In The Can: 'The End of Mara' Wraps NYC/NJ Shoot

During the last week of March, we shot The End of Mara and had an amazing shoot! 

Over four days, we shot in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. In the woods, in an SRO, and at Riverside Park.  And it seems we spent a lot of time shooting in the back of a truck.

We were filmmaking carnies: Setting up our tents, putting on a show, then packing it up and moving on to the next location.

We had a rockstar cast and crew who weren't dismayed by cold windy days, set crashers (we luv ya, Jukebox!), and a junkyard dog with a heart of gold. Thank you to each of our cast and crew for your dedication, hard work, and artistry.

You can check out our day-by-day behind-the-scenes photos at The End of Mara Facebook page and follow our progress as we complete the film: www.TheEndOfMara.com

And thank you for your continued support!

Announcing My Next Film: 'The End of Mara'

The time has come to finish up my Resurrection Trilogy of short films! The final film will be The End of Mara and it's slated for release in 2015.

The End of Mara is the story of a woman who helps her husband break free of a curse that’s brought him back to life and trapped him on Manhattan Island. This film, as with the last two, will be stand-alone and character-focused.

We're just getting rolling with this project and are in the script development stage now. We have our key crew for production and post-production already lined up - the same collaborators we created the first two films with - so we will truly be keeping the films all in the same world.

In order to focus on making this last film the best it can be, I'm taking a hiatus from my Script magazine column for the next few months to put everything I have into this project.

It's going to be an amazing ride!

Follow along via Twitter at my personal account or our production company's account, or on Facebook at The End of Mara page. I will also send out periodic updates through my newsletter, which is probably the best way to stay in the loop.

Thanks for continuing with me on this journey and I hope to share lots more with you soon!

"Vivienne Again" Making Its West Coast Premiere at HollyShorts!

I'm Hollywood-bound! Nope, this New Yorker isn't moving, but it is time for me to make the filmmakers' pilgrimage to Los Angeles. And this isn't just any trip or any screening, this will be my first time in LA... ever.

I was one of those kids who dreamed of being in film since I was a little girl, so thoughts of landing in LAX, five dollars in my pocket, and sleeping on the sofas of friends until I got on my feet wasn't ever too far from my mind.  I never thought it would take me this long to set foot on Hollywood soil.

But as they say, the best laid plans...

The obstacles life threw my way that keep me from pursuing a career in film until just these last few years are mostly in the rearview now. This is my chance and I'm taking it with all I've got.  The upside is, for my first trip to LA, I now have more than five dollars, I'll be staying in a nice hotel, and the day I land, I go straight away to screening my first film. Not bad for a kid from the old rough-and-tumble neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, NYC.

Here are the details of our screening:

AUGUST 14, 2012 at 9:00PM
GRAUMAN'S CHINESE THEATER, CHINESE 6
6925 HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD
HOLLYWOOD, CA 90028

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite and be sure to buy tix for the 8/14 9pm Short Film Program: Action.

LA friends, I hope to see you there!

Announcing My New Film: "Deal Travis In"

The time has come and I'm ready to make my next film! I'm writing and directing another short titled, "Deal Travis In."

While in pre-production on my last short, "Vivienne Again," I started thinking about telling more stories from this world where people resurrect from the dead. I was left curious about my own story, partly about the literal "what's next" at the end of "Vivienne Again," but over time my real question became how would resurrection affect other characters in this same world?

I decided to create three short films, all stand-alone and told in no chronological order, each offering a glimpse of the people learning to survive when death isn't necessarily the final chapter.

"Deal Travis In" is the second of these three shorts and is the origin story of one of the guys in gray - the bloodhounds - like those we first met in "Vivienne Again." Travis is a new character but through his story you'll learn who these men are and how they became ensnared in this world.

If you've seen "Vivienne Again" (or when you get the chance to) you'll see I open the film with an illustrated map of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan, the neighborhood where I grew up and where we shot the film. The film's title is plotted on the map as the location of where this story is set. "Deal Travis In" will also open with the neighborhood map, with its title plotted on it, and I'll do the same for the third film. In setting these stories in my home neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, I hope to add some of my own lore to this Manhattan neighborhood with a shady name and a shadier past.

These three shorts will in essence be my film school and the first body of work I'm putting out to an audience.  Please continue on this journey with me by letting me keep in touch and updating you on the progress and availability of this trilogy:

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Official Kim Garland                    Deal Travis In (short film)
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Thanks, and I'm looking forward to bringing you more stories from the supernatural!