Alrighty. Where to begin… The last month and a half (or thereabouts) has been a whirlwind of activity, which is great, but I haven’t gotten on the horn in a while with updates…
First off, Madison County was released on May 8, and the audience and critical reception has been so wonderful and supportive and insightful. I’m happy everyone is finally getting a chance to see the movie, and congratulations to the cast, crew, and Eric England, Ace Marrero, and Daniel Dunn, the driving forces of the film. It has been, and continues to be, a great ride. We also got to do a signing at Dark Delicacies in Burbank on our release date, which was awesome… especially since I’ve always been fan of DD. Thank you Del Howison, cast and crew, and Image Entertainment, and everyone who made Madison County what it is today. I’m very proud of it and lucky to have been a part of MC… lucky, as it has played a major part in getting me into the realm of work I want to make, and has allowed me to begin a new chapter with talented collaborators and friends.
Now, for what’s been keeping me the busiest: I co-produced and wrapped a new movie!
CONTRACTED, the new movie from writer/director Eric England, and which I’ve barely talked about on here (unacceptable), has wrapped! It’s a movie that I’m Co-Producing with Eric, as well as JD Lifshitz and Raphael Margules of BoulderLight Pictures. I’m also playing a character named Riley in the feature. We literally prepped the movie in a few weeks (give or take… my internal clock is totally shot these days…), and I’m beside myself at how well it all came together. We had the usual hiccups and fires that plague micro-budget films, but we powered through them with our resilient cast and crew with relative ease and staggering creativity, thanks to this amazing ensemble. And, a couple of weeks ago, we wrapped. As we continue to edit and polish the film in post, I can’t wait to share it. It’s looking amazing.
Contracted on IMDb: Contracted (2013)
In early-Cronenberg-esque fashion, the film is, essentially, a horror fable of sorts about a young woman who, after a one-night stand with a stranger, thinks she’s contracted an STD… but it’s turns out to be something much worse. That’s not to say it’s a “message” movie- It’s a great combo of straight-up, nasty, suspenseful, good ol’ fashioned “body horror”, intermingled with something more. It’s explores ideas of identity and sexuality though the filter of a genre film in a way that I haven’t seen before… And THAT, my friends, is all I can say about it at this point… the bottom line is: we’ve finished production, and I’m more excited than ever. With Contracted, I think Eric is making his most unique film yet. It has a voice and style all its own, and tells a compelling story. (At some point, I want to delve more into the process of making this film, and the steps along the way, and more about the incredible cast and crew we assembled…)
All of that said, we are now in post, and we have a little ways to go. I feel serene about it all, because of all of these talented, hard-working people who are on board this ship with us through production and now post… we have some great stuff here. It’s all turning out wonderfully, the footage is stunning, and our excitement is palpable. Filmmaking is undeniably a collaborative effort, and with a cast and crew this strong, I can’t help but feel elated to be a part of Contracted. My hat’s off to everyone involved…
… Thank you.
ps- Our friend Evan Dickson over at Bloody-Disgusting visited set and released some exclusive stills: