Kathryn Morris UK

Cold Case Cast Catch-up – October 2019

john_finn_001_430x180 Winter is definitely on the way for those of us in the northern hemisphere. The sun is not setting early on our Cold Case cast members though. Welcome to October 2019’s CCCC-up where we catch-up with the stars of Cold Case that aren’t Kathryn.

Let’s start with John Finn (John Stillman in CC) as this takes us back to the beginning of the month. The long-running AMC drama series The Walking Dead returned in early October for its 10th season. I don’t watch the show myself but it looks from IMDb listings that John has reprised his role as Earl Sutton in the opener and episode 4, which aired a few days ago. Perhaps he’ll be back for more as the run (zombie shuffle?) continues.

John is a mere hors d’oeuvre to the ever prolific Tracie Thoms (Kat Miller in CC). How does she do it all? On the day John was back with the undead Tracie was with those trying to prevent the deadening in the first place, as she guest starred on ABC’s The Good Doctor. We referenced this in the September CCCC-up. Within a week Tracie was back at over on Showtime’s The Affair, which stars Maura Tierney (ER) and Dominic West (The Wire). On top of those, Tracie managed to squeeze in a couple of episodes of 9-1-1, which is on the Fox network. Another fortnight and she’ll be back for a third.

That enough Tracie news for one month? Of course not. We’re just working up to the big one. Back in June of 2018 we first reported that Apple, of iPhone fame, had commissioned a new drama for it’s planned streaming service (now called Apple TV+). That show became Truth Be Told. Octavia Spencer (The Shape Of Water) is a true-crime podcaster who tries to solve a mystery. Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Lizzy Caplan (New Girl), Elizabeth Perkins (The Flintstones), and Mekhi Phifer (ER) co-star along with Tracie. A trailer was released for Truth Be Told early in the month. See it HERE on YouTube. Tracie appears briefly near the end. The première date for the show is the 6th of December.

Speaking of streaming services, we are on the verge of another one joining the fray. April 2020 is the planned launch date for Quibi, a mobile streaming platform for short form videos. Longer projects will be released in 10 minute segments, aimed at being consumed in “quick bites” suitable for those on the go. There are some big backers of this company. The likes of Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks SKG), Meg Whitman (Hewlett-Packard), Steven Spielberg (many films), and even existing large media companies like Disney and Sony Pictures. They have raised $1 billion in investment. A partnership with the T-Mobile communications organisation has recently been announced. But why are we mentioning it in a CCCC-up? That’s because Cold Case producer/writer Veena Sud (The Killing) is making a drama series called The Stranger for Quibi. She is writing, producing and directing this one. The Stranger involves an Uber-style driver (Claire) caught up with a sociopath in a 12 hour long fight for survival. Interestingly, there will be ten 10-minute episodes, each made available 1 hour later than the previous one. Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) and Maika Monroe (Independence Day: Resurgence) are the stars.

The Protocol Screening On Sunday

Consider this your final call ladies and gentlemen.

A quick reminder that next Sunday (3rd November 2019) the short film The Protocol will be screened at the New York Short Film Festival.

After 6 years of waiting, the small drama starring Xen Sams, Max Ryan and Kathryn finally gets a première.

Taking place at the Cinema Village independent cinema in Greenwich Village, New York, tickets ($12 each) are available via the festival’s website HERE. The film is sharing the bill from 6:30pm in Short Block 6 with the pilot of a web series.

The Protocol NYSFF Info Update

Today we have a little more information regarding The Protocol and its upcoming screening at the New York Short Film Festival (NYSFF). The previous post raised a few questions, such as why the block the short film was in only contained two items. As I’d guessed, the screening of Switch is not a short film but the pilot episode of the series.

The details provided by the NYSFF (see below) include extra details on the plot of The Protocol and confirms what the poster says in that there will be Q&As afterwards.

The New York Short Film Festival will be holding a special screening focusing on mental health awareness at 6:30pm on Sunday, November 3 at Cinema Village in Union Square.

The program features two short works exploring the human mind— the world premiere of The Protocol, a dystopian drama starring Xen Sams (Waldo, The Banker) as a double agent in a near future where people must have their full range of emotions technologically suppressed in order to be allowed to remain in society, and the pilot episode of Stavroula Toska’s Switch, a web series which follows Toska as a Greek immigrant healing from PTSD while working as a high-end dominatrix to make ends meet.

The screening will be followed by Q&A with the creators who will discuss their process and personal connections with their stories.

[The] Protocol is being shared as a memorial screening in honor of Hadley Dean Myers who served as a case manager for care and counseling of the homeless, eventually loosing her own battle to mental health disease (23 December 2017).

Switch is based on its creator’s own story of reclaiming self after an abusive marriage.

Other notable actors associated with the films include Kathryn Morris (Minority Report), Max Ryan (Rage), Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck), Jon Lindstrom (Bosch).

The double feature will be held as part of the 4th annual New York Short Film Festival, a week long celebration of indie films and filmmakers.

The Protocol: Reactivated

Remember The Protocol?

KM UK last brought you news on the project two and a half years ago when a new IMDb page and a small video clip surfaced. OK, there was the frankly hilarious April Fools 2017 post about the film becoming part of the Marvel Universe. That was good.

In fact it goes back to the summer of 2013 when it was filmed. Initially it seemed to be a short film, and then a pilot for a TV series (which is why it ended up in the TV section of KM UK Gallery).

Today we received news, via the actor Xen Sams, that the movie will be screened at the New York Short Film Festival in just two weeks time.

The Protocol is one of the official selection for the NYSFF and is scheduled to be shown on November 3rd (a Sunday) in a slot starting at 6:30pm. As with most short film festivals, groups of films are shown together in blocks, often themed in some way. In this case, as things stand, The Protocol is only being shown alongside one other project, Switch. This appears to be a web-based TV series but probably exists as a short as well. Maybe there are showing a complete episode so it fills much of the 75-minute block.

The Brian A Miller directed short starring Max Ryan, Xen Sams, and Kathryn, always looked a little sci-fi but it has not been clear what the film is about. In her announcement, Xen Sams described it as “filmed and created in effort to raise awareness for our nation’s ongoing mental health disorder.” The tipped over glass of water in the poster (above) raises a few questions too.

If you are in New York in early November perhaps you could get to Cinema Village independent cinema in Greenwich Village to see The Protocol. Tickets are available via the festival’s website HERE. It is Short Block 7, 6:30pm, 3rd November. Let us know what it was like.

Kathryn’s Kelly’s Hollywood

This one seems to have passed us all by, but it is worth a bit of digging to find the story behind it.

Brian Donovan was an actor (still is) looking to make it in Hollywood. He had many small jobs across a wide range of TV (Wings, In Living Color, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, General Hospital, Beverly Hills 90210) and films (Gia, starring Angelina Jolie in an early role). He met a lot of different people over this time.

Brian had a younger sister, Kelly, who was born with Down Syndrome. The two of them were very close and as she grew up Kelly proved herself to be a real character and quite the performer, loving the spotlight.

Kelly’s health began to decline and Brian decided to try and make her Hollywood dreams come true. To let her star shine.

The 2015 documentary, Kelly’s Hollywood, is the film Brian made of their journey through this process and the effects it had on both of them.

Kelly was embraced by Hollywood with all sorts of people contributing to this project. A red carpet style première was created, where Kelly turned up in a limousine and faced the paparazzi. Kathryn, Danny Pino and John Finn also welcomed Kelly onto the set of Cold Case to do an interrogation scene with them. In it Kelly was questioned as a suspect in a case involving her favourite actor Colin Firth (A King’s Speech). Detectives Rush and Valens grilled her on her involvement. This whole thing was improvised by them all, not every one could keep a straight face throughout (Kathryn!), and it took some dark turns. Kathryn was also at the première event.

The documentary premièred in October 2014 and had a Los Angeles screening in the January of 2015. Kathryn attended that ocassion, and her and Danny were at a live event where Kelly was on stage with her brother. Danny was one of Kelly’s favourite men and he was great with her.

Sadly, Kelly passed away in 2009 but Brian continues to show the film at festivals around the world as part of campaigns to raise awareness of disabilities and that people should not be defined by them. Kelly wasn’t going to let hers stop her enjoying life. Brian continues his acting work, mostly doing voice work in Naruto anime games in films.

Kelly’s Holllywood was shown on the Showcase network and is now available on Amazon Video, free to Prime subscribers, in the UK and US. I’ve posted a very small selection of not-so-great quality screencaps in the Gallery to give you an idea of Kathryn’s appearance in the film, and a couple of photos related to the première event. There is a trailer and few videos out there if you want to see them. Check out the full film if you can.