Movie "Red Spring" to be filmed in Kincardine, beginning in May

If you get the feeling you're in the aftermath of a vampire apocalypse in Kincardine next month, you are.

However, it isn't real. It's the cast and crew filming a movie, "Red Spring."

Led by Kincardine native Tonya Dodds, producer, filming of the show will begin May 2 and run through to May 21. Most of the filming will be done on the farm of Joan and Doug Storrey, on Highway 21 north, with some happening at other locations, including Fine Fettle and on a few sideroads around the Town of Kincardine.

"I'm still working on other locations to book them 100 per cent," says Dodds. "In particular, I still need two separate docks with only one or two boats moored to film at. And one motorboat and a large-ish sailboat to film on.

 

"One of our locations is going to be a custom-built set at the Storrey farm. The characters end up taking refuge in a bomb shelter and, given that's a bit difficult to find, we've decided to build it. Some members of the Kincardine Theatre Guild are going to help us actually build and paint it which is amazing. We still need to dress it, though. I'll be looking for a couple of cots, stand-alone shelves, and a couple of computer monitors and a computer keyboard that don't need to work."

The cast features Jeff Sinasac as "Ray" - he is also the writer and producer; Elysia White as "Vicky"; and Lindsey Middleton as "Bailey".

Besides Dodds as producer, the crew includes Tom Antos as director of photography; and Stacey Millar and Jonathan Robbins as producers.

"We are just about to hold auditions for the remaining major roles," says Dodds.

 

"As for extras, we're going to need between 30-40 people over the course of the shoot. We have a large number of volunteers already but we need all age ranges. A vampire apocalypse isn't selective. Those extras who end up playing vampires will need to be able to run a bit and look scary. We'll also need some people to play dead people."

The film is set just after a vampire apocalypse, says Dodds, and focuses on a few remaining survivors. While there are some very epic action scenes, most of the film is dedicated to how a small group of survivors is trying to adjust to a new reality where humans are literally being hunted. They are travelling from place to place, looking for their loved ones and dealing with their grief and anger when those loved ones aren't found.

 

"What makes 'Red Spring' particularly unique is that it is being shot much more like a war film than a traditional vampire film," Dodds says. "It will look gritty and very real. Think more of 'Saving Private Ryan,' rather than the overly-processed look of the Underworld films.

 

"As for the vampires themselves, we've imagined them a bit differently too. These are not the 'Twilight' vampires. They do not sparkle in sunlight, and dating one of them would be a very bad idea. They are killers completely focused on feeding. I've been describing them to be more like drug addicts, rather than romantic Gothic figures. If one of them is trying to break through a roof of a car and breaks his hand doing so, it's not that he has super strength; it's that he doesn't care about the hand. He's singularly focused on getting at the humans inside."
 

Dodds says the filming in Kincardine has already a great deal of support.  

"Stacey Millar has been instrumental in helping us with locations, sets, props, publicity, and just anything that we need in and around town," she says. "We have received offers to billet some of our cast and crew, and we're just so incredibly grateful. We're hoping to work with a few vendors in town to see if anyone would like to help with a few remaining items we need. We're still looking for a van the characters use to escape, and a couple of motorcycles. A film crew runs on its stomach so even if a restaurant or grocery store would like to donate some food, that would be amazing!  Every little bit helps!"

 

Dodds says one of her goals with producing is to bring filmmaking outside the traditional film centres, such as Toronto and Vancouver.

"Growing up in Kincardine, I was very involved in the Kincardine Theatre Guild but had no experience in film at all when I started working in it," she says. "I'd love to give a couple of students the opportunity to experience the film world before they have to make a decision about post-secondary school. I'm still trying to work out the details of working with Kincardine District Secondary School and need to submit something more formal. I hope it works out."

 

Dodds says an Indiegogo campaign has been launched to crowdfund the remaining part of the film's budget.  

"Basically, people make contributions through PayPal to help get the film made," she says. "In return, they will get different perks from us as a thank you for their involvement. Our perks include things ranging from a thank you in the credits of the film, a hand-carved vampire stake, a chance to be one of our featured vampires, or get an Executive Producer credit on the film and on IMDB (Internet Movie Database)."

The base goal is $6,000 but if donations surpass that amount, Dodds says it means more can be done on set and in post-production.

To check out the Indiegogo campaign, click on the following link: http://igg.me/at/redspring

 

Once the filming is done, there is editing to be done, which could take over a year with visual effects, etc., says Dodds. "We're actually just in the beginning stages of those discussions with different companies, so I can't release details on that. But our goal is to get this out beyond a few film festivals and into a wider level of distribution so more people see it."

DODDS PERFORMED IN FIRST PLAY AT THE AGE OF NINE
 

Dodds grew up in Kincardine and was "volunteered" for a Kincardine Theatre Guild play when she was nine, by her mother, Shirley Bieman.

"They needed more kids who could sing for the theatre guild's original production of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' so I ended up on stage in a velvet page costume," says Dodds. "And I got hooked. I started doing a play a year, usually the big fall musical, until high school when I started being involved in different ways on more productions. I took drama at KDSS and really credit the technical drama classes I took with Bill McLaughlin as what pushed me through a lot of my university classes."

 

She pursued her love of theatre at the University of Ottawa theatre program, where she studied theatre history, acting, lighting, set design, and movement. When she wanted to specialize in her final year, she realized she enjoyed acting and running a production, "but I thought I had to choose between those two things."

 

It wasn't until she took an acting class for film outside of university that she knew she had found what she was meant to do.

"Working in film felt like coming home to me," says Dodds. "I immediately found a full-time contract with a film company (while I was still in school) that was producing Lifetime movies of the week and worked in the production office. I soaked up as much knowledge as I could on how the actual business of the  film industry worked. I asked questions and worked hard while that contract lasted."

 

After graduation and once those films wrapped, she moved to Toronto but it was 2008 and the economy had faltered, and with it, the film industry.

"It turns out that this was a very good thing for me," says Dodds. "I started working with the truly independent community in Toronto, and it's where I've made most of my career."

She met her husband, Jeff Sinasac, on an indie short film, and their closest friends are ones from the indie film community.

"Toronto is a hotbed for great content and is known for pioneering new media," says Dodds. "In particular, 'web series' produced in Toronto have set the standard for that part of the industry and are internationally-known and awarded. That community very much believes in just making great content that people want to watch.

"Jeff and I come from that part of the industry. We firmly believe that film-makers can, and should, just make awesome things they love, because people want to see things like that. 'Red Spring' (while it's been in development for 10 years, which is a normal amount of time for a feature film) is definitely a product of that attitude. We've been inspired by our experience with film-makers who make their projects just for the love of doing it."

 

Being surrounded by so many creative people who were both acting and producing - or writing and directing - or whatever they could do to keep working and keep their craft sharp - Dodds realized she didn't have to choose between acting and producing.

"I really can do both," she says. "And while I'm not acting in 'Red Spring,' it is technically the first film in a trilogy so I've made the writer promise to give me a cool role in the second and/or third film. I happen to have pull with him!"

 

Besides producing "Red Spring," and acting when she can, Dodds is co-hosts a weekly on-line show about web series and geeky pop culture called "Super Geeked Up." Mostly recently, that show has been nominated for Best Live Series and she and her co-hosts are nominated for Best Live Hosts by the International Academy of Web Television.  The awards are presented this month in Las Vegas.
 

For more about the film, click on the following link: Red Spring

If anyone would like to help out with the movie, contact Dodds at: redspringfilm@gmail.com