed in the upcoming genre anthology HAUNTED REELS alongside fellow filmmakers C. Robert Cargill, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Brea Grant, Owen Egerton, Gary Sherman, and more. TRIM SEASON marks Ariel’s second feature as director, and she’s currently developing many of her own scripts imbuing stylized action within vivid, fantastical worlds from dystopian sea-faring tales to warped, surrealist westerns.
Interview with Julian Works and Paulina Chávez of the film “The Long Game” by Suzanne 4/5/24
This is a really good movie, so you don’t want to miss it. It’s entertaining, it has great characters and acting, and it also has a lot of heart. It’s based on a true story, which gives it validity. Also, it resonates in today’s world, where there’s still a lot of prejudice against any immigrants, or any people with dark skin. I enjoyed speaking with stars Julian Works (who plays Joe Trevino) and Paulina Chávez (who plays his girlfriend, Daniela). You can also see Works in “9-1-1: Lone Star” – Season 5 premieres this Fall. I would have loved to speak to the other stars – Jay Hernandez, Dennis Quaid, Cheese Marin – as well. They all doing an outstanding job in the movie.
MORE INFO:
THE LONGGAME
Based On the Book “Mustang Miracle” By Humberto G. Garcia
Starring Jay Hernandez, Dennis Quaid, Cheech Marin
Executive Produced by Canelo Álvarez
WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE ON APRIL 12, 2024
In 1956, JB Peña and his wife moved to the small town of Del Rio, TX, partly for a job as a school superintendent, but mostly to fulfill JB’s dream of joining the prestigious, all-white Del Rio Country Club. So when JB is rejected on the basis of his skin color, he is devastated. But his world soon collides with a group of young latino golf caddies who work at the country club, and JB is inspired by the handmade course the boys built in the country to teach themselves golf. With little experience and even fewer resources, JB convinces the boys to start their own high school golf team, starting them all on a journey where they learn that it takes more than just golf skills to make history. Based on Mustang Miracle by Humberto G. Garcia.
Julian Works most recently starred in the Blumhouse anthology series “Into The Dark: School Spirit,” and recurred in the cable drama “The Affair,” opposite Dominic West. His additional credits include the drama series “American Crime,” as well as the feature films “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” and the Sundance Film Festival Award nominee “All She Can.”
Mexican American Actress Paulina Chávez (“The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia”, “Fate: The Winx Saga”) will star opposite Eva Longoria, Cheech Marin, and Jesse Garcia in the Disney+ feature film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Chávez will play ‘Mia Garcia’, the 16-year-old sister to ‘Alexander’ who is every inch an independent minded, intelligent, eye-rolling teenager. Convinced that her 11-year-old brother Alexander has the worst luck in the entire world, Mia is frequently appalled and horrified as the family road trip disintegrates into disaster after disaster. But, oddly enough, when they’ve lost just about everything and it’s just the family and nature, Mia is the first one to appreciate the beauty of the world around them, which clearly touches her.From writer Matt Lopez and director Marvin Lemus, Alexander tells the story of 11-year-old Alexander Garcia who feels like he is the unluckiest kid in the world. The film is produced by Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, and Lisa Henson. Marisol Roncali and Chelsea Ellis Bloch serve as casting directors.
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Chávez is best known for her breakthrough leading role as the titular ‘Ashley Garcia’, the world’s first and only 15-year-old robotics engineer and rocket scientist, in Netflix’s “The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia”. Most recently, she starred as the series regular ‘Flora’ in Netflix’s sci-fi/fantasy series “Fate: The Winx Saga.” A rising star in both film and television, her film THE LONG GAME is set to premiere at the upcoming SXSW Festival on March 12th, 2023. The film is based on the true story five young Mexican-American golf caddies who against the odds would go on and successfully compete against wealthy all-white golf teams in 1955 South Texas.
Born in El Paso, TX, at the age of six Paulina and her family moved to San Antonio, TX where she discovered her love of acting through her school’s theater program. She joined drama club in second grade and immersed herself in theatre, playing lead roles in Aladdin Jr., Beauty and the Beast Jr., The Little Mermaid Jr. among others. She began auditioning and booking roles for various short films, movies, voice-overs, regional commercials, as well as national TV commercials for Coca-Cola and ‘Food Feuds: Latin Food’ alongside award-winning chef Aarón Sánchez. She additionally landed co-starred as ‘Isabella’ in the thriller-series “Padre Pio” and landed the role of ‘Young Kim Kardashian’ in the TV series, “Scandal Made Me Famous”.
In addition to acting, Paulina’s other passion is music and she began taking vocal lessons at a young age in preparation for musicals. She counts a wide range of musical influences including Shakira, Alejandro Fernandez, Luis Miguel, and Billie Eilish. Paulina also played the violin in a San Antonio-based mariachi group which she continually praises for helping maintain her connection to her Latin roots.
When she is not acting or singing, animal lover Paulina enjoys spending time with her rescue cats Whiskey and Bublé. She is also an advocate for the Latinx community and focuses her attention on giving back. Paulina began offering a yearly scholarship for youth within her local San Antonio community in 2020. Is is currently working in partnership with The Salvation Army SA to select students for her scholarship ‘Be Your Own Kind of Genius’.
You can follow Paulina Chávez on Instagram at @PaulinafChavez.
Directed by Julio Quintana
Written by Julio Quintana, Jennifer C. Stetson & Paco Farias
Starring Jay Hernandez, Dennis Quaid, Cheech Marin, Julian Works, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Brett Cullen, Oscar Nunez, Richard Robichaux, Paulina Chavez
Produced by Javier Chapa, Ben Howard, Dennis Quaid, Laura Quaid, Marla Quintana
Executive Produced by Canelo Álvarez, Jay Hernandez, Phillip Braun, Jason Michael Gerber, Sherrese Clarke Soares, Alexis Garcia, Humberto G. Garcia, Christian Sosa, John Williams, Veronica B. Jones, Jennifer Kuczaj, Simon Wise, Colleen Barshop, Vincent Cordero, Carlos Osorio, Juan Pablo Solano Vergara, Simón Beltrán Echeverri, Brian Eddy, Jeff Grossberg, Jack Shemtov, Ricky Joshi, Jeff Moseley, Julio M. Quintana, Jennifer Kuczaj, Michael E. Hollingsworth, Matthew Dwyer, David E. Campbell, Tim Mahler, Carter Pope, Jesse Mandujano
Interviews with Beau Bridges, Rob Mayes, Stratton Leopold and William Wages of the film “The Neon Highway” by Suzanne 3/6/24
This is such a good movie, and the actors did an amazing job. It was really great to speak with them, and the writer/director and producer. I grew up watching Lloyd, Beau and Jeff Bridges, so it was an honor to speak to Beau. This is a role that seems meant for him, and he excels in it. I hope people remember it come Oscar time next year. I can’t believe he hasn’t won one already! He should have won for “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” at least. The focus of the movie is Rob’s character, Wayne, and then we meet Beau’s character, Claude, and the two carry the movie. I’m glad it was not too depressing, either, because so many indie movies are. I hope you can check it out because it’s a really inspiring and human story. It also has some outstanding music. Enjoy the videos! Rob is much more handsome in real life than he is in the movie! “The Neon Highway” premieres tomorrow, March 15, 2024.
Stars Rob Mayes and Beau Bridges
Producer Stratton Leopold and writer/director William Wages
THE NEONHIGHWAY, STARRING EMMY®, GOLDEN GLOBE AND GRAMMY® WINNER BEAU BRIDGES AND ROB MAYES SETS HEARTLAND THEATRICAL RELEASE ON MARCH 15, 2024
Presented by Mountain Movies and produced by veteran filmmaker Stratton Leopold (The Sum Of All Fears, Mission: Impossible II), THE NEONHIGHWAY will release theatrically on March 15. Directed by William Wages (Yellowstone, Lethal Weapon) and co-written by Wages and Phillip Rob Bellury (A Ride To Heaven, Remember This), the film stars Emmy®, Golden Globe and GRAMMY® winner Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys, Eden), who was recently honored with the Icon Award from The Family Film & TV Awards, recognizing the significance of family entertainment.
THE NEONHIGHWAY also stars Rob Mayes (Legends, NCIS), Sam Hennings (The Work and the Glory franchise), Sandra Lee-Oian Thomas (Mr. Mercedes, Superstition), T.J. Power (Eat Pray Love, Offspring), Brett Gentile (We’re The Millers, The Walking Dead) and Ezekiel Bridges (Spiral, Mr. Mayor) along with GRAMMY® and CMA winner Pam Tillis as herself and Curb recording artist Lee Brice as Lamont Johnson.
About The Film: Twenty years ago, Wayne (Mayes), an aspiring singer/songwriter, was a heartbeat away from making it in Nashville when a car accident derailed his ambitions. Now working a 9-5 job and struggling to support his family, Wayne has a fateful encounter with waning country music great Claude Allen (Bridges) who reignites Claude’s musical dreams. Together they go to Nashville with one of Wayne’s songs, believing that with Claude’s fame and contacts, they can make it big. The problem is the industry has changed and no one is interested in the song – or Claude. Devastated and out of options, Wayne creates a way to get the song out to the public; not for himself, but for Claude.
“I couldn’t be more excited to bring THE NEONHIGHWAY to audiences throughout the country,” said Producer Stratton Leopold. “This film means a great deal to me, and after spending so much time working on mass entertainment it is a privilege to bring this film to audiences across the American Heartland, and to share a story about the music that fills our lives.”
Arturo Sandoval – Cuban-American jazz legend and multiple GRAMMY winner – composed the movie’s score with Curb Records releasing. The performance scenes were captured live as performed on set by musicians including Mayes, Brice and rising country newcomer, Grace Asbury.
The film’s first song and title track, “The NeonHighway” was released January 26th. The track was written by Dallas Davidson (“I Don’t Dance,” “Crash My Party”) and performed by two-time ACM winner and GRAMMY and CMA nominee, Brice.
THE NEONHIGHWAY opens March 15th in Los Angeles and in select markets including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Memphis, Nashville, Orlando, and San Antonio.
THE NEONHIGHWAY is a Mountain Movies production and is distributed by Freestyle Releasing. Stratton Leopold serves as producer with Lori Berlanga as Co-Producer. William Wages, Phillip Rob Bellury, and Craig Miller, Executive Produced.
From IMdB: Beau Bridges was born in Hollywood, and is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his wife, who was his college sweetheart, Dorothy Dean Bridges. Born just two days after the attack on Pearl Harbour, he was delivered by candlelight because of a power blackout. Named Lloyd Vernet Bridges III, his parents immediately started calling him Beau after Ashley Wilkes’ son in Gone with the Wind (1939), a book they were reading at the time. His younger brother, actor Jeff Bridges, was born in 1949 and a sister, Cindy Bridges, the following year.
Although only 5’10”, Beau played basketball for UCLA his freshman year. The following year he transferred to the University of Hawaii, but dropped out to pursue acting and got his first major role in 1967. During his first marriage to Julie Landifield, they adopted Casey Bridges and then had Jordan Bridges. He and his second wife, Wendy Treece Bridges, have three children from this marriage: Dylan Bridges (born 1985); Emily Bridges, (born 1987) and Ezekiel Jeffry Bridges.
Beau likes to play guitar and collects Native American percussion instruments. He also loves the ocean, including swimming and surfing. He is also active in environmental causes and handgun control.
From Wikipedia: Rob Mayes is an American actor, musician, and model. He is best known for starring as the title character in the 2012 horror comedy film John Dies at the End, as well as portraying Tommy Nutter in the short-lived comedy drama television series Jane by Design. He also played Barry in the 2019 film Maybe I’m Fine. Visit his website to hear and see more about this multi-talented actor/singer!
Interview with director Josh Berman of the film “Full Circle” by Thane 10/17/23
It was great to interview Josh Berman, who directed this movie. Many people will find it inspirational. The film demonstrates how people can continue to thrive, even if their life turns out completely different than what they expect.
We apologize for any confusion during the interview…due to circumstances beyond our control, we were given some wrong information about Josh and his experiences (not his fault). Well, these things happen! We hope you can go see this movie, which comes out soon.
Opening in NY October 20th
Opening in LA, Canada & Additional US Cities Beginning October 27th*World Premiere – 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival*
*Feature Film Award Winner – 2023 Wasatch Mountain Film Festival*
*Official Selection – 2023 Telluride Mountainfilm*Directed by: Josh Berman
Featuring: Trevor Kennison and Barry Corbet
Produced by: Conor Smith and Roy Tuscany
Executive Produced by: Andrew Tiner, Kevin McNeely, and Rosemary NcNeely
Faced with a traumatic injury that renders you permanently disabled; how would you reinvent yourself? In 2014, Trevor Kennison’s life was forever altered by a broken back – for worse and for better, in equal measures. Barry Corbet, an intrepid skier, mountaineer, explorer, filmmaker, and Jackson Hole legend, broke his back in a helicopter crash in 1968. Frustrated by a pre-ADA culture that did not accept or support the disabled, Barry reinvented himself, becoming a seminal leader in the disability community. FullCircle follows Trevor on a path towards post-traumatic growth in parallel with Barry, 50 years later. Their stories mirror each other, connected through time and space by common locations and motifs; injuries in the Colorado backcountry, rehab at Craig Hospital, fame in Jackson Hole; but also, through their shared resiliency and refusal to let their passion for life be limited by their injuries. FullCircle is an unblinking examination of the challenges of Spinal Cord Injury, and a celebration of the growth that such tragedy can catalyze.
Bringing the ethos of the film into practice Primetime Emmy-nominated composer Mark Crawford (“The Social Dilemma”) chose to work with musicians living with disabilities for the live instrumentation of the score. Mark assembled an all-star team, including Grammy-winning guitarist Eric Howk of Portugal. The Man, world-renowned jazz pianist Justin Kauflin, percussionist Jason Barnes, trumpet player Patrick Henry Hughes, virtuoso violinist Brian Krinke, and members of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, with orchestrator Jeff Kryka preparing the score. Additionally, Eric Howk wrote and recorded a custom song for the credits of the film, titled “What I Am.” Very much autobiographical, the song brings Eric’s voice into the film in more ways than one, speaking directly to his life experience as a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair.
JOSH BERMAN
Director/DP – Josh Berman started his career in the New York City production scene while earning a degree in Film from Dartmouth College. Josh followed his passion for snow sports to Colorado and has been directing award winning outdoor and action sports films for the past two decades. His background in action sports uniquely equipped him to tackle the challenges of shooting with Trevor in complex and dangerous snow environments.
Interview with Karen Lam of the movie “The Curse of Willow Song” by Thane 9/9/23
It was great to talk to award-winning filmmaker Karen Lam about her upcoming horror movie, “The Curse Of Willow Song.” This movie won multiple awards, but I found her very humble about it. I can tell that she’s in it for the love of art, and she loves working with people. Make sure to check out the trailer because it’s really cool.
Canadian writer, director, and producer KARENLAM is promoting her upcoming film THE CURSE OF WILLOW SONG, on digital and DVD September 26.
Lam grew up in Brandon, Manitoba. Lam‘s father, a professor, would show his daughter horror films that she cites as an influence for her work. Lam also lists Gothic literature and Asian horror films as influences. After receiving a law degree from the University of British Columbia, Lam began working at BC Film.
Lam‘s first featured-length film was Stained (2010), a thriller starring Tinsel Korey. A year later the horror revenge short Doll Parts (2011) was released and distributed, which Lam credits for paving the way for Stained to get viewership in the United States. She landed on Hollywood’s map with the starry horror Evangeline in 2013.
KARENLAM‘S HIGHLY ANTICIPATED COMES TO DIGITAL SEPTEMBER 26
THE CURSE OF WILLOW SONG
STARRING VALERIE TIAN FROM “THE MAGICIANS”, “ARROW” AND JENNIFER’S BODY
KarenLam‘s highly-anticipated The Curse of Willow Song, starring Jennifer Body’s Valerie Tian, has been picked up by Uncork’d Entertainment. The horror pic, receiving great early buzz thanks to its strong special effects, will release on both digital and DVD formats in the fall.
“The Curse of Willow Song has so much to offer. It will appeal for the genre audience but also the Asian community – as represented in front of and behind camera”, said Keith Leopard, President Uncork’d Entertainment. “KarenLam is truly one of the most exceptional filmmakers out there, and The Curse of Willow Song reiterates that.”
Willow Song, a recovering addict and parolee, struggles to start over. Willow finds herself in a concrete wasteland. Facing isolation and displacement, shadows creep into Willow’s mind and her nightmares become too real.
The Curse of Willow Song will release on Digital and DVD September 26, 2023.
About Uncork’d Entertainment
Uncork’d Entertainment was founded in July, 2012 by Keith Leopard, a Home Entertainment industry veteran with more than 23 years of experience in purchasing, acquisitions, merchandising, marketing and analysis of major studio and independent supplier to the home entertainment market.
The Company focuses on distribution in six areas: Digital Media, Physical Home Entertainment, Aggregation, Theatrical and Television, Foreign Sales, and has secured relationships across all platforms to ensure your film reaches the widest audience possible.
Keith and his team are committed to maximizing revenue, controlling costs, and assuring their Content Partners the highest quality of service, a commitment to market and merchandise their film and a rewarding experience by partnering with Uncork’d Entertainment.
Interview with writer/co-director Jim Capobianco, co-director Pierrce-Luc Granjon and composer Alex Mandel of the movie “The Inventor” by Suzanne 8/10/23
This is a cute stop-motion animated movie about Leonardo da Vinci and his quest to find out the secret of life. It’s great for kids, families, or anyone. The music is very good, too.
The first interview was with the show’s directors, Jim Capobianco and Pierre-Luc Granjon; Capobianco was also the writer. The second interview was with Alex Mandel, who wrote the music. Both interviews were very enjoyable. I hope you can go see this film, which comes out September 15.
Directed and written by Jim Capobianco (the Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter of “Ratatouille”) and co-directed by Pierre-Luc Granjon, THE INVENTOR is a stop-motion adventure film about the life of Leonardo da Vinci featuring the voices of Stephen Fry, Daisy Ridley, Marion Cotillard, Gauthier Battoue, and Matt Berry.
The insatiably curious and headstrong inventor/artist Leonardo da Vinci (Fry) leaves Italy to join the French court where he can freely experiment, invent flying contraptions and incredible machines, and study the human body. Joined in his adventure by the audacious Princess Marguerite (Ridley), Leonardo attempts to uncover the answer to the ultimate question: “What is the meaning of life?”
Interview with Monique T. Parent of “That’s a Wrap!” by Suzanne 8/9/23
It was nice to speak to Monique. We had a great chat. I even asked her about some makeup things after our “official” chat here. She’s had a long and interesting career. I’m not a big fan of horror movies…especially “slasher flicks” like this one, but it has quite a lot of comedy and art to it that was fascinating to see. Monique did a great job in it.
Known as ”The Thinking Man’s Sex Symbol”, the sci-fi and horror vet also runs a YouTube channel offering makeup and hair tips for women over 40 as well as sharing her life as an actress. She is an advocate for celebrating natural beauty and graceful aging. She lives in L.A with her two cats.
STARRING Cerina Vincent, Monique T.Parent, Sarah French, Gigi Gustin, Dave Sheridan
DIRECTED BY Marcel Walz
ON DIGITAL AUGUST 25
Award winning director Marcel Walz’s upcoming horror/thriller THAT’S A WRAP is scheduled to release on digital platforms on August 25th, 2023 from Quiver Distribution. Cerina Vincent (Cabin Fever), Monique T. Parent (Jurassic City), Sarah French (Space Wars : The Quest for Deepstar), Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators) and Dave Sheridan (The Devil’s Rejects) star in a film written by Joe Knetter and Robert L. Lucas.
The cast of a film arrive to a wrap party, but someone has dressed up as the slasher in the film, and begins to stage their own kill scenes. One by one, the cast disappear until the true nature of the evening is revealed.
Joe Knetter, Marcel Walz and Sarah French produce, with BJ Mezek, Andreas Tremmel, Justus Heinz, Yazid Benfeghoul, Tina Limbeck , Robert L. Lucas and Kai E. Bogatzki executive producing.
Says director Walz (Blind, Pretty Boy), “I’m so excited to have a colorful Giallo slasher as the first movie from our own production company, Neon Noir. Everyone involved in this project brought so much love and talent to the table and made the whole process from start to finish something special. I know the audience will see the love in the end product. My favorite film of all time is Wes Craven’s Scream. That’s a Wrap is a fun meta slasher that showcases my love for that series of films combined with my love of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story. As a gay director I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to have LGBTQ characters represented in the film. One even plays a key part in a scene that will no doubt get people talking about how that kill is something they’ve never seen before. It’s so ridiculous. I love it.”
Interview with Shila Ommi of the movie “Elemental” and “Tehran” on Apple TV+ by Suzanne 6/15/23
It was really fun to speak with Shila. The movie looks really good (and great for kids). I saw the trailer last week when I went to see “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Shila plays Cinder, the mom of the main character, Ember (Leah Lewis).
CINDER LUMEN (Shila Ommi) is Firetown’s resident matchmaker, utilizing her natural gift that allows her to smell true love in a Fire person’s smoke, whether they know it or not. She boasts numerous matches throughout her tenure—she’s proud of her track record—but this brusque, no-nonsense and traditional mom has yet to find a match for her daughter. Elsewhere audiences can see Shila Ommi on the Apple TV+ espionage thriller, “Tehran.”Shila Ommi is one of the returning co-stars of Apple TV+, espionage thriller, “Tehran,” now streaming season two now on Apple TV+.Ommi portrays the character of Nahid Kamali, the wife of Shaun Toub’s character Faraz Kamali (a skilled investigator with the Revolutionary Guards), and she also shared the screen with the iconic Glenn Close, and in season two. The heart pounding “Tehran,” which has earned the comparison in the media already of “24” meets “The Americans,” is must watch TV at it’s finest.
Shila Ommi is an American/ actress, born in Tehran, and has lived in Los Angeles since onslaught of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Her mother was a poet and her father a philanthropist, real estate mogul, and the founder and CEO of Iran’s largest construction company, Vima Co. At an early age, Ommiwitnessed the wrath of the Islamic regime. Ommi’s father was also on their hit list, but her family had the chance to flee the country, leaving behind their wealth and all their belongings to begin a new life in the United States.
Today, Shila Ommi is a prominent actress in the Iranian communities in diaspora. For over a decade, she toured the globe as the lead actress and co-artistic director of Workshop 79, a theatre company spearheaded by acclaimed Iranian playwright/director/actor Houshang Touzie (“A Simple Wedding,” “Argo”). The founder of the LA based theater group, Turquoise Heart Productions, Ommiuses theater art as a form of healing and activism, writes, directs, and acts in theatre pieces that share the Iranian experience with American audiences, and the exile experience with Iranians abroad. She is recently directed a play commissioned by the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health.
Ommiportrays the character Nahid, in the acclaimed espionage thriller, “Tehran,” with seasons 1 & 2 streaming now on Apple TV+ . She portrayed the character of Yasmin in the Apple TV+ anthology series “Little America” co-starring with Shaun Toub (who is also her screen husband in “Tehran”). Ommi is also a voice-over artist and performs regularly in animated films and web series. She is the voice of all the characters, male and female in a cartoon series called “NOPM: Special Forces” which was commissioned by the Boromand Foundation, a human rights organization focused on Iran’s human rights violations. She is narrating a video about deforestation, and a film about Iran… both coming out by the end of this year.
Elemental
PG
June 16, 2023
Animation
Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” is an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire-, water-, land- and air residents live together. The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in.
Interview with Tatyana Ali, Alpha Nicky Mulowa and Ni’Cola Mitchell of “Giving Hope: The Ni’Cola Mitchell Story” on Lifetime by Suzanne 3/8/23
This was an interesting movie because it was based on a real story of a woman who went through poverty, trauma and loss, yet she was saved by her inner intelligence, strength and perseverance. She went on to use this drive and determination to help young girls who are at-risk, even though she was a single mother with very little funds. It’s truly an inspirational story. Ali did a wonderful job with the role, and it was great to not only talk to her about the movie, but also the film’s director, and the real-life Ni’Cola Mitchell, on whom the movie is based. You can learn more here about Mitchell’s organization, Girls Who Brunch.
Tatyana Ali stars in Giving Hope: The Ni’Cola Mitchell Story, the emotional true story of best-selling author and inspirational speaker Ni’Cola Mitchell, who after experiencing sexual violence as a young girl, founded an organization dedicated to saving at risk girls from abuse and exploitation.
Ni’Cola Mitchell (Tatyana Ali), successful author, publisher and speaker, realizes at a book signing that her calling is to help disadvantaged girls. Ni’Cola understands what it is like to overcome huge hurdles in life including a difficult childhood and a cancer diagnosis, and after putting her own writing career on hold, she launches Girls Who Brunch, events designed to make young women feel seen and empowered. With the support of her sister Nene (Nadine Whiteman Roden) and daughters Diamond (Kudakwashe Rutendo) and Destani (Mikalah Reid-Beckette), she pours everything she has into the organization, including her own money and mobilizes volunteers, coaches and community leaders to help host events. Ni’Cola is named A Woman of Worth by L’Oréal and sponsorship opportunities begin to come in, helping Girls Who Brunch expand nationally and travel to dozens of cities across the country, reaching tens of thousands of girls in the process.
Giving Hope: The Ni’Cola Mitchell Story is produced by Champlin Media. Executive producers are Barbara Fisher, Tom Berry, Suzanne Chapman and Ni’Cola Mitchell. Producers are Adam Gowland, Jordana Aarons and Cassandra Keenan. Alpha Nicky directs from a script written by Adam Rockoff.
Interviews with Scott Hamm Duenas and Kipp Tribble of the film “Rebroken” by Thane 3/3/23
I had a great interview with Scott, who has been in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “General Hospital,” among many other roles. He stars as Will in this new film “Rebroken.” Kipp was a fascinating person to talk to as he’s so prolific in the thriller genre. He co-stars in the movie; both actors co-wrote the movie.
A devastated father receives recordings from a mysterious stranger that allow him to communicate with his recently deceased daughter in a new thriller from director Kenny Yates
On Digital Platforms March 7, 2023 from Gravitas Ventures
Directed by: Kenny Yates
Starring: Scott Hamm Duenas, Tobin Bell, Kipp Tribble
Tobin Bell, star of the SAW franchise joins Scott Hamm Duenas (Evil at the Door, “General Hospital”) in REBROKEN, premiering On Digital Platforms March 7 from Gravitas Ventures.
Will is a devastated father who spends his time between court-ordered grief counseling and drinking himself into oblivion. He repeats the cycle of despair every day with no plans to stop, until he meets a mysterious stranger who gives him some old vinyl recordings. After Will listens to the records, he suddenly starts receiving messages from his recently deceased daughter. As the communications from his daughter grow more and more frequent, Will becomes convinced that these recordings hold the answer to bring his daughter back from the dead. But just as he is closing in on the truth, he starts to suspect that his counseling group has ulterior motives. After the stranger disappears, Will races against time to find him so he can get the last recording, or his chance to bring his daughter back might be gone forever.
Also starring Kipp Tribble, Alison Haislip, Nija Okoro, Kenny Yates, Richard Siegelman, Blake Koren, and Billy Walker, REBROKEN is written by Kipp Tribble and Scott Hamm Duenas, and directed by Kenny Yates.
Interview with Garcelle Beauvais, Linda Park, Taylor Mosby Iyana Halley and Derrica Wilson of “Black Girl Missing” on Lifetime by Suzanne 2/2/23
This is a powerful movie about a woman losing one of her children, and the lengths she goes through to find her, and to make the police and press take her seriously. It’s fictional but based on many true stories. This is part of Lifetime’s “Ripped From the Headlines” press panels. It first airs Saturday, March 4th.
When Cheryl (Garcelle Beauvais) gets into an argument with her daughter Lauren (Iyana Halley) over her desire to drop out of college, she initially thinks Lauren is simply ignoring her calls and texts, but Cheryl soon realizes Lauren is missing. While she attempts to get help from authorities and the media, they quickly dismiss the case, labeling Lauren as a runaway while they are all too consumed with another case – that of a missing white girl. Desperate to find Lauren, Cheryl and her 15-year-old daughter Marley (Taylor Mosby) enlist the help of a dedicated community of amateur internet sleuths to try to find Lauren. Cheryl also discovers the Black and Missing Foundation and is horrified to discover the disparity in how missing persons of color cases are treated with significant lack of media attention and law enforcement resources.
The movie also stars Linda Park, as Elise, a local reporter who tries to help Cheryl, against the orders of the news director.
Derrica and Natalie Wilson, founders of Black and Missing Foundation, serve as consultants on the film. Black and Missing Foundation, Inc. (BAMF) has been established as a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring awareness to missing persons of color, provide vital resources and tools to missing person’s families and friends and to educate the minority community on personal safety. Garcelle Beauvais will also be featured in a new PSA in support of Black and Missing Foundation’s efforts.
Black Girl Missing is produced for Lifetime by Johnson Production Group in association with Motion Content Group. Garcelle Beauvais, Tim Johnson, Stacy Mandelberg, Gordon Gilbertson, Jason Egenberg, Richard Foster and Chet Fenster are executive producers. Delmar Washington (Outsiders) directs from a script written by Kale Futterman (Samir).
As a companion to the movie, Lifetime will debut the special,Beyond the Headlines: Black Girl Missing,following true stories of black and missing women featuring interviews with their families and Black and Missing Foundations’s involvement in the cases. Produced by AMS, Andy Streitfeld serves as EP and Kim Clemons is the showrunner. Natalie and Derrica Wilson of the Black and Missing Foundation are also consultants.
Interview with Peter Parros of the film “Who Are You People” by Suzanne 2/17/23
I’m very happy to speak with Peter, whom I’ve in so many shows, starting with “One Life to Live,” where hey played Ben Price from 1994-15, and then on “As The World Turns,” where he played Ben Harris from 1987 to 2009. More recently, he starred in “The Haves and the Have Nots” on OWN. He has done many other shows and movies over the years. This movie is an indy film about a teen girl, Alex (Ema Horvath), who has trouble connecting with her mom, Judith (Alyssa Milano) and step-dad, Carey (John Ales), and she wants to meet her bio dad, Karl (Devon Sawa). It’s an interesting movie because it takes a dark turn towards the end. There are many twists and turns. The writing is really good, and the characters are rich and complex. Ben Epstein wrote and directed it. Even though Peter has a relatively small part as the town sheriff, his character is also complex. As I told him in our interview, it should have been a TV series because of the writing and the interesting characters. I want to see what else happens with these people. I hope you enjoy the movie, coming to select theaters and VOD February 24!
“Who Are You People”stars Ema Horvath (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” What Lies Below”), Devon Sawa (“Gasoline Alley,” “Final Destination”), Yeardley Smith (“The Simpsons,” “Maximum Overdrive”), Peter Parros (“Real Genius,” Knight Rider”), Siddharth Dhananjay (“Bloodshot,” “Undone”), Reid Miller (“Joe Bell,” “You”),with John Ales (“Euphoria,” True Story”),and Alyssa Milano (“Brazen,” “Charmed”). “Who Are You People” premiered at the Mammoth Film Festival where Horvath won Best Actress.
Unfolding through the eyes of our 16-year-old protagonist Alex’s (Ema Horvath) eyes, her limited knowledge and perspective gradually opening-up as she learns more of the circumstances that surround her. Humanity gives no easy answers when faced with another truth: sometimes life’s biggest questions far outlast the answers. A cinematic sibling to critically acclaimed films like “Ordinary People,”Epstein’s voice as a filmmaker is authentic and questioning – something we believe audiences will respond to – launching them to have bigger personal conversations.
“Who Are You People”is written & directed by Ben Epstein; produced by Jordan Foley (“Alone,” “American Woman”), Toby Louie (Night Owls,” “Good Crazy”), Ben Epstein, and Nick Smith (“Alone,” “All Square”); executive produced by Alyssa Milano, Graham Moore (“The Imitation Game,” “The Holdout”), Yeardley Smith, Ben Cornwell (“Gracefully Grayson,” “All Square”), Fred Chandler (“The Art of Racing in the Race,” “Gossamer Folds”), Neely Eisenstein (“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” “Plus One”), AJ Gordon (“The Dark Divide,” “All the Wilderness”), Irka Zazulak, Melissa Pianko, and Rod Cooper ; co-produced by Rob Nelson (“Bad Parents,” “Brand New, Old Love”), and Benjy Caplan (“New Orleans, Mon Amour”); with Cinematography by Bobby Lam (“A Leading Man,” “Under Wraps”); edited by Jeff Bernier (“Retro Report,” “Rabbit”); and original music by Aaron Zigman(“The Notebook, “Wakefield”).
“Who Are You People” Synopsis: After a botched attempt to seduce her teacher, 16-year-old Alex (Horvath) runs away from boarding school to seek out the biological father (Sawa) that her mother (Milano) and presumed father (Ales) always kept hidden and learn the dark secret of her roots.
About the Director:
Ben Epstein is the writer/director of the feature film WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE. He served as the Creator/Showrunner/Director for two seasons of the Complex series IN THE VAULT. He is also the creator and Co-Executive Producer of the MTV dramedy HAPPYLAND, and currently serves as a Co-Executive Producer on an upcoming series for Netflix.
Ben is currently developing a TV series with Lionsgate and Temple Hill and a feature with John Wells Productions. His screenplay THE PROSPECT, which chronicles Michael Jordan’s baseball career, was featured on the Black List. Ben realized a lifelong nerd dream by writing several issues of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book. His short fiction has appeared in the Rattling Wall Literary Journal.
Ben graduated from the NYU film program, where his thesis film THE REUNION won First Prize Wasserman/King Award at the NYU First Run Film Festival and numerous awards at other festivals. His feature script for WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE was also awarded the $75,000 NYU Columbus/Vague Alumni Production Grant by director Chris Columbus.
Ben is a member of the WGA and DGA. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and never tires of describing himself in the third person.
Peter Parros
Peter Parros began his acting career at American Theatre Arts in Hollywood, CA. After performing in stage productions, commercials and television, his big break came when he won the series regular role of “RC3” Reginald Cornelius III on the hit TV show Knight Rider. He was later cast as Officer Gus Grant, the series lead, on the new Adam 12 series with Ethan Wayne. Peter has appeared in hundreds of television episodes spanning several series, including Seinfeld,The Family Man,Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,Star Trek: The Next Generation,Bones,CSI: Miami,Law and Order,Sherri,Royal Pains and Castle. Feature film credits include Death Before Dishonor and Real Genius.
For seven years, he played Dr. Ben Harris on the Best Daytime Drama Emmy Winner As The World Turns—a role that earned Peter two NAACP Image Award Nominations. Daytime fans also know him for his contract role as Dr. Ben Price on One Life To Live and Leo Baines on The Young and the Restless.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Peter currently resides in Los Angeles, California. He loves spending time on the ocean and has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club to introduce urban youth to the joys of sailing.
Interview with Connor Floyd of the movie “The Last Deal” and “The Young & The Restless” on CBS by Suzanne 2/3/23
It was great to speak with Connor! We had a fun – but brief – chat. He has a small part in this new movie, “The Last Deal,” which is an action thriller starring Anthony Molinari. To be fair, everyone’s part in this is pretty small, aside from Molinari. The only other actor that has many lines in the movie is Mister Fitzgerald, who plays Bobby. Connor’s role last for just a few minutes. He’s a young actor, still building his resume. Right now most of his work is on “The Young & The Restless,” where he plays Chance. I was happy to speak to him about both the film and the show.
January 5, 2023 : Sala Baker, known to Lord of the Rings fans as Sauron, stars in the non-stop action thrill ride THELASTDEAL, coming to theaters Feb 3 and digital Feb 7.
The pic, a captivating profusion of HEAT and SAVAGES, nabbed Best Director at the Boston Film Festival, and later, the Jury Prize for Best Performance at the San Antonio Film Festival.
Black market marijuana dealer Vince is living the high life in Los Angeles, but everything changes when new laws pass making cannabis legal. With limited dispensary licenses available, Vince may be squeezed out of the business. He’s desperate to make one final score, but borrows money from the wrong people.
Directed by Jonathan Salemi, and also starring Anthony Molinari (Tenet), Mister Fitzgerald (“F.B.I.”), Jeffri Lauren (Inside & Out), Mike Ferguson (Ebola Rex), Conner Floyd (“The Young & The Restless”), and Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), THELASTDEAL is a Scatena & Rosner Films release.
Conner Floyd joined the cast of The Young and the Restless in November 2021 as “Phillip Chance Chancellor IV”. Conner was born and raised in Austin, Texas. He attended the University of Tulsa where he was three-year letter winner playing both wide receiver and punt returner for the Golden Hurricane. After college, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. His past credits include the television movies, Malicious Motives, A Kiss on Candy Cane Lane, and Help Wanted and appearances in several independent films.
In his spare time he enjoys filmmaking, playing guitar, watching football, and enjoying the outdoors.
Interview with Mike Manning of the film “The Way Out” by Thane 1/16/23
It was great to catch up with Mike Manning about a new thriller he appears in. His TV credits include “This Is Us” and “Days Of Our Lives“. If you like horror/thriller movies, then he’s worth a follow.
From writer/director Barry Jay, and starring Jonny Beauchamp (“Penny Dreadful”), Emmy winner Mike Manning (“Teen Wolf”, “This is Us”), Ashleigh Murray (“Riverdale”), and Sherri Shepherd (“Life is Perfect”), an unnerving and riveting thriller from Terror Films hitting digital February 10, 2023.
Alex is an aspiring singer/songwriter, a drug addict who’s been damaged from childhood abuse. After the death of his father and inheriting the family home, he takes in a roommate, a fighter, who takes Alex under his wing, teaching him how to fight back and stand up to abusers. But soon this leads Alex down a dark path that threatens his sobriety and his life.
“I disagree”, says Barry Jay (Killer Therapy, The Chosen). “Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. Sometimes it gives you the time and distance to gain the clarity to see how badly you were mistreated and the courage to finally do something about it. That was me – I moved out of an abusive household when I was 20 years old. I had been abused until after I was a senior in high school. Severely underweight, shut down, feared everyone and everything and with good reason. Sobriety was a gift that helped me heal through all of that, a day at a time and that is the inspiration for THE WAY OUT.
My hope is to send a message to the abuser and the abused. To the abuser, I hope to show the ripple effect of their heinous actions, and how it can boomerang back to them, rightfully destroying their lives. To the abused, I hope to show there is hope, hope for better days, ability to find the self-esteem and strength to create boundaries, how forgiveness can be the thing that helps you finally drop the rock so you can create a better new and healthy life.”
THE WAY OUT is on digital February 10, 2023 worldwide from Terror Films.
Interview with director Zhao Ji and producer Yu Zhou of the movie “New Gods: Yang Jian” by Suzanne 1/11/23
This is a really cool animated Chinese film that comes out January 20th. I don’t normally watch anime, but I really enjoyed it. It has beautiful animation and tells a great story with a lot of action. The story is based on Chinese folk lore. This movie was a big hit in China, so now it’s premiering here in the U.S. with an English-speaking cast. Everyone associated with the movie is Asian, including the American actors dubbing it. We had a really interesting interview. I’m sorry for any mistakes in the transcript below. Between the accents, the Chinese words used, and the fact that one of them was ill, it was a bit difficult.
Here is the audio interview, which we made into a slideshow video. Below is the transcript.
Yu: I’m the co-founder and president of Light Chaser Animation. Very nice to meet you.
Ji: I’m Ji Zhao, director of New Gods: Yang Jian.
Yu: Yeah, also, as you know, Ji is also the director of Whitesnake, New Gods, and Nezha Reborn. Very productive. Okay, back to you guys. Any question? Feel free to ask.
Suzanne: So, my first question is for Ji. How is directing an animated movie like this different from a live action feature?
Ji: Well, I do work both in animation production and live action production, but I haven’t got a chance to direct a live action movie yet. So, for my experience, I think animation is more creative, because you can create [things that don’t] really happen in the real world. In my live action career, I was an editor, a film editor. From an editor perspective, most of the time, you have to choose the footage from what you already have, but from an animation perspective, you can create [it] when you don’t have that footage. “Oh, I need something,” then we can [just] make it. So, from that I think it’s more creative and more fun. That’s why I changed my career from live action to animation.
Caroline: Ji, I’ve seen your films and I think you seem to be a big fan of Mad Max. I want to ask you, what are your cinematic inspirations, whether Chinese or in the West?
Ji: Actually the animation filmmakers in China, I think, is quite young compared to the Hollywood or other countries’ animators…Sorry about my English. I haven’t used it –-
Yu: Since the premiere of Whitesnake.
Ji: Yeah, three or four years since I’ve spoken English. Okay. I think we grew up with a lot of Western movies, and we’ve seen all kinds [from] Hollywood or like anime from Japan. We won’t say that. That’s part of our experience. So I never saw – like for film it’s an international language. There’s no quite age that you have to do something from the Eastern point of view or Western point of view. Most of them comes from your heart, comes from your own experience. I think – you mentioned Mad Max, but I think Mad Max, you only see that from the punk. I mean, the punk style, but punk does not belongs to any culture. Chinese can have [their] own punk because punk is a spirit not only a racial style. Just because you haven’t seen a lot of Chinese punk movies doesn’t means Chinese culture cannot be punk. Especially when we do the hero like the New Gods, [unintelligible]. That hero himself is a very punk hero in his heart. So, I think it’s fun to combine what we learn from the Western culture and mix with our own culture and create what from our generations point of view, to create a movie like what we saw is the new generation of Chinese heroes.
Matthew Swigonski: The art style is pretty incredible. Did you have a certain inspiration of what you drew for the entire world? You mentioned punk, it seems kind of like it was based off of steampunk a bit.
Ji: I would call that silk punk instead of steampunk. Steampunk is part of the –
(Crosstalk)
Yu: industrialization.
Ji: Right, the 18th to 19th centuries, from the British culture. That’s [where] steampunk original artwork comes from, but for our film, I think we’re trying to create in Chinese Asian, because it’s a Chinese gods’ world. When you think about gods, they’re always more advanced than the technology, culture, everything. They have to be more advanced than people, than human people. So, when I’m trying to create the spirit world, I think they could be more modern. They could mix modern elements, combine something we’re familiar with, or modern life with what we saw, but we’re very familiar with Chinese original culture. So that’s more like we combine modern China or modern technology with traditional Chinese culture when we imagine the spirit world.
Ephney Tsai: You’ve mentioned that you hope these films can showcase the essence of traditional Chinese culture through a modern perspective. Why do you think that this is an important objective to have?
Ji: When I was a kid, I watched like old TV shows of Chinese [unintelligible] mythology. Yeah, the Chinese mythology story from the TV shows. They always imagined people flying from one place to another, stand[ing] on a cloth. And just like the Superman, they just fly from here to there. Because I think during that time, airplanes in China are very few; people won’t see a lot of that. For Asian China, for Asian people, they can now imagine that there is an aircraft flying from one place to another. But every generation, the creator, the filmmaker, the artists should make things from their experience. I think for our generation, we grew up seeing that technology grows very fast. So, that’s actually just part of our life. So I think why the spirit cannot fly with a ship with the aircraft. I remember one time I was on an airplane…taking off. I was seated next to the window, and when the the plane [crossed] the clouds, I saw the beautiful cloud ocean. At that time, I thought maybe in ancient time, the gods, the spirits, they probably just see that. They want to [be] sailing among the cloud ocean. But I think that’s part of, more than life, part of the technology that makes me think that way. For the Asian artists, they’d never really be up in the sky. So, they cannot imagine that way.
Yu: Hopefully I can add a few comments…I want to create some Chinese, Asian or Chinese culture combined with modern technology. Because I think it’s, as he said, flying through the clouds in the sky as a god is something we are as the Chinese people quite familiar [with] from our childhood. Our film, actually the main focus is for the first audience [who] are Chinese. So we’re trying to present what they’re familiar with, what they like. And also, we’re trying to give them some surprise. If you can only give them what they know, [it’s] kind of boring. So that’s the principle, the bottom line of our creativity, where we get our creativity, and also for ourselves, we also liked that kind of style. They call it, after the Muller report [used] that new word called Oriental punk. Other people that create it are calling it that word. Yeah.
Suzanne: I guess I’m next again. By the way, I loved when the little dragon went through the sky. I briefly lived in Chinatown in Honolulu, and I used to love whenever they had the big parades with the dragons. So, that was pretty cool, to see that. There’s certainly a lot to see in this movie; visually it’s fantastic. So, I have a two part question. Who came up with the names of the movies? And was there any concern that people might confuse it with the old DC Comic by Jack Kirby, New Gods?
Ji: Oh, okay. So, when we create this series, it’s a series movie, we were trying to make something different. In China, the Chinese name of the movie is Xin shen bang. Xin means new. So it’s new, but the original version of the story, the function that’s the original version of the story. So, we’re trying to tell our audience in China this is a totally new version. We use the same characters, same heroes, but it’s a different different point of view or a different timeline of the story. So we call this new Xin shen bang. When we translate to English, “Xin shen bang” is a rank. It’s a list. It’s a rank of the heroes in the Chinese Asian history, who is the number one, number two, number three. So, when we translate that, we’re trying to make it simple. We call it New Gods, and –
Yu: Actually we didn’t notice…
Ji: Yeah we didn’t notice that DC has a similar name.
Yu: Thank you for pointing that out. That will probably create some discussion, dispute. It might be a good thing to to know.
Suzanne: I think they were gonna do a New Gods movie, and they decided not to, so I guess you lucked out there.
Ji: I didn’t know that.
Yu: But the function of the story in China is like a proud mother and on top of her years. Everybody knows the story and is familiar with it. And what we did is we based it on that legend. We put on the same serial but in a new era, like modern China. Because they’re gods, they will not die. They will live through all ages. So, even around us, that’s the way we are telling our stories. So, since this [won’t] be the last series – actually we are probably very soon – not very soon. In at least three years, we’ll create another sequel. Yeah.
Suzanne: Great. Thank you.
Caroline: So to Ji, I wanted to ask, so from Whitesnake to New Gods., how would you say your animation direction has evolved over the years?
Ji: I think for me, it’s a quite fast learning experience. Whitesnake I remember it released on
Yu: Actually yesterday it was a four year anniversary.
Ji: Yeah, right. Right. Right. Right.
Yu: January 11.
Ji: Yeah, So, during these four years I released three animation movies. That’s probably a very –
Yu: A record. Three years. Three films.
Ji: Yeah, so, for me it’s a very fast learning experience during those four years. During Whitesnake, I think I was trying to adapt, trying to learn how to be a director, so at that time there will be like some director points of view or directors style, it’s more like all of the team. We were trying to learn the new way of how to make animation so fast. And for the next two movies – because Whitesnake, I co-directed with another director, so the next two movies for me, every time I tried to take a step to try something new I never tried before, that’s always when I create a new movie. For New Gods, obviously that’s a different style, combining modern and Asian story and I never – lucky for us in China we don’t have that censorship rating for animation. I know in Hollywood you guys have like PG, G, whatever the rating, but in China we don’t have that. So, I think animation can tell any kind of story. Even if we wanted we could do a horror story. So, I think it’s cool, because animation, more like media, not only [unintelligible] because when you think animation is [unintelligible] is more like a family film or kids film but then you think we could try to make something more for like a young audience and especially when like in Light Chaser all of our members probably under 30 years old…So, I think it’s cool is for old energy. So, most of our members, most of our colleagues, they don’t even have a kid. How we can make a movie for kids is pretty hard. We don’t even understand how kids react or why kids laugh, so I think is cool like for New Gods and Nezha we find something very –
(Crosstalk)
Yu: More adventures. we take more of a risk. Big risk
Ji: Try something like very new and totally new style more than to tell Asian story, and for Yang Jian, for me, the latest one, I think is combines Asian style, Chinese –
(Crosstalk)
Ji: …ink style kind of Chinese paintings style combined with some CGI technology combined with some punk style. So, for me, like racial wise is a totally different race. Totally different adventure. At the same time, I think, I’m always trying to make the story. This story’s never been told in the original story, I mean, the original Asian fairy tales.
Yu: Exactly. So, the audience can always expect something new from Light Chaser. Not a retelling, not to repeat it. Something new has been made.
Ji: So, I think for me, after these three movies, I’m quite confident with what I already know, but I also found I have a lot of things I don’t know. I think it’s very lucky I’ve gotten a change to [unintelligible]. I grew up at the same time when I [was making the] movie.
Yu: Yeah, you also become a philosopher. The more you know you know, the more you don’t know. That’s very good
Ji: Yeah, so I’m pretty confident with the next movie, Light Chaser Animation and myself, we all will be better.
Yu: [unintelligible] it’s a little bit diplomatic but we always believe that will be the next one.
Matthew Swigonski: What’s one thing you wish viewers would take away after watching this film? Is there one thing you wish that they would think about or learn something they didn’t realize?
Ji: Yeah, I think – it’s a good question; it’s good question. I think it’s different, because most of [the audience] I think is the Chinese audience and what they will think. I never [think about] what the audience from the world, what they will think, because the difference is the Chinese audience is familiar with the original story. So, what they will see is the different version of the hero, because [from] their point of view they thought that the hero should be like a hero up in sky. He will be very strong and never lose, and he’ll be like a god, a war god. But what we create, that person is more like a human. He really had a lot of –
Yu: A lot of downtime.
Ji: Right, Yeah, so probably from a Chinese point of view, they will think every person in their life they have their their high point and also have their down point. But for the people [of the world] I think this movie…we’re trying to make people think our family is always around us [whether] they really are here or they are already in a spirit world. So, they will always be your energy whether they’re physically next to you or not.
Yu: Yeah, There’s some similarity. You remind me of Coco. When your family member, your grandparents have passed away, actually they didn’t die. They’re still a young man. But here like it was Yang Jian – I’m sure you have all seen the movie – if your mom passed away, she is always around you. She’s protecting you; she still carries you, also the world, but it in a bigger sense. It’s a big love. You love the family; you love the world. Peace, happiness. So, I think that is a universal theme. We hope people no matter where they are they can understand. They can be touched by these feelings, this story.
Ji: I know we don’t put much [in] talking about that. In the movie you couldn’t see that very obviously. But I think like the like the main character Yang Jian, like the hero, most of his thoughts he never speaks out. That’s just in his mind. When he looked up to the sky in the stars, [he’s] thinking something; he remembers something. I think that’s part of the Asian or oriental people’s experience. We won’t say everything out [loud]. Most of the things probably you just keep in your heart.
Yu: Yeah that’s more like Asian China. We’re more kind of introverts. He looks in silence but it’s the feeling, a very strong feeling, expressed by the the very subtle [movements]. Where you’re looking at even very very gentle very small move[ments]. I think these can – I’m sure our audience in China they have got the heavy touch and the love very much. I mean, here with Yang Jian we created a very unique god, different from Monkey King from [unintelligible]. He’s very human. People, particularly the female audience, they fell in love with Yang Jian. They saw that she’s a perfect partner, not virtual. So, if a god is lovable or reliable and very real, I think it’s as if we recall what we what we got so far. I think it’s something we can we can draw.
Ephney Tsai: With the movies being based off of the classical Chinese mythical characters and folklore, how do you choose which god you want to create the story about?
Ji: Well, very obviously we tried to choose the one [that is] more famous, because we get [a bigger] audience. Probably Nezha, the first one, was the most famous one, and Yang Jian is probably the second. Yeah, that’s probably the number one reason why we chose him. I think this character, Yang Jian, has never been really told as a main character in the media before, and for me I always imagined – because in all the works before Yang Jian is more like two two characters. I don’t know what two characters.
Question: Like a supporting character?
Ji: Yeah. supporting character Yes. He’s more like a guy people will have a certain character up there. they’re just like, “Oh, we mentioned him. He always like a war god and just always [has the] same face, one poker face.” But I don’t think he’s like that. I think that character has more to tell. He’s half human, half god. His father is human and his mother is a god. He has to have some part of him human and have the human experience and human heart. We’ve just created the first human Yang Jian in the Chinese hero history.
Suzanne: Can you tell us about auditioning the English dub cast?
Yu: We have not – I’m sorry. Actually, probably [our] colleague is more familiar with a casting crew…We haven’t seen –
Ji: We cannot fly right now [and haven’t] for a couple years. That’s why our English sucks right now. We haven’t used it for a long time. So, we actually would really like to be involved in that part. But yeah,
Yu: Yeah, but we have been working together remotely. I have to say our colleagues did a great job assemble all the dub crew, all the voice actors, and we have seen their work, and we have a high level of confidence that they did a great job. Also like two years ago, we worked together on Whitesnake, and they also [did] a fantastic job. We haven’t seen the whole film yet. But I also look forward to seeing it as well. By the way, have you guys seen the film? We haven’t seen the English dubbed version yet. Have you guys you have seen it? No.
Suzanne: I saw the subtitled version; they sent me the other one later, and I haven’t gotten around to watching it.
Yu: Yeah, yeah, I have to say, I’m sure to see the subtitle version is kind of painful, because to read it and understand it is very quite difficult. Very easily you lose track.
Ji: I think it’s a really hard job to put like Chinese language into an English version; it is a difficult job. It’s a very difficult job, because a lot of the lines they’re like kind of you know, like points.
Yu: Yes. Yeah.
Ji: And it’s hard. It’s easy for the Chinese audience to get, but yeah, I don’t even know how to translate it. And you have to match the
Yu: Mouth movements.
Ji: Yeah, the mouths. So, I think they did a very good job, a very beautiful job translating that into English.
Yu: Yeah. So next week, let’s do some promotion. You guys are more than welcome to join the premiere on January 20.
NEW GODS: YANG JIAN will open on January 20 at the following venues and markets
Phoenix (Prescott), AZ
Chandler Fashion Ctr 20
AMC Ahwatukee 24
Touchstar Luxury Cinemas-Sonora Village 9
Arizona Mills 25 with IMAX
Tuscon, AZ
Tucson Spectrum 18
Bakersfield, CA
Valley Plaza 16
Los Angeles, CA
Foothill Center 10
Cerritos 16
Laemmle Glendale
Landmark Westwood
Academy 6
San Francisco, CA
Rohnert Park with Titan XC
CGV San Francisco 14
Denver, CO
AMC Westminster 24 with IMAX, Dolby, Prime
Jacksonville, FL
AMC Regency 24 with IMAX, Dolby
Miami, Florida
AMC Sunset Place 24 with IMAX, Dolby
Orlando, FL
AMC Altamonte Mall 18 with IMAX, Dolby
CW Theaters – Cinemaworld
Tampa, FL
AMC Veterans 24 with IMAX, Dolby
Atlanta, GA
AMC Southlake Pavilion 24 with IMAX, Dolby
Savannah, GA
Royal Cinemas Pooler IMAX
Honolulu, HI
Consolidated Pearlridge West 16
Cons Victoria Ward Stadium 16
Cons Mililani 14 with TITAN LUXE
Chicago, IL
Marcus Addison Cinema 21 with UltraScreen
AMC Niles 12 with IMAX
Kansas City, KS
AMC DINE-IN Studio 28 KC with IMAX,Dolby
Baltimore, MD
AMC White Marsh 16 with IMAX, Dolby
Detroit, MI
Emagine Canton 19 + Super EMAX
Emagine Novi 17 + Super EMAX
Emagine Rochester Hills 13 + EMAX
AMC Forum 30 with IMAX, Dolby
Grand Rapids, MI
Celebration – Grand Rapids North 17 + IMAX
Celebration – Crossroads 15 + IMAX
Lansing, MI
Celebration – Lansing 20 + IMAX
Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN
Emagine Eagan 15 + EMAX
Marcus Oakdale Cinema 17 with UltraScreen
St. Louis, MO
Marcus Ronnie’s 20 Cine + IMAX
Concord, NC
AMC Concord Mills 24 with IMAX, Dolby
Omaha, NE
Marcus Majestic Cinema of Omaha 19
Cherry Hill, NJ
AMC Cherry Hill 24 with IMAX, Dolby
Elizabeth, NJ
AMC Jersey Gardens 20 with IMAX, Dolby
New York, NY
IFC Center
Columbus, OH
Gateway Film Center
Eugene, OR
Broadway Metro
Bensalem, PA
AMC Neshaminy 24 with IMAX, Dolby
Providence, RI
Lincoln Mall 16
Columbia, SC
BTM Dutch Square Cinema 14
Nashville, TN
AMC CLASSIC Murfreesboro 16
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
AMC DINE-IN Grapevine 30 w/IMAX, Dolby
AMC DINE-IN Mesquite 30 with IMAX, Dolby
Houston, TX
AMC Gulf Pointe 30 with IMAX, Dolby
AMC Fountains 18 with IMAX
San Antonio, TX
Palladium 19 IMAX + AVX
Salt Lake City, UT
Megaplex Theatres Jordan Commons + IMAX
Megaplex Theatres @ Geneva + IMAX
Megaplex Theatres at Valley Fair Mall + IMAX
Alexandria, VA
AMC Hoffman 22 with IMAX, Dolby
Richmond, VA
BTC Movieland at Blvd Sq 17
Seattle, WA
AMC Southcenter 16 with IMAX, Dolby
Milwaukee, WI
Marcus Majestic Cinema of Brookfield 16 with UltraScreen
Running time: 126 minutes
Thirteen years after Yang Jian (known to some as Erlang Shen) imprisoned his sister beneath a mountain, the once powerful god now scrapes by as a penniless bounty hunter. When a mysterious woman hires him for a new job, Yang Jian soon finds himself chasing down a familiar figure. He must stop Chenxiang, his long-lost nephew, who is in search of the magical lotus lantern that will free his mother, even if it will bring catastrophe. As Yang Jian confronts the actions of his past, he must face a host of dangerous vigilantes seeking the same treasure with the power to alter the balance of their worlds.
This latest entry in the New Gods universe from Light Chaser Animation (White Snake, New Gods: Nezha Reborn) features awe-inspiring action sequences set against breathtaking and wildly imaginative environments. Combining ancient lore with dazzling animation, New Gods: Yang Jian is a timeless adventure of epic proportions featuring one of China’s legendary mythic figures.
DIRECTED BY: ZHAO Ji
SCREENPLAY BY: MU Chuan
ENGLISH CAST: Nicholas Andrew Louie, Christine Lin, Parry Shen, Luke Naphat Sath & James Sie
GKIDS handles North American distribution for the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others; as well as the critically acclaimed television series, Neon Genesis Evangelion.
GKIDS is also the founder and host of ANIMATION IS FILM, the annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions. www.gkids.com
DIRECTOR ZHAO LI
ZHAO Ji studied at the Communication University of China and UCLA. He has nine years of working experience in the field of filmmaking and has participated in the editing of a number of films home and abroad, such as The Karate Kid: The Grandmaster, Swordsmen and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Zhao worked as the editor and post-production supervisor of Little Door Gods, Tea Pets, Cats and Peachtopia. Zhao made his directorial debut with co-director Amp Wong on Light Chaser Animation’s 2019 film White Snake, a breakout success in China and an official selection of Animation Is Film. In 2021, Zhao directed New Gods: Nezha Reborn, the first film in Light Chaser Animation’s New Gods universe, which re-imagines classic Chinese mythology. Zhao’s latest film, New Gods: Yang Jian, is the follow-up to New Gods: Nezha Reborn and the second entrant in Light Chaser Animation’s exciting new world.
Interview with Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer of “Steppin’ into the Holiday” on Lifetime by Suzanne 11/7/22
This is a fun Christmas movie with a lot of dancing. I’ve spoke with Jana before, but not Mario. It was nice to chat with them both, of course. This is a better movie than the last one I saw him in. I didn’t realize that he got his start dancing when he was very young. I also didn’t realize that he’s from Chula Vista, which is right near where I grew up! It sounds a little bit like he had a cold during the interview because he was sounding congested and drinking a lot of water. I hope he feels better! Anyway, you should check out this festive movie. Two trailers below and then the interview.
Former Broadway star Billy Holiday (Mario Lopez) returns to his hometown for Christmas after being abruptly fired as the host-producer-judge of the hit TV series “Celebrity Dance Off.” While there, he encounters Rae (Jana Kramer), the charismatic owner of the local dance studio, where Billy’s 12-year-old nephew is her standout student. This Christmas, Rae is planning a dance recital fundraiser with the goal of taking her students to see a Broadway show in New York City. Billy volunteers to help Rae with the recital by reviving the town’s traditional Christmas Eve show, which was once a showcase for local talent. With Billy’s knack for producing and Rae’s knowledge of all things local, their collaboration clicks and romantic sparks start flying!
Cheri Oteri stars as Dallas, Billy’s high-powered, fast-talking, Hollywood agent. Dallas scrambles to find Billy work after he is fired by his boss, Wayne, played by Mario Cantone, a network executive who is equal parts charming and ruthless! Courtney Lopez , Mario’s real-life wife, also appears in the film as Joanna, the charismatic host of “Celebrity Dance Off,” who is tapped to replace Billy (her former fling) as executive producer and head judge after his popularity hits the skids.
Steppin’ Into the Holiday is produced by Via Mar and Roberts Media, LLC. in association with Motion Content Group. Jeff Stearns, Mark Roberts, Mario Lopez, Jana Kramer, Richard Foster and Chet Fenster serving as Executive Producers. David Kendall directs from a script by Aliza Murrieta and Peter Murrieta.
Mario Lopez is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on Saved by the Bell, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, and the 2020 sequel series. He has appeared in numerous projects since, including the third season of Dancing with the Stars and as host for the syndicated entertainment news magazine shows Extra and Access Hollywood. He has also hosted America’s Best Dance Crew for MTV. In 2012, he co-hosted the second season of the American version of The X Factor with Khloé Kardashian, and was the sole host for the third and final season.
Jana Rae Kramer is an American country music singer and actress. She is known for her role as Alex Dupre on the television series One Tree Hill. Kramer began her musical career in 2012 and has released two albums: Jana Kramer (2012) and Thirty One (2015). The albums produced seven charted singles on Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay, including the top 10 hits “Why Ya Wanna” and “I Got the Boy”. She competed on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in fourth place. (These two biographies are from Wikipedia)
Interview with actress Alicia Witt and producer Linda Burnham of “The Disappearance of Cari Farver” on Lifetime by Krista 10/6/22
This was an enjoyable press call. Alicia is a really great actress. I’ve only seen her before in “That 70’s Show,” but she’s an underrated dramatic actress, as she proves in this film.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is based on a true story and the subject of Leslie Rule’s bestselling true-crime book A Tangled Web. Dave Kroupa (Zach Gilford, Good Girls, Friday Night Lights) is shocked when his new girlfriend, Cari Farver (Rebecca Amzallag), starts sending him demanding texts. When Dave ends the relationship, he finds himself on the receiving end of an onslaught of twisted messages from Cari, who has abruptly disappeared. Dave’s ex-girlfriend, Liz (Alicia Witt, Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead), also begins receiving harassing texts from Cari, resulting in a dangerous situation for them both. Meanwhile, Cari’s mother Nancy (Lea Thompson, Back to the Future, Switched at Birth) continually searches for her, keeping the pressure on the police who eventually uncover a shocking discovery. The Disappearance of Cari Farver premieres Saturday, October 8 at 8/7c.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is executive produced by Milojo Productions, Howard Braunstein Films, and Media Nation. Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Albert Bianchini serve as executive producers for Milojo. Michael Halpern serves as producer for Milojo. Howard Braunstein and Linda Berman also executive produce. Danishka Esterhazy directs from a script written by Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol (Bel Air, My Life with the Walter Boys).
Lifetime Announces Two New Ripped From the Headlines Movies from EPs Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Jenna Dewan Set to Star and EP
– 08/11/2022 –
KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS EXECUTIVE PRODUCE TWO NEW RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES FILMS THROUGH MILOJO PRODUCTIONS BANNER
JENNA DEWAN TO HEADLINE AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCE ORIGINAL MOVIE LET’S GET PHYSICAL WITH JENNIFER IRWIN AND MICHAEL CONSUELOS
LEA THOMPSON, ZACH GILFORD, AND ALICIA WITT STAR IN THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CARI FARVER
BOTH FILMS WILL DEBUT THIS OCTOBER
New York, NY – August 11 – Lifetime announces two new Ripped from the Headlines movies, Let’s Get Physical and The Disappearance of Cari Farver from executive producers Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, under their Milojo Productions banner as part of the previously announced partnership with Lifetime. Let’s Get Physical stars and is also executive produced by Jenna Dewan via her Everheart Productions with Kyle McNally, and features Jennifer Irwin and Michael Consuelos. The Disappearance of Cari Farver stars Lea Thompson, Zach Gilford and Alicia Witt. Both films will debut this October on Lifetime.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is based on a true story and the subject of Leslie Rule’s bestselling true-crime book A Tangled Web. Dave Kroupa (Zach Gilford, Good Girls, Friday Night Lights) is shocked when his new girlfriend, Cari Farver (Rebecca Amzallag), starts sending him demanding texts. When Dave ends the relationship, he finds himself on the receiving end of an onslaught of twisted messages from Cari, who has abruptly disappeared. Dave’s ex-girlfriend, Liz (Alicia Witt, Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead), also begins receiving harassing texts from Cari, resulting in a dangerous situation for them both. Meanwhile, Cari’s mother Nancy (Lea Thompson, Back to the Future, Switched at Birth) continually searches for her, keeping the pressure on the police who eventually uncover a shocking discovery. The Disappearance of Cari Farver premieres Saturday, October 8 at 8/7c.
Inspired by actual events, Let’s Get Physical is the story of fitness instructor Sadie (JennaDewan, The Rookie) who by day, taught fitness and dance to soccer moms, but by night led a double life running a sophisticated prostitution ring with a customer list that included very prominent men in the community. After an anonymous tip, authorities raided her studio, leading to Sadie’s indictment and ignited a firestorm in the small town leading everyone to ask, who exactly was on the client list. Dewan executive produces and stars alongside Jennifer Irwin (The Goldbergs) and Michael Consuelos (Riverdale). Let’s Get Physical is set to premiere Saturday, October 15 at 8/7c.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is executive produced by Milojo Productions, Howard Braunstein Films, and Media Nation. Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Albert Bianchini serve as executive producers for Milojo. Michael Halpern serves as executive producer for Milojo. Howard Braunstein and Linda Berman also executive produce. Danishka Esterhazy directs from a script written by Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol (Bel Air, My Life with the Walter Boys).
Let’s Get Physical is executive produced by Milojo Productions, Johnson Management Group, Inc., and Everheart Productions. Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos and Albert Bianchini serve as executive producers for Milojo. Michael Halpern serves as executive producer for Milojo. Jenna Dewan and Kyle McNally executive produce for Everheart Productions. Robin Hayes directs from a script written by Margaux Froley and Kelly Fullerton.
Interview with Jaime Ray Newman of the movie “MK Ultra” by Suzanne 10/4/22
It was really great to speak with Jaime about her part in this movie, and about “General Hospital” (where she played Kristina, Alexis’ sister) and more. I had a lot of fun. The movie comes out today, Oct. 7, in theaters and On Demand. I highly recommend it because it’s a good psychological horror thriller. Anson Mount (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) stars in it, and Jaime plays his wife. It’s a fairly small role, but she’s great in it.
Oh, one little correction. The actress in the movie that I referred to (Jen Richards) is not the same actress as the one that guest-starred on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” That’s what I get for talking off the top of my head, rather than looking it up to make sure. That actress is Jesse James Keitel. They look very similar, but they are not the same. Maybe they could play sisters in some future movie or TV show!
Starring Anson Mount, Jaime Ray Newman, Jason Patric, Jen Richards, Alon Aboutboul and David Jensen
Written and Directed by Ex-Intelligence Officer Joseph Sorrentino
Based on the infamous CIA drug experiments from the early 1960s, this psychological thriller follows a brilliant psychiatrist (Anson Mount) who unknowingly becomes entangled with a dangerous government entity fixated on mind control.
Under Project MKUltra, the CIA ran an illegal human experimentation program intended to develop procedures and identify drugs such as LSD that could be used in interrogations to weaken individuals and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture.
Jaime Ray Newman (born April 2, 1978) is an American actress, producer and singer. She is known for starring as Kristina Cassadine in the soap opera General Hospital, Mindy O’Dell in the drama series Veronica Mars, Kat Gardener in the fantasy series Eastwick, Lt. Laura Cadman in the science-fiction series Stargate Atlantis, Tess Fontana in the science-fiction series Eureka, Kat Petrova in the drama-thriller series Red Widow, Sam Gordon in the comedy-drama series Mind Games, Allison Roth in the crime drama series Wicked City, and Sarah Lieberman in the Marvel series The Punisher.
Along with her husband Guy Nattiv, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2019 for producing the drama Skin (2018).
Interview with Tom Stevens and Catherine Bell of “Jailbreak Lovers” on Lifetime by Suzanne 6/1/22
This was from a LIfetime press day covering three different movies. It was great to speak to Catherine Bell, who has been on so many series and in many movies. I’ve spoken with Tom Stevens a few times before. They were both great in this movie. Even though the movie is about two felons, it has a humorous side to it that improves on the story. I enjoyed it. Also, there are many dogs, which elevates it even further.
MODERATOR: Wonderful. Well, thank you all for coming to our Summer 2022 Virtual Press Day. Please join me in welcoming the stars of “Jailbreak Lovers.” We have with us today executive producer and star Catherine Bell along with her costar Tom Stevens. First up is Tamara.
QUESTION: Hi, how are you?
TOM STEVENS: I’m good, Tamara, how you doing?
QUESTION: I’m good. Thank you. So Toby always followed the rules and did what was expected of her. Can you guys identify with the character’s desire to be carefree, coloring outside the lines, not being perfect, or simply being wild and free for once?
CATHERINE BELL: Well, I think probably anyone could relate to that. Hopefully, people don’t resort to this sort of a, (laughs) craziness but, you know, I think there’s always that idea of, like, “Ooh, what if I, you know, broke the rules and did something wild for a moment.” I think that’s what – I wanted to at least give a sense of like – People are always going why would someone do this? Why would someone break the law and do something like this and, hopefully, we give you guys a little insight into where that comes from.
QUESTION: Thank you.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah, and I agree. I think that every person needs to kind of check in on their life at some point and go am I coloring too within the lines, o do I need to go outside of my comfort zone, because I think out of your comfort zone, outside your comfort zone is where you really learn who you are.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Wonderful. Thank you. Up next, we have a question from Suzanne. Suzanne, you may feel free to unmute.
QUESTION: Hi. Catherine, since you were a producer on this movie, did you have any influence over the tone of the movie? It’s a little less serious than most Lifetime movies I’ve seen.
CATHERINE BELL: You know, Katie Boland is our beautiful director. She brought her vision to this, which was this playful and high-energy and sexy and fun spirit. You know, I really — I think Tom and I both really enjoyed making this movie because it had all of that in it. It was just this fast-paced and just wild adventure that these two were on and, you know, definitely you have some say as a producer, but I got to say it all just kind of came together magically. There wasn’t a whole lot to do except become this character on my end, you know.
QUESTION: And that same for you, Tom?
TOM STEVENS: Yeah, no, I mean, I didn’t have the same kind of hand in it as Catherine did, but I mean it was what we brought kind of fit exactly what Katie wanted, what Catherine and I were doing, and it was just so fun to just — Like we shot so many scenes kind of like back to back to back to back and we always found like a fun way of connecting as these two people, because in the prison it was like a secret love, and then when we were out in the cabin it was more spontaneous and free, and every single time Catherine and I brought like a really strong connection and, yeah, it was just always fun. You know, every scene was always fun to shoot.
QUESTION: Well, thanks. It was fun to watch.
CATHERINE BELL: We joke we want to do a sequel. I don’t think it’ll happen. They’re not together, but we had too much making it.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah.
QUESTION: As long as you have dogs. That’s the good thing.
CATHERINE BELL: Right, exactly.
TOM STEVENS: Prison pen pals and dogs.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Wonderful. Thank you, Suzanne. Up next we have Jamie. Jamie, you may feel free to unmute.
QUESTION: Hi, thanks for talking to us today. So can you kind of talk about when you’re doing something that’s based on real people, like, how — Can you talk about balancing kind of what you pull from that versus what you’re able to creatively add from yourself, for both of you?
CATHERINE BELL: Tom, you go.
TOM STEVENS: Oh, you want me to go.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah, Jamie, good to see you again.
QUESTION: You too.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah, it’s I think with John, he — like with Maynard, uh, there wasn’t a lot about him. There’s kind of the story. There’s a lot of Moll and like of everything that she went through, but for John it was kind of more free for me to just bring the foil to her husband, do you know what I mean? Like I had to represent something that was something that she was missing in her life, and it was a more free experience to build the character rather than actually like, you know, having interviews that I could bounce off of, like Catherine obviously had.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah. I, on the other hand, had a lot of interviews, and I watched all the ones that I could find of Toby. Obviously, I don’t look anything like her so I gave that up quickly. But there’s an essence to her that I tried to get. You know, there’s just she’s got that little bit of the Kansas accent and, yeah, just this sweet woman who really just was totally taken by surprise by this guy, and it just completely altered the course of her life. But, yeah, it was a lot of fun trying to become this woman who is very different than myself.
QUESTION: Thank you so much, both of you.
CATHERINE BELL: Thank you.
TOM STEVENS: Thanks, Jamie.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Jamie. Up next is Mike Hughes. Mike, feel free to unmute.
QUESTION: Okay. There we go. Okay, cool. Probably shortly after you finish this another real-life case like this came up in Alabama where someone escaped with (inaudible). I was wondering did this give you like special interest in it? Did you kind of follow that news story extra special? Do you may root for them or anything like that?
CATHERINE BELL: I mean, you know, yeah, it was unbelievable that that happened. It was like, okay, life imitating art imitating real life, you know. It’s interesting that this happens a fair amount, you know, that these guys are in this unusual situation in a prison and fall for each other. The idea for me of crossing that line and going, “Yeah, let’s break out of jail,” I mean, really, you’re never going to get away with it, you know. That one ended very tragically but, yeah, it’s just fascinating.
QUESTION: You didn’t root for them —
TOM STEVENS: Yeah.
CATHERINE BELL: What’s that?
TOM STEVENS: Were you rooting for them, Catherine?
CATHERINE BELL: Was I (laughs), I mean, I don’t think — no, I wasn’t really thinking about it either way. It was very, very sad, of course, how it ended but, yeah, I would have preferred a happier ending than that, for sure.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah. And we kind of tell – we kind of tell the fictitious fun side of this, and I mean the true story between Toby and John is, you know, a little darker than this like in reality than the story that we told, and I’m sure that that story was darker, too. So, I mean, we can have with this because we’re making a movie about it but, you know, these people were going through something. Yeah, it’s more serious when it’s real.
QUESTION: Okay. Thanks.
MODERATOR: Wonderful. Thank you, Mike. Up next we have Jay Bobbin. Jay, feel free to unmute.
QUESTION: Hi, folks. Hi, Catherine. How are you?
CATHERINE BELL: Hi, Jay.
QUESTION: Hi, good to see you.
TOM STEVENS: Hi, Jay.
QUESTION: Catherine, question for you. You’ve done non-edgy for so many years now. To step back into something that is decidedly edgy, an actor acts, obviously, that’s their profession, but was it an easy thing for you or did it take working up to this a little bit having done Cassie for so many years?
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah, you know what? It’s always challenging to me, which is probably why I love acting so much. It’s never just like, oh, a piece of cake. Like it’s like, oh, who is this person, and in the beginning you don’t know who they are or how to become them and watching her interviews and kind of just trying to work on that was a beautiful challenge. I really loved it – really, really love stepping into this. And, yeah, edgy, edgy and also a very kind of withdrawn, like kind of toned-down person as well, someone who’s not so confident or whatever. So it was just a lot of fun for me to play all of those things.
QUESTION: Thanks a lot.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah, it was fun to witness, actually. It was fun to watch you build the character, yeah, yeah.
CATHERINE BELL: Thank you. We had so much fun together.
TOM STEVENS: I know.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Jay. Up next we have “Starry Constellation Magazine.”
QUESTION: Well, Tom, they say you should never work with ids and animals onscreen, and you worked with a number of dogs. Talk about the training you went through for dog training.
TOM STEVENS: So I’m an advocate for Cesar Mila and everything that he does with behavioral science and dog science, and I have a dog of my own that I have put through a rigorous training, and it comes naturally to me to be around animals and to be like an alpha or like a calm sort of presence with them. So that wasn’t hard for me. What was when the dogs didn’t care that I was a calm presence or authoritative presence, and they were like my trainer’s behind the camera, and I could do whatever I want right now for the next thirty seconds while the cameras are rolling, and he starts eating a toy in the middle of our scene. So there’s like there’s certain things that you can’t control when like a dog’s just on the side, and he just kind of starts doing his own thing, but there’s like a lot of things that you can do to just be like the calm presence for the dogs that they respect. They say don’t work with animals because animals are in the moment, and the audience will always be drawn to them, so it kind of forces you to be in the moment with the dog, and then it’s interesting for the audience to watch.
MODERATOR: Awesome. Thank you. Up next we have Cynthia Horner.
QUESTION: Hello.
CATHERINE BELL: Hi.
TOM STEVENS: Hi, hi, hi.
QUESTION: I would like to ask both of you this question what is a memorable behind the scenes moment that you can tell us about when you were filming?
TOM STEVENS: Hm.
CATHERINE BELL: Hm.
TOM STEVENS: There were a lot, there were a lot.
CATHERINE BELL: I instantly thought of the car chase stuff. That was just so much fun.
TOM STEVENS: That was so much fun.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah. Actually, driving and then on the top of the truck where they’re towing you and you’re pretending there’s so much going on. We had some good laughs.
TOM STEVENS: And getting arrested. I think I loved the feeling as when we got out of week one, when we got out of the prison. I mean we were shooting a prison movie so a lot of it had to be done on location in this corrections facility, and it felt very much like repeated scenes, like we were doing like similar scenes over and over and over again in this box, and then when we got out of that week it was like this freedom just opened up, and it really felt like the characters got to like go and see new places, and go to different restaurants, and do all this stuff. It was very much what the character is going through. So I love that like transition into the Toby and John being free period.
CATHERINE BELL: True. I also really loved all the stuff in the cabin. It was just such a tiny, little cabin and our whole crew really bonded. Just it was, you know, just — It was Halloween, too, right, and the crew came in with the crazy costumes on and we were in our Toby and John costumes —
TOM STEVENS: In our little, yeah — And it like nearly drowned us in rain. It was pouring rain so hard. It was like flooding around the cabin, it was crazy. And then our DP is in a Sumo suit, and it was hilarious.
QUESTION: Wow, you guys had great stories to tell. Thank you.
TOM STEVENS: No worries, Cynthia.
CATHERINE BELL: Thank you, Cynthia.
MODERATOR: Wonderful. Thank you, Cynthia. Up next we have Rick Bentley. Rick?
QUESTION: Hi, can you hear me?
CATHERINE BELL: (Inaudible @ 00:14:32).
QUESTION: Great. I’m sorry. Hey, Catherine, I’m just curious. This sort of ripped from the headlines, it’s something that’s been going on for years, and obviously there’s a big audience for that out there, do you think it’s a situation of people being sort of living vicariously through these wild moments or is it there by the grace of God goes me?
CATHERINE BELL: Oh, man. You know, I’m sure it’s just that natural curiosity that all humans have of like what is going on in someone’s else world, you know. And, yes, this is a crazy world. It’s something that, hopefully, most people will never experience, and then there’s that other, you know, the concept of what were thinking? Why would somebody do that? So, hopefully, they get a little taste of that with what Tom and I did, you know, just the how they fell in love and what led this to this crazy idea that they might get away with running away together, you know.
QUESTION: Thank you.
CATHERINE BELL: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Awesome. Thank you, Rick. Up next is Luaine Lee. Luaine.
QUESTION: Yeah, Catherine, you were talking about the challenge and how you really adore the challenge in acting, and you’ve been doing it a long time, so what is it that you like best about acting and television, and what do you like the least?
CATHERINE BELL: In television as opposed to film you mean or just in general, acting?
QUESTION: Well, just in general acting.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah. I think I love so much about it. I love the process. I love the finding the character, and as I mentioned, the challenges of that, it keeps me on my toes and always wanting to improve and be better and even up until the scene is over, you’re still okay, “Well, the next take I want to try this. I want to do that. I want to make this better or different.” I love the camaraderie, and there’s just such a sense of family on these shows that you do together, movies, shows, whatever. You just meet such beautiful people, and so much I love about it. I love the effect it has on people when they’re watching it. I think probably I love the adventure of travel and going to different locations, but sometimes that’s challenging for my family, you know, just to be away so much, so that’s probably, if I could say here’s something I don’t like about it, sometimes that gets challenging. But, again, you just — I’ m so grateful for what I get to do, so I got no complaints.
QUESTION: So what’s the worst part of it?
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah, I think that, you know, being along in a hotel room for weeks at a time, especially in COVID. There was one stretch I took my son to Toronto for “Good Witch”. It was thirteen weeks away from home. I couldn’t go back and forth because of the travel quarantine. That was intense.
QUESTION: Oh, wow. Thank you.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah, thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Luaine. And then we have Steve (Gitmo @ 00:17:26). Steve?
QUESTION: Hey, how are you guys?
CATHERINE BELL: Hey, good.
TOM STEVENS: I’m good.
QUESTION: Good. I just wanted to ask how familiar were you or at all familiar with this story? Was it all kind of news to both of you when you got the script?
CATHERINE BELL: I haven’t heard of it at all. When I started telling people about it a lot of people remembered seeing it on the news. It was on “Dateline” and “Anderson Cooper” and all of that, but I hadn’t heard of it at all. You, Tom?
TOM STEVENS: Yeah, no, same. The escaping out of prison in a dog crate. I think it maybe a rang a bell but maybe I’m like, yeah, maybe that’s just a logical way to sneak out of prison. But the case itself I hadn’t heard anything about it, then I started reading the script, and it was just so fun.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah.
QUESTION: And, Tom, can you actually fit in a dog crate?
TOM STEVENS: Easily, easily. That dog crate was too easy to fit into. I wanted a smaller one. I wanted to do contortion, you know.
QUESTION: Thanks so much.
TOM STEVENS: Thank you.
QUESTION: Awesome. Thank you. And we’re going to be wrapping here momentarily but I see two more hands are up. Jamie from SciFi Vision, did you have another question?
QUESTION: Yeah, I can go again. I was going to ask about the dog crate, but so what did the two of you learn about yourselves from working on this show either as performers or just as people in general?
CATHERINE BELL: Ooh.
TOM STEVENS: Ooh.
CATHERINE BELL: Wow. Tom, do you want to answer? I want to think about that.
TOM STEVENS: I think what I learned about myself was it’s — With all the challenges that came with this there’s a lot of layers to John and playing John, and when I ever felt like I was kind of lost in it all I knew I had to do was connect with Catherine, and I don’t know if I learned that about myself, but I did learn that I can trust in Catherine whenever I feel like I’m lost in a scene. Is that me learning something? I don’t know. I learned that about Catherine.
CATHERINE BELL: Hm, thank you. Yeah, I had such an incredible time working with you and our connection. It was just really, really special; really, just like you said, you just look in your eyes and it was like all there, and I don’t know.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah.
CATHERINE BELL: It was probably just a great realization that I can do this sort of a role, which was so different for me and being able to trust in you and just making that happen. It was so magical.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah.
QUESTION: Well, thank you and I enjoyed it, so.
TOM STEVENS: Thank you, Jamie. We loved it, too.
MODERATOR: Awesome, and now our final question is from Mike Hughes. Mike?
QUESTION: Yeah. I’ll just ask real briefly, all your impressions of working when you were in the correction facility there, it looked like it wasn’t a high security one. It looked like it was maybe medium or a low-security facility. Nothing struck you about it there and did you get a chance to interact with the prisoners at all? Were they friendly to you? Just give us your overall impressions.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah.
CATHERINE BELL: Yeah. Well, it wasn’t an active prison, so it was actually shut down. So, but still I, for me, it was very — And, Tom, you were the one in the cell, but so cold, so impersonal. I can’t even imagine being in a cell like that for years or for life. It’s just wow, where I really just realized what that experience could be like, just a little taste of it.
TOM STEVENS: Yeah. Again, it’s an old youth center, so it’s a youth correction center in Burnaby that we were shooting in and all the other prisoners were background so, you know, not actual prisoners, but I did get a chance on my other show in Halifax I got to talk to a lady on our crew who had spent four months in prison that year on a charge that she was serving from years prior. It just all caught up with her, and she’s a good friend of mine and we sat down and just like hatch — She gave me as much insight on what living in prison was like, and I just asked for words that would come up in her mind every day, like what’s something that you would think every single day, and frustration is a big one, and you can feel frustrated places like that because it, like Catherine said, it’s so confined and so isolating, and there’s no time, and you just — It’s very plain and uncomfortable. Like there’s no cushions. So you can imagine a human being whose mind needs stimulation become completely frustrated in a situation like that.
QUESTION: Okay, thanks.
MODERATOR: Thank you. And thank you, Catherine and Tom for joining us today. “Jailbreak Lovers” premieres Saturday, July 2nd, at 08:00 p.m., seven Central only on Lifetime. Stay tuned for “He’s Not Worth Dying For” in a moment.
Inspired by a true story, Jailbreak Lovers follows Toby (Catherine Bell), a woman who always played by the rules. Toby never ran a red light, married the only boy she ever dated, raised a family and went to church. She did everything she was supposed to do. When Toby loses her job and starts a non-profit to rehabilitate abused, rescued dogs at the local prison no one could have anticipated that she would end up on the run, shacked up with her younger lover John (Tom Stevens), a convicted murderer. The star-crossed lovers hatch a plan to break John out of prison by smuggling him out in one of the dog crates, sparking a federal manhunt.
Jailbreak Lovers is produced for Lifetime by Crate Productions Inc. Catherine Bell, Angela Mancuso, Stacy Mandelberg and up-and-coming director Katie Boland are executive producers. Supervising producers are Oliver DeCaigny and Tom Stanford. Boland directed from a script by Anne-Marie Hess and Jodie Burke.
Interview with Hilda Martin, Lachlan Quarmby, and Rachel Boyd of “He’s Not Worth Dying For” on Lifetime by Suzanne 6/1/22
This was from a press day featuring three “ripped from the headlines” movies airing this summer. It was great to speak with these young actors. I only wish star Robin Givens had been there.
MODERATOR: Hi, everybody. Our next panel for today is the talented cast of “He’s Not Worth Dying For.” Please welcome Hilda Martin, Lachlan Quarmby, and Rachel Boyd. Hi, you guys. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Thank you. Happy to be here.
RACHEL BOYD: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Our first question is from Jamie Ruby.
QUESTION: Hi, guys. Thanks for talking to us. So how familiar were you all with kind of this story and kind you talk a bit about sort of the research that you did into it for all of you?
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Sure.
RACHEL BOYD: Do you want to start?
LACHLAN QUARMBY: You go, you go.
HILDA MARTIN: Well, I didn’t know much but I do have a liking for crime documentaries, so as soon as I got that and was told it was based/inspired by true stories, as a true story, I Googled it right away, but before then I had no knowing of the story.
RACHEL BOYD: Yeah. I think that like for me when I first got the audition script I actually somehow missed the words “based on a true story” when I was reading the description of it, so I had no idea until the callback that I was auditioning for something that was based on a true story, but I think, for me, like, seeing the sides and the character, I really connected to it, because it’s such an experience that a lot of young people on social media, and especially young women can relate to in how we are taught to, like, compete for a man’s exclusive love, and then how that manifests in different ways in the age of social media, and how that has real effects on our self-wroth and the way that we behave as people and change our character.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Yeah, I hadn’t heard of it at the time. In 2009, I was living in Canberra, Australia, which might as well have been about as far away as you can be. But, yeah, I was the same, as soon as I got the script and heard it was a real story I looked it up and had such like an emotional reaction to just how much of a tragic experience it was and, yeah, it was kind of exciting to get to audient to play something like that.
QUESTION: Great. Thank you so much.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Thank you.
RACHEL BOYD: thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Tamara Rollins.
QUESTION: Hi, guys. Can you hear me?
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Hi.
RACHEL BOYD: Yes.
QUESTION: Hi. So nowadays social media can be used as a tool to destroy lives. Some people tend to separate social media from our actual lives. They deem it as two separate entities. Do you guys feel that social media in our real day-to-day lives are one entity or two separate worlds?
RACHEL BOYD: I would say that I think that social media is real but also fake, because what it is is it’s taking a person and letting them choose what they want to highlight and choose how they want to be perceived in the world, and what you see on social media as much as we often treat it, like that is that person and that is the full representation of them, it’s not a real accurate representation of a person, of a real human being who is full and flawed. So I think that they’re different in that way, but the really unfortunate thing and kind of what we wanted to tackle in the movie is that people blur those lines together, and they treat people like they aren’t really human beings on social media when it really is really us. We’re just kind of creating a highlight reel.
QUESTION: Thank you.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Yeah. I’ll add to that. I agree. I think that a lot of people out there are probably having this sort of duality in personality versus real life on social media, but it’s not for me to say as to how you should manage it. I personally think that it’s best to just do everything in moderation. You know, if you are going to put something up there that is a version of you that may not be the exact version of yourself then it can be the kind of thing that you’re aspiring to be, or the kind of person that you’re trying to be like, but it’s just managing which is which and just being like honest with yourself. As long as you know what you’re all about and stuff like that then I think it’s manageable.
QUESTION: Thank you.
HILDA MARTIN: I think the same thing. I specifically had a hard time with kind of splitting — with kind of being the same person and having like a reality, being real on social media for the longest, and I don’t see that be a possibility now because you’re still — Like in social media you’re not you. You’re never going to be. You’re going to be torn apart, if you want like an extensive amount of people kind of following you, unless you just want yourself and close friends, but other than that it’s like you have to be someone that society wants on social media. So that’s like totally different, and I could see the same for Isla, who is trying to kind of be this person and this colorful person, this bright person, but on the other side in her real life it’s the total opposite, so totally different.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you. We also have some pre-submitted questions from journalists who could not be here today. This question is for Hilda. Hilda, you have some pretty intense scenes with Robin Givens who plays your mother in the movie. What was it like working with a veteran actress, and did she give you any advice or were there any fun times together on the set?
HILDA MARTIN: It was great working with Robin. I think like she kind of let me — She didn’t really — You know, working with a veteran and you’re not one yourself, you kind of feel like you’re not good enough, but there’s a lot of moments where she kind of like, A, gave me tips on certain scenes and, B, kind of like applauded me for certain scenes, and kind of like validation, which I like, but there’s quite a few moments that she kind of made me laugh, and one of them was Grace is being a bitch to, like harsh mood to her mom, and as soon as the scene got cut she was like I would have whooped you in real life. I would have whooped you hard. Never do that to me in real life. My kids would never. And another scene was with Jake, Lachlan, and it was a family dinner and like you just never know when stuff happens. She had like this, she had a green bean that she was chewing mid-scene, and it was her turn to talk, and like it wasn’t going down, so like that cut was like the funniest part, because we’re just watching her chew. She’s like (imitates chewing), mm um hm, um hm, one sec, um hm.
(Laughter.)
HILDA MARTIN: And she hadn’t thought of like — She is fun. She’s great to work with. She’s like a mom. She was actually like a mom and, yeah.
MODERATOR: That’s awesome. Thank you, Hilda. Our next question is from Suzanne at TVMEG.COM
QUESTION: Hi, I was wondering if any of you had done any Lifetime movies before and whether you could compare them to other work that you’ve done elsewhere — whether they were slower or faster or what other things you can think of that would be different?
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Yeah, I had a small role on like a Christmas one before. So it was kind of fun to play the differences in tone in terms of like the sort of lighter Christmas one and then the darker reality of like this one. I really enjoyed it, the mixing up, because it is a different way to come about it from an acting point of view in terms of like the tone, the network, and like the genre as well. You got to play with all of those elements, and I have no idea what I’m doing typically, because it’s so early on. So it’s really funny to have like a producer or a director just say, like, “Hey, like this is actually more the way that it is done for this type of film,” and I was always like, “Oh, cool. Great.” That’s awesome to learn and use going forward, yeah.
RACHEL BOYD: Yeah. I also think that, I mean, personally, I hadn’t done anything, any other work with Lifetime before, but I also think it’s so interesting to mention that this was mine, Hilda’s and Lachlan’s, all of our first lead roles in a feature-length film. So that was really, really fun, and it was really great to experience that with the three of us. I think that all of us ending up being our first time really brought a new energy to the set that we really liked where we were just very eager to work and play and have a lot of fun with each other. So I had to mention that.
QUESTION: Great. Hilda.
HILDA MARTIN: It was also my, yeah, my first time as well. What I would interesting, what I like to find out is like what does Lifetime like cast to wear, and like the other show that I’ve done was a different wardrobe and seeing like how characters are kind of like created, developed like look-wise on different platforms like Lifetime, for example. That was cool. But like also the first time in having like a great cast to work with.
RACHEL BOYD: Aw.
HILDA MARTIN: It kind of made it exciting and easier, I think, something you (inaudible @ 00:34:14), so, yeah.
QUESTION: Well, thank you.
HILDA MARTIN: Thanks.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Mike Hughes.
QUESTION: Yeah. I wasn’t sure if my mute — can you hear me now?
GROUP: Yes. We can hear you.
QUESTION: Okay. Cool. Rachel, actors obviously have to be able to turn it on quickly when the camera is on, but it’s much more so what Isla had to do, because just you’re solo on a camera and (just be big @ 00:34:40) the moment she goes on. So what’s it like to do the scenes where Isla is really over the top and on her own before a camera?
RACHEL BOYD: Yeah. I think that’s something for me that I really did a lot in preparation for the role was learning exactly what that physicality was, because I knew that Isla’s character needed — She needed to be able to walk into a room and command it and hold the power in it just with her body and how she moved around, so that was kind of something I really wanted to focus on. And, yeah, that just came through I think sometimes if she was putting on the performance of like “Influence Isla” then it was a lot for me finding those places in my body where that energy was. Like I think there’s like a scene at the beginning. Hilda and I were talking about it the other day, but it’s like she’s walking into the store, and she’s kind of doing like this crazy like “Clueless” walk, and it’s just I think it gives me that energy from within me instead of me keeping the same body language the entire time. And then I also liked working with the physicality, because it gave me space to also be Isla when she’s not being big and over the top, and she’s just being, you know, a regular girl who’s just lonely and confused, and how does her body change. And then I think having that like drastic difference helps, too, when you saw her being bigger.
QUESTION: Cool. Thanks.
RACHEL BOYD: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Our next question’s from Cynthia Horner.
QUESTION: Hello. My question is for all of you. I really enjoyed the film, and I’d like to know what advice would you give to young people that are watching — They’re going to be watching the film, and we all know people who’ve been in similar situations even though the ending may not be the same, but the fact that there are so many situations where people are being cheated on or whatever, so can you each talk about your character and the way those dynamics were so that other people that are watching the film may decide not to make some of those mistakes.
RACHEL BOYD: Yeah. I can start. Are you guys —
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Go for it, Rach.
RACHEL BOYD: Okay. I think, for me, I’ve always, always wanted this to be the message that people take away from the whole movie, and with Isla especially is that there’s no manifestation of love or validation, be it like a boy or followers and likes and comments on Instagram that is ever worth losing yourself for and affecting your own self-worth to please. I think I want people to know that they are one hundred percent significant and one hundred percent enough just in themselves, and that outward validation will always come and go, but that it really is that inner self-worth that you should focus so much of your energies on. Yeah.
QUESTION: Good answer.
HILDA MARTIN: Yeah, I’d go with the same. I think for me it was value. I think we all, like the whole cast, like all three of us wanted to feel valued from social media, from a boy, but relationship-wise, I think that like what I want people to know, because like, again, nearly all of us have gone through it, it’s like not forgetting our worth, not feeling that we need someone else, and that could be a male or a female in a relationship, remembering your worth, and if you’re not receiving that worth it’s, as hard as it is, it’s just like let go, and when they say love is blind they also mean love is also deaf, because a lot of times you’re also told and you can hear the words, and I just hope that they remember how like valuable and like worthy they are, yes.
QUESTION: Okay. Thank you.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Yeah. I would also just add that I agree with everything the girls said there but, you know, I think it’s in the title, right? It is a cautionary tale. That’s what we’re hoping people will take away is that it’s — and most of it is just not worth it. Even a lot of the stuff that seems really important at the time and seem so like at the forefront of your life, because it’s at your fingertips on that device, on that social media platform, it just seems like it’s so much worth it, but if you just put it down, and you take a step back, then it’s probably not going to be worth all of this pain or bleeding into your real, you know, personal life and causing you anxiety or whatever. And, I mean, for Jake, it’s the whole thing is just he brings all these problems on himself and stuff like that, and he doesn’t really have a support network around him to tell him like, “Hey, like you’re basically you’re being an idiot.” Again, flipping through the script, the first time I read it being like, you know, you’re not supposed to judge a character but idiot, dumb ass, that’s stupid —
RACHEL BOYD: He makes it hard.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: What are you doing? What are you doing, man? Somebody just needs to tell this guy, please, stop, stop doing these things. So I hope that people take away from that, that you need to help yourself but may also people who are close to people witnessing them going through stuff like this that you can also step in and help them with that as well. Yeah.
QUESTION: Fantastic answers. Thank you so much.
RACHEL BOYD: Thanks, Cynthia.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Thanks.
MODERATOR: Our next question is from Steve Gidlow.
QUESTION: Hey, everyone. Just I’m assuming you’re all on social media. So I was just wondering if being so immersed in the darker side of it, did it change your perception of how you deal with your own social media now?
RACHEL BOYD: something that I really like about the movie is that we’ve all been living in the dark side of social media, all the time. What this movie does though is holds up a mirror to the reality that we’ve been living in and how we reduce people and their self-worth and value to their viral abilities and how we turn real human suffering into its own like entertainment genre on social media, and it’s really horrible, and it’s something that everybody who’s on social media is immersed in one way or another. But what the movie does is it holds up a mirror to the realities of that and how those facets of social media have real-world repercussions on people, and their lives and their feelings.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: I would say that, for me, personally, the changes that I’ve made it’s just made me more conscious and more aware of purpose and point behind posts. Like why am I actually posting this, and I’ve stopped myself a couple times being like is this for me? Is this something that I like? Or is this actually for other people? Is this to get a reaction out of other people? Is this to make people feel a certain way about me and, at those points, I stop. So I’m just trying to be posting more positive stuff. You know, sometimes it’s cheesy, sometimes it’s silly but I’d rather put —
RACHEL BOYD: Sometimes it’s a dance.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: These guys make fun of me all the time but that’s fine. I’d rather post something that’s a bit cheesy and a bit more positive than something that was coming from the wrong place in my heart, I guess. So, yeah, I’m more conscious of that.
QUESTION: Gotcha. And Hilda.
HILDA MARTIN: It just, for me, it validated the change that I made before the movie of like just not giving in to like being that person, like that perfect person on social media and kind of giving in to the dark social media side, but — Because, again, there are — After the movie, obviously, there’s people who are going to be look at our social media and like kind of giving that image of me being perfect is not going to be the message I was kind of like that people — wanted people to take away from the movie itself. So kind of just of I did make a change, and I was kind of proud of that, and just loving myself, posting whatever I love whether it’s like a picture of a flower or just me unedited, hopefully.
QUESTION: Thank so much.
HILDA MARTIN: (Inaudible @ 00:43:25).
QUESTION: Thanks.
HILDA MARTIN: Thanks.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Luaine Lee.
QUESTION: Yes. Part of the danger of social media is rejection by your peers, but acting is involved with total rejection all the time. So I’m wondering how do each of you cope with the rejection that happens to you when you’re trying out for roles?
RACHEL BOYD: That’s a great question. Hilda, do you want to start?
HILDA MARTIN: Sure. Well, I’m pretty new to the industry, so I was researching a lot of like veteran actors and their comments on the whole industry, and the one thing that they mentioned is never take it as — Like always take it with a grain of salt, and so whenever I do an audition I like — like with this one, I — because I did watch the documentary before like right when I was auditioning, so I did see that it was a girl of not my shade, like white, Caucasian, so I knew I wasn’t going to get it. So it’s — I go in just giving my agents what they want without knowing what I’m going to get back, so I think I already implemented that in my head and not getting it doesn’t sting as much as other people — as it would other people but, yeah, I kind of like already ingrained it, “I’m not getting it.” And when I do it’s like cherry on top.
QUESTION: Great. Rachel?
RACHEL BOYD: Yeah. I think, you know, this kind of takes me back because Lochlyn Munro is in the movie as well, and the day that he was on set he was giving all of us young eager actors with big ears like advice about the industry, and something that he said in relation to auditions specifically that really resonated with me was he goes in when he gets sides, and he says, “I want to land the character. I don’t want to land the role.” Like his first priority is land the character and, for me, that really made me feel better, because then it takes the pressure off of it, and it just becomes this thing that I do because I love it, and it’s my craft, and it makes me feel so happy, so getting sides now since speaking with Lochlyn Munro and just seeing it as how do I give this character all of the emotional empathy that I can to claim them and have that be as true and honest to me as possible, and then when I do that, and I can watch it back and feel proud of myself that it — I’m working on that being enough satisfaction for myself and not depending on all of my happiness on like what a third party will think of it, and just kind of focusing on like being proud and celebrating little wins even if they don’t result in a job.
QUESTION: Lachlan?
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Yeah, look, in high school I was rejected by a few women, so I think that actually was good practice to set me — I say a few. It was all of them in high school. So, you know, it’s just you take it, you learn from it. When I submit an audition I just forget about it straightaway. It’s just, it’s gone. You just go in, be yourself, do your best. I was quite similar to Hilda. You know, when I got this and looked up the real person I was like, “Yeah, that is not me at all, so I’m just going to do something and send it, and then just completely forget about it,” and that way you’re not waiting by the phone, you know, and because that’s really when you suffer twice when you wait and you worry and all of that sort of stuff. Sometimes it’s easier said than done. Like I’m not going to lie. Sometimes the rejection does affect you personally, and it can hurt. But it’s all about, I think surrounding yourself with the right people in your personal life, friends and family and stuff, keeping your head on your shoulders like nice and straight and everything, and you just keep going because eventually, you know, good things will happen. It’s meant to be.
RACHEL BOYD: Yeah. And, Lachlan, now look at you. You’re in a movie, you got two girlfriends, so. And they don’t want to reject you. So you’re doing —
LACHLAN QUARMBY: That was the whole —
RACHEL BOYD: It’s like quite full circle for you.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: It’s a perfect opportunity, yeah.
RACHEL BOYD: perfect. A big slap in the face to those girls. Look at him now, (laughs.)
LACHLAN QUARMBY: I’m going to link them. I’m going to send them a link to it, yeah.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you, everyone. That’s our time for today.
RACHEL BOYD: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you to Hilda, Lachlan, and Rachel for being here today, and everyone please tune into “He’s Not Worth Dying For,” Saturday, June 25th at 8/7 Central.
RACHEL BOYD: Yay.
LACHLAN QUARMBY: Thank you.
RACHEL BOYD: Thanks.
MORE INFO:
Inspired by a true events, He’s Not Worth Dying For follows the intertwined real and social media lives of Isla (Rachel Boyd), a 19-year-old girl who has established herself as a beauty and fashion influencer and Grace (Hilda Martin) the expected valedictorian of her class with hopes of a veterinary career. Though both are very different, they unknowingly share one thing in common – Jake (Lachlan Quarmby) – who is dating them both without their knowledge. When Isla and Grace discover that Jake was cheating on them, the girls turn on each other in a jealous rivalry and use their arsenal of social media platforms to badmouth and attack one another. While their followers take sides and pit them against each other, their hatred for one another escalates into a real life fight that ultimately turns deadly. Robin Givens stars as Grace’s mother, Cher, while Lochlyn Munro stars as the District Attorney investigating the case.
He’s Not Worth Dying For is produced by Doomed Productions Inc for Lifetime with Tim Johnson, Orly Adelson, Stacy Mandelberg and Jon Eskenas serving as executive producers. Kevin Fair directs from a script written by Jacqueline Zambrano.
Interview with Letoya Luckett, Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Ta’Rhonda Jones and Drew Sidora of “Line Sisters” on Lifetime by Suzanne 1/10/22
This was an interesting movie because it combined two popular Lifetime subjects: sorority girls and murder. I’d never heard of any of these actresses, although some of them looked very familiar. They had a lot of energy and were very fun in the panel, so it made things enjoyable.
MODERATOR: Hello, everyone. Our next panel is for “Line Sisters.” And today we have the cast of the film with us. Letoya Luckett, Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Ta’Rhonda Jones and Drew Sidora.
(All waving.)
DREW SIDORA: What up, y’all?
MODERATOR: Thank you all for being here. Our first question is for all of you, the whole cast. What drew each of you to your roles and how did you prepare for them?
LETOYA LUCKETT: Okay, I’ll go first.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah, you go first.
LETOYA LUCKETT: (Laughs.) I think for me it was like really jumping over the hurdle of fear for me and doing my first horror film. Val was kind of close to home because she had a real chill personality, very professional. She seemed to be kind of the one that every kind of — everyone’s drawn to confide in. And she just tried to take care of everyone and I kind of see that in myself sometimes, sometimes too much. But I think for me to be a part of a horror film was like oh my god I’m going to do it. And I’ve always wanted to be a part of a sorority and I think this is the closest I’m going to ever get. So yeah, that’s the reason why I was drawn to it.
TA’RHONDA JONES: I’m going to piggyback off of you, Toya.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah.
TA’RHONDA JONES: Because I think that was the same thing for me. It was like oh…
LETOYA LUCKETT: Yeah.
TA’RHONDA JONES: … I get to be a sorority sister? Okay, cool. I’m in. And then, too, my character Simone, she was from Chicago and it was very similar to my background. A little rough around the edges and things like that, always being reckless. So I was like yeah, why not? Sure.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah. I think we could all say that. I think my dream of being in a sorority, I was like, oh yes, let me tap into this. And also working with African American women that we can come together in sisterhood. I think that that’s something powerful to be a part of. And you really want to showcase that. So any time I get an opportunity to work alongside beautiful women, I definitely jumped on it. But my character Dominique, she’s a lot of fun. You know, she’s fun. She’s quirky. And she loves her palo santos, her meditation and I just felt really connected to that. You know, her positivity and just always looking on the bright side of things. I felt like that was a place that I was in my life that I wanted to try to project in that moment. So I gravitated to her instantly.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: I second all of what they said. All of the (inaudible). I wanted to be a part of the sorority, too. Cassandra was a woman of faith and so that is what I am. So I was the one that was praying the sisters through on god’s train. Because that usually is what I am doing. And I am a sister or women’s empowerment advocate so that was really just my thing, too. And these women are amazing, every last one of them, so I was excited to just glean from each and every one of them myself.
MODERATOR: That’s awesome. Thank you, guys. Our next question is from the Hollywood Times.
QUESTION: Hi there. Are any of you actually part of a sorority?
TA’RHONDA JONES: No.
DREW SIDORA: No.
(All laugh.)
DREW SIDORA: Only APO now.
TA’RHONDA JONES: Yeah, exactly.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: Oh.
QUESTION: Okay, so another question. During the filming process, did any of you actually get frightened for real?
TA’RHONDA JONES: What? Yes.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: I did.
LETOYA LUCKETT: I did.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah, yeah.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: The water, I think all of the sisters could swim. I couldn’t swim so I kept looking back at them like, y’all going to help me out or something? So I was really nervous about that. And I was actually in the process of — my grandfather was sick and I just lost him to COVID. And so I was really drawing that passion and that fear from that space to kind of have me drop in. But that was my experience behind and in the scenes.
QUESTION: Oh yeah. Sorry. All right, thank you, ladies.
MODERATOR: Thank you.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: (Inaudible)
MODERATOR: Our next question is from Suzanne from “TV Meg”.
QUESTION: Hi, ladies. Did any of you know each other before filming or had you worked together before?
TA’RHONDA JONES: No.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Yes.
TA’RHONDA JONES: But it felt like it. Not for me, but it felt like. I feel like I’ve been knowing these girls for a long time because the chemistry was out of this world when we first linked up. So it was amazing.
DREW SIDORA: Absolutely.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Absolutely. Kierra and I actually — my first film ever, “Preacher’s Kid,” we played somewhat like best friends. We sang in the same choir together.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: Yeah.
LETOYA LUCKETT: So it was so cool. And I’m a huge fan of hers. I listen to her and her worship music and all of that daily, so to be in this space with her and to share the screen with her was an honor once again.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: The same. It was an honor for me, too. I’m a fan of all of the ladies and LETOYA, too. But one of the cooler things was like LETOYA said we were sisters or friends before so we were friends again. And it felt like a family reunion for me.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Yeah.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: Because I also had the opportunity to work with Drew as well in a film called “Blessed and Cursed.” So it felt like a reunion. And then Ta’Rhonda just felt like the cousin that just…
DREW SIDORA: You always wanted.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Always.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: So yes.
QUESTION: What about any of the crew or the other actors on the show, the movie?
TA’RHONDA JONES: No. The only person I was connected to was one of the guys, one of the Lifetime execs at the time because he was the one who actually offered me the role. But that was about it. Other than that, we didn’t know anybody. But honestly, it literally felt like Kierra said, family reunion because everybody literally just, I don’t know. It was like this unison.
DREW SIDORA: Instant connection, yeah, yeah. It was.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Shout out to Swirl Films. I’ve worked with them several times so.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah, same here. Swirl Films.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah, absolutely. They always provide a very family-oriented feel.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Yes.
DREW SIDORA: So that’s what I love and I would work with them forever.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Absolutely.
QUESTION: Okay.
MODERATOR: All right. Thank you so much, ladies.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: I was getting ready to add. I thought it was also kind of awesome that we actually bonded as sisters. You know how when sisters know, okay this sister she ain’t on today so we going to leave her alone.
(Laughs.)
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: We started picking up on each other’s energy.
DREW SIDORA: That is so true. Oh my god.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Facts.
DREW SIDORA: That is so funny.
QUESTION: That’s awesome. Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thanks, you guys. Our next question is from Noah Wilson.
QUESTION: Hello, everyone. Happy press day for “Line Sisters.” Yeah.
(Cheering.)
QUESTION: Come on, ladies. Let’s do a happy dance.
(All doing happy dance.)
QUESTION: On the Zoom. Oh I love it.
(Laughs.)
QUESTION: All right, ladies. I want to ask y’all, what were some of the most dramatic or intense scenes for all of you when shooting “Line Sisters” as this movie goes, based around four sorority sisters who reunite at a black Greek weekend?
DREW SIDORA: For me, it was the snake. The snake. I thought they were going to have, I don’t know in my mind I thought it was going to be like a robotic prop snake.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Uh uh.
DREW SIDORA: And when they brought that thing out, I was like wait a minute. And I had to lay next to a real snake. I’ve never done a horror movie so for me as this is my introduction with a snake, I mean I felt like a G after. I was like I got this. Like that scream and that reaction, that was all a hundred percent real because I was absolutely…
QUESTION: I couldn’t do it. I do not like a snake.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah, yeah.
LETOYA LUCKETT: I would say for me the scene where we come face-to-face with the killer finally. And we’re in the basement and it was such a dark moment. And I just remember before we actually started shooting how everybody just like settled in to their, you know, their space, everything, their character. And it was super –duper quiet. And then you just heard us weeping all of us individually. And in order to was super tough. I don’t know why. I think everybody was, you know, having their own thing going on at the time, but I feel like that was one of the most emotional scenes for all of us and probably one of the darker scenes for all of us. And my girl that plays that role, the role of the killer, she nailed it. I was like, “Sis!”. (Claps.)
DREW SIDORA: She had us really spooked.
LETOYA LUCKETT: I was like I was shook.
DREW SIDORA: I was really afraid.
LETOYA LUCKETT: I was shook for real.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Yeah. That was super intense.
TA’RHONDA JONES: Yeah, same, Toya. But I think it was more so the physical. Whenever somebody, we had to punch, kick, stunts, this, that. And sometimes, you know, in real life it’s don’t touch me. Don’t hit me because I’ll hit you back for real. (Laughs.) And I think trying to like pull back from reality, acting, reality, acting, take it back. I think that was more intense for me because it gets a little physical sometimes.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: And I’m sorry I don’t mean to toot our own horn, but I can say I feel like we delivered that sister piece because for me when I heard one sister speaking up for me, like oh she got my back. Or if I heard her crying over there, I would even feed off, like “What you crying about?” But we had to stay in that space. So it really was a sister moment that we, like the movie had us to drop into and it had us appreciate somebody having your back. Like if your blood not there, you got some other sisters that will definitely look out.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: And I think that…
LETOYA LUCKETT: Absolutely.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: …exudes through the film as well.
DREW SIDORA: Absolutely.
QUESTION: Thank you, guys. I appreciate it. Y’all have a good day.
LETOYA LUCKETT: You, too. Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Starry Constellation Magazine.
QUESTION: Hi, ladies. This is such an intense film. How did you all shake off a long day of shooting?
TA’RHONDA JONES: I think with the cast, they made it easy for you to shake it off.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: Yes.
TA’RHONDA JONES: Because everybody’s personality was just so grounded and friendly and welcoming. And I think it was just like all right we’re done. All right, time to go home.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Mm-hmm, yes.
TA’RHONDA JONES: Or where are we going next? Let’s go to dinner.
DREW SIDORA: Let’s go eat.
LETOYA LUCKETT: But you know what? So I was about to say (inaudible) but Ta’Rhonda created this — it was such a beautiful moment. We tried to do it during filming, but we ended up doing it on the last day.
DREW SIDORA: Yes.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Of shooting. And brought these beautiful lanterns and we wrote our dreams and aspirations that we had and we lit them and sent them into the sky. And it was just such a beautiful moment. We felt like a family. To experience something like that with people that we didn’t know for long, but in that moment it felt like we’ve known each other for years. I haven’t had that on a set before. To really set intentions with beautiful people and in such a wonderful moment. I still think about that moment. I need another lantern by the way. I need one.
[OVERTALKING]
QUESTION: Five minutes into 2020 you need another lantern?
LETOYA LUCKETT: Yes.
DREW SIDORA: Mustard seeds.
LETOYA LUCKETT: The mustard seeds. I still got mine.
DREW SIDORA: Yes, me too. They’re in my purse. I mentioned they’re in my purse, yeah.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Well, thank you for that, mama.
DREW SIDORA: Yes.
TA’RHONDA JONES: You’re welcome.
DREW SIDORA: We love you, Ta’Rhonda. That meant everything.
QUESTION: Thank you, ladies.
MODERATOR: Our next question is going to be from Howard Benjamin.
QUESTION: My question is for LETOYA. How did your background in music prepare you for a life as an actress?
LETOYA LUCKETT: Well, that’s a good question. I think the best way to answer. It is kind of like surrendering to whatever the role calls for. You have to do that in music. Whatever the lyrics call for, I feel that I learned that from doing, well, being a singer since I was about 12 or five, but professionally 12. And I felt like because I was so rooted in that, I just took some of the things that I learned and brought it into this. But I will say it’s a whole new world. It really, really is. I don’t think — they have the similarities, but I think they’re totally different. I think with music, especially if you’re a writer, you’re writing from your experiences. Whereas with an actress, you’re portraying the character. You’re, you know, you’re representing that person. You’re living out one of their stories. And I mean I do that with songs sometimes. I do that with music sometimes, but I mean not in the way that you do with building a character. And I’ve been asked the question a lot. Like which do you prefer? I still don’t know. I still can’t decide. I’m in love with both of them. But yeah, I’m so glad that I’ve had so many wonderful experiences and not so wonderful experiences as a singer that I could, you know, bring into the acting space.
QUESTION: Thank you so much.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question is from Right On Digital.
QUESTION: Hi, this is Cynthia Horner.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Cynthia.
QUESTION: I’ve met all of you before.
DREW SIDORA: Yes.
LETOYA LUCKETT: We love some Cynthia.
QUESTION: I want to tell you that I enjoyed the film especially since I am actually in a sorority. So therefore, it was…
LETOYA LUCKETT: How did we do?
QUESTION: I’m a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. They wear blue and gold.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Wow.
QUESTION: But anyway, I’d like you all to talk a little bit more about the sisterhood since you all formed such an amazing bond. Sisterhood was mentioned briefly, but can each of you tell me what is your definition of sisterhood now that you’ve done this movie?
TA’RHONDA JONES: I think for me…
LETOYA LUCKETT: Don’t want to go first.
TA’RHONDA JONES: I’ll go. I think for me because I do have five sisters. There’s eight of us. My mother has eight children. And sisterhood for me is just simply being there. And I think in this movie it taught me here today, gone today. Not here today, gone tomorrow. It’s literally here today, gone today. So whatever it is that you got going on, or whatever mess you might got going on with this particular person, just put it behind you and just make amends especially if this person — if you really consider this person your sister, your blood, your family, whatever. And one thing for me, anybody who knows me knows that I’m all about like Kierra said, women’s empowerment, togetherness, unison. And sisterhood just simply means that unison, togetherness and just simply being there for one another.
DREW SIDORA: That’s it. (Claps.)
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: I think, too, for sisterhood, true sisterhood is when you can sit in a circle of women who are secure within themselves, but understand that we each have something different to offer. So there no need for a competition or a comparison. And I think that’s when it’s even more powerful for us to deliver. So literally the film had us to see you’re stepping on my line. And we had to let our sister speak. So it was so many moving components, you know, as a part of this experience that really showed us. Because I used to say, oh we’re going to take all of that with the sororities, but I see why that process is necessary. Because you have to prove yourself to your sister. And so it even had me to honor what the sororities or the fraternities, what you all do in your community. And then it’s like if I’m out of a job, you’re going to come through for me. And so I really loved how sisterhood was defined for me in this movie because it was a life or death matter. It was like, all right, I know usually I don’t speak up. Usually you speaking up for me, but you’re going to see that I’m going to speak up for all of us today. And so that to me, it even kind of pushes a woman forward if you allow me to say it that way. So sisterhood, it builds up each other if I can say it that way.
LETOYA LUCKETT: Yeah.
MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Drew and LeToya, did you guys also want to answer?
LETOYA LUCKETT: Oh sure. I think it’s having a tribe that you can trust, having a group of women that you can be there for, be your true self, be transparent with and know that they got you, good or bad, I like showing up to be that for someone and I like knowing that I got it. And I feel like even in the short amount of time that we were together, we were there for each other. Any time we needed each other or wanted to talk about something, I felt that I could trust them in that moment that I was in the trust tree. That I was in a safe space.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah.
LETOYA LUCKETT: And it’s nothing like having that. You know what I mean? I don’t have any blood sisters. I have a blood brother. But I’ve been so blessed with a community of women who I know got me, front, back and side to side.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: Yeah.
LETOYA LUCKETT: That’s what I say to that.
DREW SIDORA: Yeah. And I agree with what everyone said. I have three sisters and it’s like no matter if you’re having a good day, a bad day, you’re getting along with them or y’all just had an argument, it’s the ability to just, you know, project that love and that vulnerability. Because I’m not going to lie, I have taken some time off from work having my children and I wasn’t in my most confident space. I never even told y’all this, but come in to work. I was like I just want to do a good job. You know, I just want to do what god gave me this gift to do and it’s been a while. But being around you all, you guys were so vulnerable and just share your true self. It was like even if I wasn’t having a good day, you guys were there with laughs. Ta’Rhonda with her energy, you know, here with a word, you know. And I just felt like spiritually there was a connectedness. And I think outside of friendships or anything else, with sisterhood there’s a spiritual connectedness that I think we were all able to share working together on this project. So I appreciate all of y’all for that moment that you guys, I’ve never had an opportunity to share. But I literally was going through it the day before we started filming and you guys really helped me in that moment to build up my confidence, so yeah.
KIERRA SHEARD-KELLY: We love you.
TA’RHONDA JONES: (Laughs.)
QUESTION: Thank you so much. This was the interview of a lifetime.
LETOYA LUCKETT: (Laughs.)
DREW SIDORA: We are so silly.
MODERATOR: Thank you guys all so, so much. That’s all we have time for today. But please tune into “Line Sisters” Saturday, February 12th at 8, 7 Central on Lifetime.
Line Sisters follows four sorority sisters- Valerie (LeToya Luckett), Cassandra (Kierra Sheard-Kelly), Simona (Ta’Rhonda Jones) and Dominique (Drew Sidora) – as they reunite at a Black Greek Weekend celebration held on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Having pledged the Alpha Beta Omega Sorority, Inc., they share more than the bonds of sisterhood, after the mysterious death of the dean of pledges 15 years prior. But the past comes knocking on their door as they arrive to the island and strange and inexplicable things begin to happen to each one of them, threatening to unearth the deadly secret that may tear them apart.
Line Sisters is produced by Big Dreams Entertainment in association with Undaunted Content for Lifetime and is executive produced by D’Angela Proctor and Leslie Greif. Tailiah Breon directs from a script written by Jasmine S. Greene and Scott Mullen.
Interview with Eugene Byrd of the movie “Immanence” and many TV shows by Suzanne 1/28/22
This was a very fun interview! I always liked Eugene in the many series I’ve seen him in since “Bones,” but this chat with him showed just how much fun he can be and why he’s such a great character actor who can do film, TV, comedies, drama, scifi, voiceovers – anything. He’s really versatile and laid-back. If you like horror, you’ll probably like this movie, “Immanence.” It has a mixture of horror and supernatural/religious phenomenon. Do make sure you watch him in “Secrets of Sulphur Springs” and the other projects mentioned.
Suzanne: So, tell us how your role in this movie came about?
Eugene: Well, I got a phone call from a really good friend of mine, Michael Beach (the star of “Immanence”), and Michael was like, “Hey, listen, man. I’m gonna get you. So, just come on and play with me, man; play with me. Let’s play. Let’s do this thing together. Let’s do it, and you’ll just have a good time.” And I was like, “First of all, who is this?” But then I was like, “Listen, man, if you really like this script, and you really think it’s a good idea -” because I had met Kerry and Summer at an event, and it was really great. I hadn’t seen the script. I heard him talk about it. I had no idea. Then, Beach called me and said, “Yeah, I want you to do it.” I said, “Okay, cool.” I hadn’t seen the script. I took him at his word, and his word was good, because, I ended up enjoying Davis and the idea that this script was playing with.
Suzanne: Okay, great. So, no audition necessary. That’s good.
Eugene: No, those are the best things, when you get that offer, when you get a friend beg you. I love when Beach has to beg me, “Come on, man, do something.” I’m like, “Yeah, I got you by the ropes.”
Suzanne: So, did they give you any backstory at all on your character or just the script?
Eugene: Beach gave me the backstory. Then, when I talked to Summer and Kerry, they gave me the script, but I had already signed on. I already trusted my friend, because I know he has really good taste, and especially when it comes to independent films, and doing something that’s very interesting and different. So, once I got the script, I started to delve into Davis and say, “Okay, he’s the fun guy.” He’s the guy that likes to have fun, make jokes. But obviously, he changes, as everybody does, as the script goes on.
Suzanne: I noticed that your character is kind of the “dumb guy” who has to ask everything–
Eugene: I don’t know that I’d call him a dumb guy [laughs]
Suzanne: Wait, let me finish. “Dumb” in the way that he doesn’t know all this science stuff. So, they have to explain it to him, and in doing so they’re explaining it to us. So you’re that guy.
Eugene: Yeah, I’m the audience, but it’s funny, because he still says, “So, you guys are chasing aliens?” And they’re like, “No, see, we’re after these extraterrestrials.” And I’m like, “Aliens. I don’t know why you can’t just drop it down in layman’s terms.”
Suzanne: Right. It’s a pretty small cast. Did that make it more fun, having such a small cast?
Eugene: Oh, it made it more fun, because at least two of the people I knew, and and then I knew Summer and Kerry, but not fully yet. I knew Asenneth’s husband, and then I just met Kasia. I think what it did for us is that everybody’s personality worked it [together] in that way. Sometimes everybody’s personality – but you’re on a boat together, for twelve hours, from 4pm to 4pm. If you don’t get to know each other and get to have fun, you’re gonna be miserable.
Suzanne: So, you filmed on an actual boat?
Eugene: Oh, we filmed on an actual boat. This was an actual boat, and we were on the actual water. And I was not excited about it, because I can’t swim, and I don’t like boats. So, this was a lot of faith. They kinda lied to me. They kind of lied to me a little bit and didn’t tell me we’re going out on the water. Then, they kind of let it out that, “Oh yeah, we’re getting on the water,” and I’m like, “What are you talking about?” [unintelligible] on a boat. They’re “Like no, we got to go out.” Yeah.
Suzanne: Well, I’m not a good swimmer, but I do like boats, but I guess you couldn’t have a life jacket or anything on while you were filming…
Eugene: I didn’t wear one, because I was like, “You know what? I’m just gonna jump off the boat immediately onto the pier,” if there’s a pier. If there’s no pier, then, “Well, you know what? Life was good.” [laughs]
Suzanne: And have you done any horror movies before?
Eugene: Yes. Well, I guess you could call – I’ve done a couple, but the one that I did that everybody knows, Anacondas, which I guess is action, horror, comedy in a weird way. So, I had done that. And I’m a huge fan of horror films, so that was the other thing. I was like, “Yes, I’ll do this.” And I was working on a horror film with a friend of mine, too, independent. So yeah, this was right up my alley.
Suzanne: Oh, that’s good. At the beginning of the movie, some of the characters are not religious, and some are. Where does your character fit into that range of beliefs?
Eugene: You know, with Davis, I played a more sort of, like, he grew up with a religious background, but he doesn’t really follow anything. He’s pretty much a tech guy. He believes in money and believes in those type of things, but it didn’t take him long to fully believe, to know that something was up. I think that’s a lot of people these days. There’s spirituality, and there’s an underlying belief, but you kind of leave it away as you get older and you pursue different things, and that’s how I played Davis.
Suzanne: And if this isn’t too personal, where do your own beliefs fit into that?
Eugene: I grew up Baptist. I’m spiritual. I’m spiritual, because I grew up Baptist, and I have a lot of ideologies that are around me, like my manager when I was growing up was Jewish. My mom’s best friend was Seven Day Adventists. I went to Catholic school. So I mean, you could pretty much – I dated a Buddhist. So, you can put all of these pieces together and know that I had a lot of influences – oh and one of my best friends is Muslim. Do you see what I’m saying? So, for me, I don’t really follow a denomination.
Suzanne: Okay. Yeah, I live in a Baptist town right now, a small southern town in Arkansas.
Eugene: Wow. I don’t even know how to put that together. It’s a lot.
Suzanne: No, I know. I’m from San Diego. So, it’s very different.
Eugene: It’s extremely different.
Suzanne: Yeah. Were there any particular challenges for you in doing the role?
Eugene: No, I mean, other than the boat, and possibly having to swim? No, no other challenges. I mean, it’s always a challenge. When you’re taking on a role where science and religion are a part, and you’re playing this sort of, “How do I play this guy?” but when it came to being an actor, no challenges. When it came to me being on that boat and then dealing with different people trying to figure out how – It ended up being like smooth in that respect.
Suzanne: What about as far as COVID? Was that a problem at all?
Eugene: There was no COVID. Well, COVID wasn’t known yet.
Suzanne: Oh, wow. This was filmed long ago.
Eugene: This was the end of 2019. I think we heard that there was something, but it was overseas, but no, we had no COVID issues.
Suzanne: Oh, well, that’s good. I can’t imagine filming in a small area with a bunch of people.
Eugene: It wouldn’t even have happened, because well, it could have, because, some of the people stayed down in the area. They didn’t go back home. So, it would have been a version of the bubble. I guess everybody goes into this thing, and they don’t leave it for about sixteen to twenty days. So, I guess we could have done it that way, but yeah, we didn’t know anything about COVID at that time.
Suzanne: And now you’d just all be vaccinated and tested frequently and that kind of thing.
Eugene: Tested like crazy, but at the same time, I don’t know. If you’re in the bubble, you can’t move. You can’t go see family or friends, and you test once or twice in the beginning. I don’t think COVID would have been an issue at that point.
Suzanne: How long did it take to film?
Eugene: It was sixteen days. I could be wrong. I’m trying to remember– I think it was sixteen days. And it was all night. All night shoots. So, it was switching straight from [day] and that’s it. So [unintelligible] every day.
Suzanne: Wow. Yeah, it’s –
Eugene: Six days a week.
Suzanne: It’s a nice atmosphere, kind of claustrophobic and night and everything.
Eugene: Yeah.
Suzanne: It made for good horror atmosphere. I see that you’re doing some voiceover work with Spidey and His Amazing Friends. Do you enjoy doing voiceover?
Eugene: Yeah. I loved doing voiceovers. It’s so freeing, because there’s no worry about how you look. You know, I don’t have to go through hair and makeup. I could go in in my pajamas, and not have to brush my teeth. I [did] brush my teeth though, [laughs] but I don’t have to go and be something in front of the camera; I just have to let my voice and my acting do the talking, and that’s a lot of fun. And doing Spidey and His Amazing Friends for Disney has been a lot of fun, just because I could play in a comic book world. I’m a nerd. I grew up a huge comic fan. The fact that I’m playing Miles Morales’s father is crazy to me. It’s fun.
Suzanne: That’s good. And you’ve been in so many shows, including The Cosby Show, when you were just a teen. Do people recognize you for that, or mostly for your newer shows and movies?
Eugene: I think if you grew up on The Cosby Show, or you grew up on the shows I did when I was younger – you know what, I do get called out for it quite quite a bit, but they’re usually either older, closer to my age, or just a little – but closer my age, but rarely do I get younger people like in their twenties going, “You were on Cosby,” because it’s been off the air for so long, and there’s no way they would know, unless they watch TV Land, and then I’ll be surprised they know it.
Suzanne: How old were you when you started acting? You were pretty young, right?
Eugene: Yeah, I started off when I was seven years old. So yeah, it’s been a long time. This year – wow – will be my fortieth year.
Suzanne: You’re lucky that not only do you still look very young and can play really young roles and have most of your career, but you’re not one of those child actors that either had terrible problems or look unusual. Some of the child actors, they look like children, and then when they grow up, they look kind of weird.
Eugene: I do look kind of weird. I got lucky in the fact that I never took this business – you know, I looked at it as fun. Then, when it became a job, I had to reorder, because I think every child actor has to reorder exactly what it is, because when you’re a child actor, your job is your life. You know, you’re an actor, so you kind of identify yourself as an actor and then what all those things mean. But I can’t sit there and say that I haven’t had my own issues with it, because you’re trying to re-identify yourself, and you’re trying to make sure you have longevity. I think a lot of people [are] trying to be stars, or they were stars, and then they are no longer stars, and they had to deal with that aspect. Luckily for me, I’ve always been sort of in the middle. I’ve been a known actor, but I’ve never hit the stardom level where I can’t walk down the street, and then all of a sudden [I can’t].
Suzanne: Yeah, I’ve seen you on a lot of shows, but I don’t think I really – no offense – didn’t notice you until –
Eugene: I appreciate that, though.
Suzanne: – until your role in Arrow. That was such a great role for you. Even though it was a superhero show, did you feel that challenged you more than some of your earlier roles?
Eugene: Roles are challenging, because they’re a role I haven’t played. So, there’s always a different psychology attached to each character that I enjoy, or I try to push myself a little further in certain roles when I get them. And by the way, I did not take offense to that, because I pride myself on people not knowing, because the fact is I try to disappear in my role. I try to play my roles honestly, and if you don’t remember me, that’s cool, but if you start going, “Wait a minute…” that means there’s some recognition, but you don’t know what it is, and I’m fine with that, just because I’d rather keep my anonymity a little bit. I think that’s [where] a lot of actors, a lot of people have issues. That’s what happens; they lose that anonymity, and they can’t move around the world the way they would like.
Suzanne: It’s got to be difficult, a lot of pressure on people.
Eugene: I know a few people who have exploded, and it’s been difficult for them. Yeah.
Suzanne: Getting back to Arrow, I mean, it was a great role with you and and the guy that plays Diggle, your brother?
Eugene: We’ve played brothers before.
Suzanne: Oh, you did?
Eugene: Yeah. We did a pilot together called The Proud Family, and it was with Gabrielle Union and Essence Atkins and Selma Hopkins, and it was a really great cast. We just didn’t get picked up, but David and I kept in touch as friends. And then one day…he was like, “Hey, I want you to play my brother,” and I was like, “Oh, Okay.” I knew he was in Arrow, but I was like, “Man, that would be a dream come true.” And it was fun, because I got to play a duplicitous character, which I feel like I’ve [done] a lot [laughs], but it’s like I’m like playing the duality of a guy who’s evil, and then all of a sudden, he’s good, but he never was good. He was always [evil]. So, that was fun. That was fun.
Suzanne: Yeah, it was good. It is very surprising. We never knew he was, but he was always sympathetic, because you were playing him, and you’re very likable on screen. I also loved your character on Bones, that seemed very similar to the role you played on Crossing Jordan.
Eugene: Right, which, I think, helped me, gave me a quick way to jump in. Because Sydney is a little bit – actually, Sydney was way more open than Clark ever was. Clark was always super buttoned up very much like Bones, you know, and the fact that “I don’t share my personal life; this is about the work,” and then as time goes on, he starts letting himself be loose and being more of a personable person in that show. I love that show. That was like one of my favorite shows I ever did. I did it for ten years, and I have two of my best friends from that show.
Suzanne: Okay, can you tell us which ones?
Eugene: Pej Vahdat, who was Arastoo, and Michael Grant Terry, who played Wendell. So, they’re two of my closest friends.
Suzanne: He’s on another show. I can’t think of which one.
Eugene: Pej?
Suzanne: No, Michael.
Eugene: Michael did Roswell.
Suzanne: Yeah, I think just something else though. I can’t remember it. Never mind.
Eugene: He did a Lifetime – was it a Hallmark or a Lifetime show? I want to say it was Hallmark.
Suzanne: I think it is something on Showtime or STARZ, but I can’t remember.
Eugene: He’s got something he was doing, but those are only two I know we’ve talked about. If it’s something else, he’s gonna be mad at me that I don’t know. [laughs]
Suzanne: It’s fine. You can’t be expected to remember all these shows.
Eugene: Pej right now is doing like a thousand things. Sometimes I’m like, “Which one is this again?”
Suzanne: Well, I’m glad to hear that the Squints are still friends.
Eugene: We all are. You know, the beautiful part about that show is we all had great chemistry with each other, and that’s rare. That’s rare where the recurrings have great chemistry with the regulars, and it feels like we’re all regulars.
Suzanne: No, definitely. And do you have any other projects that you’re working on that you can tell us about?
Eugene: Oh, that I could tell you about? Well, you know, actually, they’re all on right now. They’re all coming out. Today is The Legend of Vox Machina, a cartoon for Amazon Prime, where I play Captain Jared. And then Secrets of Sulphur Springs. Just everything else I can’t even talk about yet.
Suzanne: I love that show. You’re coming up on that?
Eugene: My character showed up fully last week, and today –
Suzanne: Oh, I haven’t watched last week’s yet.
Eugene: You see him way more today.
Suzanne: Okay, cool. I haven’t watched last week’s yet. I know it’s a kid’s show, and I don’t have any children –
Eugene: But here’s the funny thing, I watched it. It’s more for everyone. I’ve realize that, because before I even did it, I was like, “This is a kid’s show. All right, I’ll just do it.” Then, I worked with the kids, and I worked with the other actors, and two of them I knew, well, three; three people I knew on that show. And I was surprised. I was surprised how accessible it was for adults and that the kids were just natural. I got to work with Elle Graham most of the time; she plays Savannah, the little blonde girl. Well, she’s not little, that girl’s tall. [laughs] I had such a great time working with that cast and that crew. So, I’m glad you like it. It just surprised me.
Suzanne: Yeah, I don’t remember why I started watching. Oh, because the people who wrote it used to write in soap operas, and I watch soap operas.
Eugene: Ah, yes. That’s right. I think Tracy did – I don’t know about Charles. Charles did 90210, which is what I did. I did the original 90210.
Suzanne: He’s been on a lot of those types of things, and I think daytime briefly too. But yeah, I like that show. I’m always telling people watch the show.
Eugene: The funny thing is because they think it’s a kid show, they’re not thinking that you’re going to watch something that’s still appealing to you as well and that’s wholesome and interesting. I wouldn’t have believed that either. If you asked, if you told me.
Suzanne: Yeah, well, I have a lot of science fiction friends, and so, I would tell them, “it’s got time travel!”
Eugene: It does, and I’m curious what you’re gonna think about this season we’re doing right now, this season that just came out. It’s interesting, and it deals with, obviously, time again, but there’s an even deeper mystery now.
Suzanne: Well, they’ve got to change it up every season. And anything else that you’d like to say to your fans?
Eugene: Thank you for supporting me all these years, and there’s some stuff coming up. I can’t talk about it, but it should be very, very interesting.
Suzanne: All right, great. Well, thank you for joining me today. I really enjoyed it.
Buffalo 8 has announced the acquisition of IMMANENCE from filmmaker Kerry Bellessa. The thriller/horror film will be available on demand a several digital streamers, including iTunes, February 4.
While investigating a meteor strike in the Bermuda Triangle, a team of radio astronomers discover a mysterious signal in the deep sea that could be the world’s first contact with extraterrestrials. After witnessing various impossible phenomena, the team becomes convinced that something is trying to communicate with them.
Aboard their boat is Jonah (Michael Beach, Aquaman, “S.W.A.T.”), a loner with a mysterious past and cryptic motives. His faith leads him to suggest that this communication may be a manifestation of divinity, a hypothesis which the scientists immediately reject.
Soon the communications go from inexplicable to terrifying, threatening not only the team’s beliefs, but also their lives. When chaos culminates in an ominous revelation that makes everyone a threat, the team must fight for sanity and survival in a nightmare against the ultimate evil.
IMMANENCE: Fast FactsRelease Date: Friday, February 4, 2022 Genre: Thriller/Horror Rating and Run Time: Not rated (R equivalent), 90 mins. Short Summary: Radio astronomers discover a mysterious signal in the deep sea that could be contact with extraterrestrials. After several terrifying manifestations threaten their beliefs, the team must fight to survive the ultimate evil. Director: Kerry Bellessa Writers: Kerry Bellessa And Joshua Oram Producers: Kerry Bellessa, Summer Bellessa, Michael Beach Cinematographer: Oscar Ignacio Jiménez Starring: Michael Beach, Summer Bellessa, Eugene Byrd, Anthony Ruivivar, Kasia Pilewicz, Asenneth Del Toro, Jamie Mcshane
MORE INFO: Official Site Trailer
THE 
Executive Produced by Canelo Álvarez, Jay Hernandez, Phillip Braun, Jason Michael Gerber, Sherrese Clarke Soares, Alexis Garcia, Humberto G. Garcia, Christian Sosa, John Williams, Veronica B. Jones, Jennifer Kuczaj, Simon Wise, Colleen Barshop, Vincent Cordero, Carlos Osorio, Juan Pablo Solano Vergara, Simón Beltrán Echeverri, Brian Eddy, Jeff Grossberg, Jack Shemtov, Ricky Joshi, Jeff Moseley, Julio M. Quintana, Jennifer Kuczaj, Michael E. Hollingsworth, Matthew Dwyer, David E. Campbell, Tim Mahler, Carter Pope, Jesse Mandujano
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changed and no one is interested in the song – or Claude. Devastated and out of options, Wayne creates a way to get the song out to the public; not for himself, but for Claude.
Canadian writer, director, and producer 
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and loss, yet she was saved by her inner intelligence, strength and perseverance. She went on to use this drive and determination to help young girls who are at-risk, even though she was a single mother with very little funds. It’s truly an inspirational story. Ali did a wonderful job with the role, and it was great to not only talk to her about the movie, but also the film’s director, and the real-life Ni’Cola Mitchell, on whom the movie is based. You can learn more here about Mitchell’s organization, 
Tatyana Ali stars in Giving Hope: The Ni’Cola Mitchell Story, the emotional true story of best-selling author and inspirational speaker Ni’Cola Mitchell, who after experiencing sexual violence as a young girl, founded an organization dedicated to saving at risk girls from abuse and exploitation.
STARRING TOBIN BELL
Will is a devastated father who spends his time between court-ordered grief counseling and drinking himself into oblivion. He repeats the cycle of despair every day with no plans to stop, until he meets a mysterious stranger who gives him some old vinyl recordings. After Will listens to the records, he suddenly starts receiving messages from his recently deceased daughter. As the communications from his daughter grow more and more frequent, Will becomes convinced that these recordings hold the answer to bring his daughter back from the dead. But just as he is closing in on the truth, he starts to suspect that his counseling group has ulterior motives. After the stranger disappears, Will races against time to find him so he can get the last recording, or his chance to bring his daughter back might be gone forever.
When Cheryl (Garcelle Beauvais) gets into an argument with her daughter Lauren (Iyana Halley) over her desire to drop out of college, she initially thinks Lauren is simply ignoring her calls and texts, but Cheryl soon realizes Lauren is missing. While she attempts to get help from authorities and the media, they quickly dismiss the case, labeling Lauren as a runaway while they are all too consumed with another case – that of a missing white girl. Desperate to find Lauren, Cheryl and her 15-year-old daughter Marley (Taylor Mosby) enlist the help of a dedicated community of amateur internet sleuths to try to find Lauren. Cheryl also discovers the Black and Missing Foundation and is horrified to discover the disparity in how missing persons of color cases are treated with significant lack of media attention and law enforcement resources.
Peter Parros
Conner Floyd joined the cast of The Young and the Restless in November 2021 as “Phillip Chance Chancellor IV”. Conner was born and raised in Austin, Texas. He attended the University of Tulsa where he was three-year letter winner playing both wide receiver and punt returner for the Golden Hurricane. After college, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. His past credits include the television movies, Malicious Motives, A Kiss on Candy Cane Lane, and Help Wanted and appearances in several independent films.
The Disappearance of Cari Farver is based on a true story and the subject of Leslie Rule’s bestselling true-crime book A Tangled Web. Dave Kroupa (Zach Gilford, Good Girls, Friday Night Lights) is shocked when his new girlfriend, Cari Farver (Rebecca Amzallag), starts sending him demanding texts. When Dave ends the relationship, he finds himself on the receiving end of an onslaught of twisted messages from Cari, who has abruptly disappeared. Dave’s ex-girlfriend, Liz (Alicia Witt, Friday Night Lights, The Walking Dead), also begins receiving harassing texts from Cari, resulting in a dangerous situation for them both. Meanwhile, Cari’s mother Nancy (Lea Thompson, Back to the Future, Switched at Birth) continually searches for her, keeping the pressure on the police who eventually uncover a shocking discovery. The Disappearance of Cari Farver premieres Saturday, October 8 at 8/7c.
Lifetime Announces Two New Ripped From the Headlines Movies from EPs Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, Jenna Dewan Set to Star and EP
Alexis’ sister) and more. I had a lot of fun. The movie comes out today, Oct. 7, in theaters and On Demand. I highly recommend it because it’s a good psychological horror thriller. Anson Mount (
MODERATOR: Thank you. We also have some pre-submitted questions from journalists who could not be here today. This question is for Hilda. Hilda, you have some pretty intense scenes with Robin Givens who plays your mother in the movie. What was it like working with a veteran actress, and did she give you any advice or were there any fun times together on the set?
RACHEL BOYD: Thank you.
Eugene: Oh, we filmed on an actual boat. This was an actual boat, and we were on the actual water. And I was not excited about it, because I can’t swim, and I don’t like boats. So, this was a lot of faith. They kinda lied to me. They kind of lied to me a little bit and didn’t tell me we’re going out on the water. Then, they kind of let it out that, “Oh yeah, we’re getting on the water,” and I’m like, “What are you talking about?” [unintelligible] on a boat. They’re “Like no, we got to go out.” Yeah.
Eugene: It was sixteen days. I could be wrong. I’m trying to remember– I think it was sixteen days. And it was all night. All night shoots. So, it was switching straight from [day] and that’s it. So [unintelligible] every day.
Suzanne: – until your role in 
Suzanne: Getting back to Arrow, I mean, it was a great role with you and and the guy that plays Diggle, your brother?
Buffalo 8 has announced the acquisition of 