Happy Xmas!

Happy Xmas everybody.

The last few years I’ve done this Xmas Message as a look back on the Kathryn-related news and events that we’ve brought you in the previous 12 months.  When I first thought about writing this one I wondered what I could do.  It felt like little had happened.  Fortuntely further investigation proved me very wrong or this would be a very short piece.

The year started with much anticipation of the release of the Hallmark movie The Sweeter Side Of Life.  After news of the film broke in May of 2012 we brought you comprehensive coverage, including promo photos and the first trailer.  This continued in the first weeks of January with almost daily updates.  The 19th of the month saw the première broadcast on the Hallmark channel in the US.  We followed up with exclusive screenshots and my own review.

February brought us a little insight into the world of Kathryn with the discovery of her endorsement of a local juice bar.  The short film The Coin, which was filmed in July of 2012, made the first of many appearances on KM UK during this year with some great on set photos.  Almost exactly a year ago we’d seen the first trailer.  This year would see a lot of news about the very intriguing short.

March, however, saw the news that so many of us had been waiting for since Cold Case ended in 2010:  Kathryn was starring in the pilot for a new show called The Surgeon General.  The show was to be a “procedural” based around the work of the “nation’s doctor” rooting out major health issues and featured British actor “Hello to” Jason Isaacs (Case Histories).  After the high regard that his previous US TV series Awake was held in, Jason had his choice of new shows.  The fact that he went for The Surgeon General made it a good candidate for being picked up to series.  It was up against some strong opposition though.  Even the safe bet of an NCIS spin-off didn’t make it, and neither did The Surgeon General.  That news came in mid-May.  We were very fortunate to get some photos taking during the production process at the time from her co-stars Alex Dawson and Kristen Shaw, and her stand-in Melissa Rutland (see photo on the left).  Thank you ladies.  Both Kristen and Melissa are based in Atlanta, where the Rod Lurie directed pilot was filmed.

And then BOOM!  Jumping forward to July.  When we though we’d never see any more of The Surgeon General, out of no where a trailer was published by a marketing company that must have been involved in putting together the promotional material for the pilot.  Finally we got to see Kathryn as Lydia Ferrari.

Back tracking to April, the Surgeon General news continued to trickle in and possible release dates for The Sweeter Side Of Life on DVD started to surface. And then…

BOO!!!  April also saw the news that Kathryn and her production company, Revival House, developing a remake of the horror movie Alice Sweet Alice with born-for-the-job director Dante Tomaselli.  Kathryn is said to be starring as Alice’s mother.  Nothing more has been heard on the project since but I’m sure in true horror movie style it will suddenly appear when you least expect it.

And then DOUBLE BOOM!!  Kathryn and her partner of three years Johnny Messner announced the wonderful news that they were expecting their first child… and their second.   It was twins and they were due in September.

May was a mixed month with the up of The Sweeter Side Of Life DVD release firmed up with cover artwork, the down of The Surgeon General failing to be picked up, the release of a behind-the-scenes video from The Sweeter Side Of Life, and the interesting rumblings of news about the short film Sunday’s Mother.  Kathryn filmed the short in a few days in July 2011.  Later it appeared at a few film festivals but things had gone quiet for a long time.  More footage was found in a showreel by the director Aaron Jackson.

It took until June for us to see Kathryn attending a public event (we’d later have to acknowledge that was not quite correct when other photos surfaced from earlier events though).  The Plush Show 2013, a showcase for suppliers of baby products, left us all in no doubt that Kathryn was pregnant.  It kinda stood out!  We got video too!  A couple of weeks later we were able repeat the feat with Kathryn attending TV/film (including Cold Case) producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame unveiling.  The month ended with Fabien Martorell’s The Coin premièring at the prestigious Palm Springs International ShortFest.

Another BOOM!  In July KM UK was given exclusive access to Sunday’s Mother (I wish 😉 ) allowing all our readers to view film before it was released more generally.  You lucky, lucky people.  The film is still viewable in the special Sunday’s Mother screening page here.

For August I could mention news of further film festival appearances (Big Bear Lake and LA ShortsFest) of The Coin.  I could even talk about the previously referred to new event photos from earlier in the year.  Or the previously unseen Kari Orvik Tintype photoshoot.  Or the revamping of the official KM website, still out of date and riddled with errors as it is.  Kathryn even Tweeted for the first time.  However, all that pales into insignificance against…

The TRIPLE BOOM!!!  The earlier than expected (based on the previous reports rather than medical reasons I’m sure) arrival of the Morris-Messner twin boys.  After a false start (a lone post on a hacked Twitter account?) the names (Jameson and Rocco) and some photos of the happy family were released in September.

The long-quiet project 2 Br/1 Ba made a small squeak in October after I discovered a couple of short trailers for the as yet unreleased film.  Each clip focused on one of the leading ladies: Alex Vega (Machete Kills) and Spencer Grammer (Greek).  Sadly, Kathryn did not appear in either video.  2 Br/1 Ba is something I look forward to bringing you more on in 2014.  Jerry Bruckheimer featured again on Kathryn’s social calendar in October as she and Johnny ended the month attending the launch of a book all about the man’s career so far.  This was their first public appearance after the launch of their own back-to-back project: the twins

November and December were mainly about The Coin-related news.  More film festival screenings, an updated trailer and exclusive to KM UK access to a super hi-res version of a new poster all featured.  I expect there will be more to come from The Coin in 2014 hopefully culminating in a publicly available version.

Let us know your thoughts on 2013 in the comments below.

I always end these posts with a ‘thank you’ to everyone that contributed to KM UK throughout the year.  This year is no exception.  Thank you to all of you, dear readers, that helped make KM UK what it is in 2013.  Without your tips, suggestions and encouragement KM UK would be so much less.

I must make particular mention of people like Fabien Martorell (writer/director/producer of The Coin), Aaron Jackson (writer/director of Sunday’s Mother), Rob Margolies (director of 2 Br/1 Ba), Michael Damien (writer/director of The Sweeter Side Of Life), and Darcell Carraway (editor of LA Firm Inc. magazine) for being so generous with their time to me and my little site.  It is their acknowledging the importance of fans like you to their work that allows me to do what I do.

I’m sure you’ll understand that KM UK will be a little quiet over the next week or so.  Don’t worry, any breaking news will be covered, albeit maybe not as promptly as normal.  Follow me on Twitter at @KM_UK for the latest updates.  We’ll be back to full strength in the New Year.  There’s plenty more to come in 2014.

Happy Xmas/Holidays/Wednesday and Happy New Year to all of you.

RichE.