Eternal Kiss

Eternal Kiss poster - 2010 Atlantic Film Fesival version

2010-09-22T02:14:00.005-03:00

Eternal Kiss at the 2010 Atlantic Film Festival

2010-09-13T17:10:00.000-03:00

Eternal Kiss has been selected to screen at the 30th annual Atlantic Film Festival, which runs from September 16th until the 25th here in Halifax.

The write-up for the film, which screens Wednesday, September 22nd at Park Lane Cinemas, can be found here - it contains a link to the on-line box office.

Hope to see you there!

Paul Kimball

Paul Kimball on Dark Matters Radio (March 9, 2010)

2010-04-08T20:28:00.001-03:00

Writer / Director Paul Kimball discusses vampires and his new film Eternal Kiss on Dark Matters Radio with Don Ecker, March 9, 2010.

Eternal Kiss - review by Ron Foley MacDonald

2010-04-04T15:24:00.006-03:00

Ron Foley MacDonald has been Halifax's top film and theatre critic for many years now, so I sent him an advance copy of Eternal Kiss. Here is his review:

The World Premiere of the Nova Scotia-shot feature drama Eternal Kiss will take place at Park Lane theatres, Halifax, Thursday April 28th from 6 to 9 pm.

A courtesy screening for cast and crew, family and friends, remaining seats are available to the public for free by contacting voiceoflondon@aol.com by noon, April 28th to guarantee a place.

Eternal Kiss is a contemporary vampire tale concerning a modern-day documentary filmmaker (played by Montreal actor Joe Gallaccio) who investigates whether stories of vampirism are real or not. He ends up getting more than he bargained for.

Triple threat producer/writer/director Paul Kimball shifts the focus back to the romantic era origins of the story, which began when poets Lord Byron, Shelley, Mary Shelley and Dr. John Polidori challenged each other to write tales of dread, horror and longing in the summer of 1816.

With quotes from the romantic poets alongside current pop culture references, Eternal Kiss blends contemporary and more enduring themes in its chamber-like treatment of the vampire trope, complete with site-specific references such as Harker’s Cove and Canadian Forces Base Carfax. Filmed in Shelburne, there’s lingering Gothic sensibility throughout the project.

Sporting a range of gray tones in its colour palette, Eternal Kiss resembles Ingmar Bergman’s mid-60s work, such as Persona and Hour Of the Wolf when that Northern European master mixed terse issues of identity with strong undertones of horror.

Much shooting takes place at night with a deliberate lack of establishing and landscape shots, Kimball’s film emphasizes feelings of dislocation and looming desire. Eternal Kiss is an intense and personal trip into the Vampire world; it is as unsettling as it is engrossing.

Eternal Kiss also features East Coast actors Carly Street, David Connellan and Nigel Bennett. It was financed with the assistance of Film Nova Scotia and California based distributors will release the film internationally later this year.

Thanks very much Ron - glad you liked the film, and "got" what we were going for!

Paul Kimball

Eternal Kiss - World Premiere!

2010-04-01T16:54:00.006-03:00

Date: Thursday, April 29, 2010
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Park Lane theatres, Halifax, N.S.

The world premiere of the feature film Eternal Kiss, starring Joseph Gallaccio, Laura Bleasdale, Carly Street, David Connellan, Christina Cuffari and Nigel Bennett. Written, produced and directed by Paul Kimball.

Eternal Kiss tells the story of David Price, a thirty-something filmmaker who gets more than he bargained for when he sets out to make a documentary about people who believe in the existence of vampires and finds himself the target of media mogul Elisabeth Langstrom, a very real vampire who is convinced that David is her soul-mate. But nothing is as simple as it seems, as David has secrets of his own, including a tortured past that even he doesn’t fully remember or understand, and a burgeoning love affair with Laura, the new girl in town, who may also be more than she seems. In the end, it all comes down to a choice for David – fate, or free will - and the question of whether true love can really conquer all!

This is a FREE screening. Anyone who wants to reserve a seat should contact Paul Kimball at voiceoflondon@aol.com by Noon on April 28th, and we'll add you to the reserved list. Show up prior to 6:40 and a seat will be guaranteed for you. After that, it will be first come, first served.

Paul Kimball discusses Eternal Kiss

2010-03-05T04:40:00.001-04:00

Writer / Director Paul Kimball discusses his feature film Eternal Kiss in this clip from an interview with him on Atlantic Filmmakers (Eastlink TV) in the fall of 2009. The film is being released in March, 2010.

Eternal Kiss - final cut

2010-02-24T02:07:00.021-04:00

Here are some shots from the final cut of Eternal Kiss, which is just finishing up post audio.

Laura Bleasdale and Joseph Gallaccio as Laura and David:

Christina Cuffari as Fielding:

Carly Street as Langstrom:

Joseph Gallaccio as David and Amy Kerr as Emily:

Vanessa Furlong as Miranda:

Mahone Bay, N.S., which serves as the fictional town of Harker's Cove:

Joseph Gallaccio as David and David Connellan as Oliver:

Joseph Gallaccio as David and Tara Slone as Amanda Duncan:

Laura Bleasdale as Laura:

Joseph Gallaccio as David:

Nigel Bennett as Dr. Polidori:

Vanessa Furlong as Miranda:

Joseph Gallaccio as David and Vanessa Furlong as Miranda:

Christina Cuffari as Fielding:

Laura Bleasdale as Laura and Kate Mullan as Marianne:

Amy Kerr as Emily:

Exterior scene:

Joseph Gallaccio as David and Sandy MacLean as Dean:

Nigel Bennett as Dr. Polidori:

Joseph Gallaccio as David and David Connellan as Oliver:

Eternal Kiss previewed on Eastlink TV

2009-09-28T02:49:00.000-03:00

Eternal Kiss trailer

2009-03-26T04:24:00.002-03:00

The trailer for Eternal Kiss, due for release in August of 2009.

Thanks to good friend John Rosoborough for all the help in putting the trailer together!

Paul Kimball

Screen captures

2009-03-18T05:18:00.012-03:00

Some screen captures from the rough cut.

Paul Kimball

Joseph Gallaccio as David Price:

Laura Bleasdale as Laura West and Kate Mullan as Marianne Simmons:

Christina Cuffari as Stephanie Fielding:

Carly Street as Elisabeth Langstrom:

Laura Bleasdale as Laura West and David Connellan as Oliver Seward:

Christina Cuffari as Stephanie Fielding:

Nigel Bennett as Simon Polidori:

Joseph Gallaccio as David Price:

Carly Street as Elisabeth Langstrom:

Joseph Gallaccio as David Price and Vanessa Furlong as Miranda Polidori:

Sandy MacLean as Dean:

Laura Bleasdale as Laura West:

Holly Stevens as Sophie Price and Nigel Bennett as Simon Polidori:

David Connellan as Oliver Seward:

Black and White Stills

2009-01-09T01:43:00.008-04:00

A few black and white production stills:

Joseph Gallaccio and Laura Bleasdale as David Price and Laura West.

Kate Mullan as Catherine Grospelier.

Nigel Bennett as Dr. Simon Polidori.

Christina Cuffari as Stephanie Fielding.

The film was shot in colour, but the black and white photos always look great!

Paul Kimball

More production stills

2008-12-19T19:13:00.006-04:00

Vampire hunters on the prowl.

Joseph Gallaccio as David Price.

Josepah Gallaccio and Laura Bleasdale as David Price and Laura West.

Paul Kimball

Cast - production stills

2008-10-21T18:28:00.001-03:00

Here are some production stills of the amazing cast of the cast ofEternal Kiss - all shots taken by our 2nd AD, Ben Stevens.

Joseph Gallaccio as David Price

David Connellan as Oliver Seward

Carly Street as Elisabeth Langstrom

Laura Bleasdale as Laura West

Christina Cuffari as Stephanie Fielding

Holly Stevens as Sophie Price and Nigel Bennett as Dr. Simon Polidori

Sandy MacLean as Dean

Vanessa Furlong as Miranda Polidori

Amy Kerr as Emily Parker

Kate Mullan as Marianne

Production stills - Vol. I

2008-10-11T02:19:00.007-03:00

Here are some photos from the Eternal Kiss shoot, which began September 11th and is ongoing.

Carly Street as Elisabeth Langstrom and Christina Cuffari as Stephanie Fielding.

Christina Cuffari as Stephanie Fielding.

Holly Stevens as Sophie Price.

Vanessa Furlong as Miranda Polidori.

So far, the shoot has gone great - we're headed into our final week!

Paul Kimball

Production Team: Bill Niven - Executive Producer

2008-08-29T18:24:00.005-03:00

I'm happy to announce that my good friend Bill Niven is on board as the Executive Producer for Eternal Kiss.

My first job in the film and television industry was as a consultant with Salter Street Films back when Bill was the Vice-President of Development there - his office was just down the hall from mine.

Since then we've served on the boards of various industry groups and committees together, and talked about working together on a project, but nothing has ever presented itself... until now!

Welcome aboard, Bill!

Paul Kimball

Thanks Film NS!

2008-08-29T18:08:00.004-03:00

We signed our equity investment contract with Film NS today - they are a significant partner in the production of Eternal Kiss, and it would not be possible to make the film without them.

Many thanks to Film NS CEO Ann MacKenzie for being a strong supporter of both the film and our company, to the Board of Directors at Film NS for approving our application for funding back in May, and to Director of Business & Legal Affairs Linda Wood for getting the contract done and guiding us through the paperwork.

Film and television production in Nova Scotia wouldn't exist without Film NS, and the great people who work there. I began my career with Film NS (back then it was known as the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation), and they have supported Redstar Films through our past nine years of business. I look forward to having them down to Shelburne for a set visit - the least I can do is introduce them to the vampires!

Paul Kimball

Fielding is a Robot??

2008-08-19T13:10:00.001-03:00

Well, not quite... but Christina Cuffari (left, above), who will be playing Staphanie Fielding in Eternal Kiss in just a couple of weeks, is currently performing at the 2008 Boulder International Fringe Festival as Jane in the sci-fi mystery "Doing Time", which I co-wrote with my good friend Mac Tonnies, an American author.

I'm out in Boulder "directing" the play right now - I put "directing" in quotation marks because when you have actors as talented and hard-working as Christina and her co-star, Annie Briggs (right, above), there isn't a whole lot for a director to do once the play starts but sit back and watch the magic unfold!

Paul Kimball

Storyboards

2008-08-01T18:14:00.003-03:00

Here are a couple of panels from the storyboards, which are being done over the next week or two.

We start production on September 10th.

Paul Kimball

Laura Bleasdale

2008-07-28T13:10:00.000-03:00

Some recent photos of Laura Bleasdale.

Character Bios - Elisabeth Langstrom

2008-07-11T23:16:00.006-03:00

Elisabeth Langstrom

- Born Livia Aurelia Magnus, in northern Gaul, in 55 BC

- Daughter of a Roman Centurion and a landowner

Livia’s mother was consistently ill while she was growing up, and her father almost always away on military campaigns under the command of first Crassus, then Julius Caesar. She was therefore responsible for the running of the land, and for making decisions regarding the welfare and disputes of the peasants and farmers occupying their land. The responsibilities were many and continuous, and as so many men were away at war, she never married.

She was known for being incredibly strict with lazy or insubordinate servants, and used corporal punishment without a second thought. However, in several instances she intervened on behalf of destitute women, including a woman whose husband was executed by the state, and a woman whose daughter was raped and impregnated.

Livia was educated by Greek tutors, and could read and write in four languages. She was interested in science, astronomy and agriculture.

In the summer of her 31st year, she was notified that a carriage of female nobles were passing through the area. She made ready the estate for their arrival. The four women arrived in the night, brilliantly dressed. The Strangers, though clearly wealthy, never supplied their names. They were shown their rooms and brought food and wine. The following night, Livia visited the eldest of the Strangers in her chambers to see that they were pleased with the accommodations. The woman asked her to sit and talk with her. They sat for many hours and conversed about philosophy, astronomy and statecraft. The evening stretched on and seemed, pleasantly, to last an eternity. Just before dawn, Livia felt light-headed, as though she were going to pass out. It was in this moment that the Stranger “sired” her. When she awoke at dusk the following evening, the Strangers were gone, and Livia knew everything would be different.

The following events happened swiftly, almost instinctively, for Livia: She waited for her father’s return home; then murdered both her parents, most of the slaves, and sold the land and cattle. The few young female slaves she spared, she kept in her service as she travelled to Rome.

She conducted much of her business in men’s dress, but revealed her womanly aspect when, after amassing great wealth, she approached the realm of the Caesars. Livia was never a woman of great sensual desire while she breathed, or thereafter, for she had never found a man worth the true effort, but she developed the ability to seduce and manipulate the stoniest of all men. Her chief interest was profit, strategy and the science of winning.

For hundreds of years, Livia bought and sold property, while setting up international trade systems, and moving precious commodities through the Roman Empire. When the Empire dwindled, Livia moved further north into Europe, changing her name many times, and finally settled in Ireland. She found her seat at the sea.

Throughout the dark ages, she stored the great literature, art and documents that were thought lost to the world. She read, she thought, and she feasted on the local villagers. She rarely sought any company, let alone that of others’ of her kind. But she would, very, very rarely, take a particular interest in the plight of a resourceful, young peasant woman who could not seem to transcend the circumstances of poverty. When the family of one of these young women reached the peak of its’ suffering, she would swiftly murder the parents, feast on the brood, and then transform the young woman into one of her own kind. The young woman would do as Livia had done; sell the property and disappear into the world like a ghost. One of these young woman, whom Langstrom found in the early 1860s in the southern United States, was Laura Watson. Though Livia would never have considered it in this sense, she was giving birth to the children she never had… or never even knew she desired.

By the early 19th century, Livia was now living under the name Elizabeth Langstrom. The first name she chose after the most notorious female serial killer in history, Elizabeth Bathory; the last after the English gentleman whose property she had appropriated in Switzerland, and in which she was now living.

One weekend in June, in the summer of 1816 (“The Year Without a Summer”), Langstrom hosted a group of English poets at her villa in Switzerland. Dejected, bored and disillusioned by her too-long life, she usually kept company away, but her interest was piqued by this self-indulgent group of romantics. For three nights, she silently watched the group read from Tales of the Dead, and create horror stories of their own. They were high on laudanum, but their gothic imaginations, and the language they used to express their dark desires, took hold of her. Among this group was P. B. Shelley, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and an unassuming doctor and man of science, John Polidori.

Only Langstrom foresaw the massive effect the meeting of these souls would have on the world of romantic poetry. But even she did not realize the obsession that would take hold of her. Long after they were gone, she could not shake the impression that the stern, elegant Dr. Polidori had on her. She felt he kept a secret from her that she had to discover, but did not even know its’ nature. For years, she kept a watchful eye on his life, his family, his literary work. And though she never made her presence known to him, she sensed he was aware of her.

When Polidori died, she stood at his grave during the funeral, wondering at the meaning of her obsession. Polidori’s first-born son looked up at her, and she realized that the chain had not broken.

The next two centuries played out with great ferocity for Langstrom. She did not know what her fate was, but she felt a palpable awakening coming, and she acted with purpose, and with passion. She killed with passion. She exploited with passion. She destroyed and built empires with passion. Her sense of humour returned, and her personal powers grew. And all the while, she knew every step of every son in the long line of Polidori’s descendants.

In 1970, Simon Polidori, the great-great-great grandson of Polidori, emigrated from his home in Cambridge, England, to the East Coast of Canada, with his wife, Sophie. For many years, Langstrom had had her minions report his actions. But their reports came back elusive. He was elusive. It was as if he was intentionally and skillfully avoiding her detection. Shortly thereafter, she was told that he had died. Childless.

In the spring of 1978, Langstrom, who had located to Los Angeles, where she had assembled a massive media empire, travelled to Nova Scotia. She was drawn there, as though her fate was linked with Polidori, despite his passing. When she found herself at Harker’s Cove one evening in June, she felt herself staring at her own fate; at what had led her there after one and a half centuries: The young David Manners, only 8 years old. Here was her soul’s match that she had waited two thousand years to claim.

At this point begins the story of Elizabeth Langstrom, in Eternal Kiss.

Ron Foley MacDonald on Eternal Kiss prep...

2008-07-10T03:01:00.003-03:00

Ron Foley MacDonald has been Halifax's ace theatre and film critic for well over a decade now. We're friends, and have been since our days in the music industry back in the mid 1990s, but he's never shied away from telling me when I'm working on something, or have made something, that isn't up to spec. So it means a lot to me that he likes the Eternal Kiss script, which I sent him to read a while ago. Here's his preview (original article here):

Kimball Preps 'Eternal Kiss'

Halifax filmmaker Paul Kimball is gearing up to shoot his first feature script, Eternal Kiss.

A contemporary Vampire flick to be lensed in the Shelburne Studio Complex in September, it’s a story that deftly balances humour and romance. Montreal’s Joe Gallaccio is slated to star as David Manners, an intrepid documentary maker on the trail of some suspicious characters who may or may not be real vampires.

Gallaccio - who spent a season with Shakespeare By the Sea and starred in Kimball’s as yet unfinished film version of MacBeth entitled Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow - is a charismatic and forceful actor who will undoubtedly give his Manners character a real edge.

The name David Manners is no stranger to the world of the cinema. That was the stage moniker of an immensely successful Hollywood actor from Halifax, originally named Duane Acklom, who made nearly 40 features--including Tod Browning’s ever enduring Dracula with Bela Lugosi and The Mummy with Boris Karloff--in an amazing run that made him one of the biggest stars in the movie business in the early 1930s.

Kimball has made some light of this on one of his amazing internet sites. He keeps them freshly updated, especially the ones dealing with UFOs and the paranormals (his popular site Above And Beyond seems to be a hotbed of UFO debates).

Having made a raft of UFO documentaries for the Space Channel has brought the Acadia University Graduate a reputation as a lively presence on the international UFO circuit. He’s presented some of his films - including the recent award winner Best Evidence: The Top Ten UFO Cases to UFO conferences around the world. Kimball--also a Dal Law Grad--has even organized UFO conferences here in Halifax.

And the Para-Normal is not the only universe Kimball manages to traverse with ease and confidence. His Redstar Films Company has already produced two other feature dramas including Will Fraser’s existential musician’s tale Dying Fall and the only full-length motion picture record of a Patrick Christopher-directed Shakespeare By the Sea production, Julius Caesar in Halifax’s venerable Spring Garden Road Courthouse.

With directing credits for two 13-part TV series shot for Bravo (The Classical Now Seasons One and Two) Kimball is ideally positioned to move on to direct his own feature scripts. In the last two years he directed two stage pieces (Peter Brook’s Marat/Sade and new original sci-fi script Doing Time with Mac Tonnes), specifically to hone his skills dealing with actors and scenography.

As the financing gently falls into place for Kimball’s Eternal Kiss--Film Nova Scotia is already on board according to the website--the East Coast might just want to prepare itself for some edgy genre filmmaking from an emerging filmmaker who has managed to be both a veteran of the scene and a bright new talent on the horizon.

Location Scouting

2008-07-05T23:31:00.008-03:00

Here are some photos from a location scout Director of Photography Tarek Abouamin and I conducted in Shelburne on Thursday.

This is one of the bedrooms in the crew quarters section, which will also be used for a scene that is set in a hotel:

This photo shows yours truly firing a golf ball into a lake at a local driving range in Shelburne, where another scene is set:

This photo shows what will be "Dean's Place", a bar in which several scenes are set:

A hallway in the sound stage facility, where a confrontation between our heroine and some bad vampires will play out:

Another room in the crew quarters area:

A cemetery in town where one of the scenes is set:

Finally, the exterior of David and Oliver's office building in Shelburne (the interiors will be shot at the sound stage).

Shelburne is a superb facility - we are going to have a great time filming there!

Paul Kimball

Gallaccio & Street from 2004

2008-06-30T00:34:00.003-03:00

Joe Gallaccio and Carly Street have worked together before. Here they are in 2004 in a rough edit clip as MacBeth and Lady MacBeth from my low budget indie film "Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow", which re-imagined MacBeth in a post-apocalypic future (the film is currently in perpetual post-production).

Paul Kimball

Meet... David Connellan

2008-06-19T14:36:00.004-03:00

David Connellan is a Halifax based actor who studied theatre at Dalhousie University. After university he spent a year and a half in Croatia developing rehabilitation-based theatre programs for children in war-torn homes. Upon his return to Halifax, he appeared in a number of theatrical productions, including Jailbait at the Halifax Fringe Fest, Halo for the Theatre Arts Guild, and Nightwatch with the Dartmouth Players. David has also appeared in many TV and Film productions over the years, and most recently wrapped production on a short film about... vampires (it's called The Other Side)!

David is one of the co-founders of Halifax's critically-acclaimed le Theatre de Boheme, for which he has acted in or directed six shows, including a sold out run of No Exit at the Prague Fringe Festival.

I directed David for le Theatre de Boheme in 2007 in a version of Marat / Sade. Ace Halifax theatre critic Ron Foley MacDonald called it right when he wrote that David gave "an intense, highly-fuelled and deeply thought-out performance," which is typical of all of David's work, and which is why I'm looking forward to working with him again on Eternal Kiss!

Paul Kimball

Dream EK Soundtrack - Vol. I

2008-06-19T01:26:00.002-03:00

Existence well what does it matter?
I exist on the best terms I can.
The past is now part of my future,
The present is well out of hand.
The present is well out of hand.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
Heart and soul, one will burn.
One will burn, one will burn.
Heart and soul, one will burn.

I'm a big Joy Division fan. This is a song that would definitely fit on the Eternal Kiss soundtrack!

Paul Kimball

Meet... Carly Street

2008-06-14T15:37:00.008-03:00

Since graduating from the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada, Carly Street has appeared in major productions across the country with The Canadian Stage Company, the Stratford Festival, the Tarragon Theatre, the Atlantic Theatre Festival, the Grand Theatre, Theatre Calgary, and others. With two Best Actress nominations and over forty professional productions under her belt, Carly is recognized among the A-list of young Canadian theatre actresses.

In addition to her stage work, she has appeared in numerous commercials, television programs, and can be seen in three large American feature films, opposite Gene Hackman, Rachel MacAdams and Martin Short.

In 2006, she landed the role of Arwen Evenstar in the world premiere of the stage show The Lord of the Rings, and received international attention for her performance.

Richard Ouzunian of the Toronto Star featured her on its’ front cover “Ten To Watch in 2006”, and Robert Cushman of the National Post has hailed her as part of the “super-ensemble of great Canadian actors.”

Although frequently out of town for various projects, Carly keeps a home in Toronto, where she was born and raised.

I had the pleasure of working with Carly in 2004, and look forward to teaming up with her again on Eternal Kiss - she's a fantastic actor, and I have no doubt that she will create a truly memorable character in Elisabeth Langstrom!

Paul Kimball

Carly Street - "Simply Splendid"

2008-06-14T15:37:00.005-03:00

A review from North Country Public Radio of Carly Street in her current role as Sonya / Pixie in The Russian Play and Essay, which is running at the 1000 Islands Playhouse:

Carly Street is simply splendid as both Sonya and Pixie. Her dialect as Sonya is excellent and her translation of the song hilarious. She believably moves the character from humor to pathos in the blink of an eye. As Pixie she shows us the character’s gradual marginalization becoming, as she says, a footnote to the two men’s debate. Her use of lip-gloss is an inspired choice.

[Full review here]

Well done, Carly!

Paul Kimball

Meet... Joseph Gallaccio

2008-06-06T10:03:00.006-03:00

Joseph Gallaccio was born in Montreal to Italian immigrant parents. His father was a master cabinet maker and Joe apprenticed with him from a young age, learning the tools of a trade he still practices today. As he grew, it became clear that Joe was very artistic. His gift for drawing, in particular, was recognized as soon as he was old enough to pick up a pencil. Nevertheless, as a teen Joe became more consumed with sports, diving into many active pursuits and eventually working his way up to playing in the Junior Hockey leagues.

The artistic muse prevailed, however. Joe graduated from college in Graphic Arts, after which he went to work for several major ad agencies. From there, he took another step and joined his father in establishing Gallaccio Design Inc, a premiere interior design firm, specializing in custom woodworking. After that, he returned to University to study Fine Art, majoring in painting and sculpture. His three dimensional work led him to an interest in Theatre Arts, and so he took the acting class which set him on the path to full time theatre school in Montreal.

Upon graduating, Joe moved to Toronto and soon found work with Second City, as well as with several companies who were engaged in creating new work. From improv comedy, to playing Dean Martin in the musical revue “the Rat Pack”, to the title role in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Quentin in Arthur Miller’s After the Fall, Joe has worked in a wide variety of performance styles, venues and mediums, across the country. He played “Nino” in the original cast of the hit, Mambo Italiano during which time a showing of his paintings speaking to the Italian immigrant experience was also presented. And, perhaps fittingly, one of his most enjoyable roles to date was that of the vampire king himself, Dracula. He is also still enjoying the fruits of his labors on the original X-Men movie, shot out of Toronto.

I first met Joe back when he was playing Coriolanus in the summer of 2003 with Shakespeare by the Sea (he was also hilarious in their production of The Merry Wives of Windsor that summer). He is a great actor, and an even better person, and it's going to be a real thrill for me to team up with him again on Eternal Kiss. He was in town a few months ago, and we had a few beers and chatted about the prospect of working together again (Joe played Macbeth in my still-unfinished indie, "Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow" four years ago). I told him I had something "cooking", and that if it came together, he would be the first person I would call.

It did.. and he was.

Paul Kimball

Meet... Tara Slone

2008-06-05T08:20:00.007-03:00

Tara Slone, a native Haligonian, is the former lead singer of the Juno-nominated rock group Joydrop, where she had a very successful run with hits like "Beautiful" and "Sometimes Wanna Die". After a stint as a finalist on the CBS series Rockstar: INXS, Tara returned to performing and penning her own music, and last year released her first solo disc Just Look Pretty and Sing.

No stranger to stage and screen, Tara attended Concordia University’s theatre performance program. She has appeared in numerous television shows and films, including an appearance opposite Ryan Reynolds in Foolproof, and a recurring role on the popular USA Network show La Femme Nikita. Most recently, she performed in a March production of The Vagina Monologues in Toronto.

As well as working on her own career, Tara encourages as much young talent as possible as the co-host of the entertainment show Inside Jam on Toronto’s SUN TV.

Tara will be playing Deputy Mayor Amanda Doyle in Eternal Kiss, but it won't be her first appearance in a horror film - she played "Lois" in the 1997 film Night of the Demons III!

Tara is an entertainment industry "Renaissance Woman", and I'm definitely looking forward to collaborating with her and bringing Doyle to life... or is it death? I guess it depends on how one reads the script!

Paul Kimball

P.S. note to self: direction must not consist of telling Tara to "just look pretty and act"! ;-)

Vamplitude

2008-06-04T13:13:00.003-03:00

If you're looking for some tasty vampire fiction to tide you over until Eternal Kiss is available, I heartily recommend the novel Vamplitude by my friend Kathleen Mendelin. The story is inspired by the music of Kathleen's good friend Rick Springfield, from his 2004 Shock/Denial/Anger/Aacceptance album, and features - naturally - a bad boy rockstar vampire!

And in a weird coincidence, kind of like filming on a sound stage where part of the Shag Harbour UFO case occurred, one of the people Kathleen thanks prominently in the acknowledgment section of the book is renowned UFO researcher Stanton T. Friedman, who was the subject of the first documentary I directed, Stanton T. Friedman is Real.

Again, cue the Twilight Zone theme!

Paul Kimball

Meet... Laura Bleasdale

2008-06-04T03:42:00.006-03:00

Having found her calling at an early age, Halifax born Laura Bleasdale has been professionally pursuing her passion for acting since her stage debut as Nancy in a production of Oliver. Shortly thereafter she was cast in a principal role on an episode of the Canadian comedy series Blackfly starring comedy great Colin Mochrie and east coast comedian Ron James. In 2000 Laura was scouted by Montreal’s Da Vinci Talent Agency and made the move to Montreal, where she lived and worked for 3 years. During that time she was fortunate enough to have trained under professor & author Carol Zucker, and gained invaluable experience on set in both film & television.

Since her return to Halifax, Laura has been an active member of the Dartmouth Players Theatre, having starred in productions of Prelude To A Kiss and Bus Stop, playing to sold out audiences.

In May of 2007 after having auditioned for both the founder and director of Circle in the Square Theatre School on Broadway, Laura was offered the chance, on the spot, to train in the prestigious intensive summer training program in NYC. She was told she had that certain something which “can not be taught”. Her passionate portrayal of characters paired with a keen insight, was taken to the next level during a summer of training under recognized professionals in both the Broadway and film community.

Laura has recently been featured on a national commercial for Canada Savings Bonds, and a guest staring role on the TV series G-Spot. She has also been active on the local independent film front having shot several shorts in the last two years, which debuted at the Atlantic Film Festival.

Laura is also a member of the Dalhousie School of Medicine faculty, having worked for the past 3 years as a simulated patient actor. She is also actively involved in community work, including Big Brothers, Big Sisters and fundraising campaigns for Cancer Research, with a fun loving impersonation of Marilyn Monroe.

Laura is currently represented by my friends at the Atlantic Talent Agency, who believe in her as much as I do, and believe that she does indeed have that "certain something". She and I have already chatted a number of times about her character in Eternal Kiss, Laura Watson, and I can't wait to see the real-world Laura bring the fictional Laura to life!

Paul Kimball

Meet... Christina Cuffari

2008-06-03T12:44:00.006-03:00

A former ballet dancer, Christina Cuffari caught the acting bug at an early age. An Ottawa based actress, Christina graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Windsor in 2006, where her favourite roles included Lady Anne in Richard III, and Mollie in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.

Christina has been working in theatre and film constantly since. Her film credits include Lacey in a SAW video production titled Autopilot Off and commercial and fictional roles with Seventh Sense Studios. While living in Toronto, she performed with Solar Stage Children’s Theatre, after which she returned to Ottawa to play Joan in a production of Caryl Churchill’s Far Away.

She then journeyed out to Halifax in a critically-acclaimed turn as the AI jailer "Jane" in the sci-fi play Doing Time for Semaphore Theatre Company, a role she will be reprising in August at the Boulder International Fringe Festival, in Boulder, Colorado, after which she will rack up even more frequent flyer points with a return to Halifax to play Stephanie Fielding in Eternal Kiss.

In the meantime, Christina has just recently finished a run with Ontario's Acorn Theatre, in a new comedy called A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Farm.

Christina is a great young, up-and-coming actor, and you can expect to see a great deal of her in the years to come. I can't wait to work with her again, this summer in Boulder, and then immediately after in Eternal Kiss, as she brings her own unique interpretation to one of the characters I had the most fun writing in the screenplay, the repressed young lawyer who discovers her darkside and embraces it!

Paul Kimball

Meet... Amy Kerr

2008-06-03T06:41:00.009-03:00

A native Haligonian, Amy Kerr began her career as a model at the age of fifteen. A multiple award winner at myriad modeling and acting competitions, as well as beauty pageants, Amy has booked print campaigns for Nova Scotia Tourism, Colonial Honda, Pedigree Dog Food, UMM Magazine and was featured on the cover of en.Vision Magazine. Her passion, however, has always been acting.

Shortly after she graduated high school, Amy auditioned for a local agency to represent her for acting, and she began to take acting classes. Her first audition, for a commercial for ‘NS tourism’, was a success, and she wound up as the ‘Titanic Girl’. Shortly thereafter, she landed a guest starring role as Desh in a sci-fi tv series Lexx: The Dark Zone.

Amy has since worked with many leading actors - opposite of Cybil Sheppard and Tim Matheson in Martha Inc., where she played Martha Stewart’s daughter, Lexi; with Dean Cain, Brian Bosworth, and Mimi Kuzyk in the action flick Phase IV; and with Sebastian Spence, Chris Shuyer, Ryan Scott Greene and Nigel Bennett in the feature film A Bug And A Bag of Weed. She can also seen as J-Roc’s baby’s mama in multiple episodes of Trailer Park Boys in seasons 3 and 4. Most recently she worked opposite of Flava Flav in the new sit-com Under One Roof as his probation officer Candy.

Amy has recently taken her success in both modeling and acting to the next level by becoming a spokesmodel.

She is the face of Metrin, an all natural, scientific skin care company, and she is the new spokesmodel for Coors Light. Most recently, she was named 2008's "Hottest Chick on the Internet" by Hot Chick Magazine.

In Eternal Kiss, Amy is cast as Emily Parker, a young woman who gets much more than she bargained for when she tries to pick up David Manners in a Los Angeles bar. I'm really looking forward to working with her again.

Paul Kimball

P.S. For more information on Amy’s career, check out her website.

That Was Then - Joseph Gallaccio, 2004

2008-06-02T04:51:00.003-03:00

A review for Arthur Miller's After the Fall, an Equity Showcase production from 2004 that featured Joseph Gallaccio.

"Quentin carries the bulk of the intervening drama on his lawyer's shoulders. Joseph Gallaccio was up to the challenge, navigating the persona around, above and beneath him with great conviction."

Paul Kimball

Carly Street in The Russian Play

2008-06-01T20:40:00.003-03:00

Carly Street is currently performing in The Russian Play. May 30 to July 5. Showtimes are Tuesday to Sunday at 8 p.m., with 2:30 matinees on Thursday and Saturday. It's running at the Thousand Islands Playhouse, Firehall Theatre.

Tickets are $32, $30 for seniors, $25 for people under 30 and $16 for students. People who want more information can call the playhouse at 1-866-382-7020. Tickets are also available online.

The Brockville Recorder Times writes: "Carly Street does a superb job as Sonya in both her sincere and ironic incarnations."

Break a leg, Carly!

Paul Kimball

Shelburne

2008-05-30T04:04:00.011-03:00

My brother Jim and I were in historic Shelburne, Nova Scotia yesterday to take a tour of the Shelburne Sound Stage facility, which is where we will be filming Eternal Kiss.

Here are some snapshots I took during our tour of the sound stage itself.

This is Studio A (they have three), where much of our filming will be taking place:

This is the carpentry shop:

This is one of the hair and make-up areas:

I'm a big believer that a crew and cast functions best when they can stay together and work as a team for a period of time, and that's exactly what we'll be able to do in Shelburne, which is a great facility for production that also happens to come with all of the amenities of home - rooms, recreation, dining facilities, a bar, all found an old military base that was converted to support the studio.

Of course, another advantage for us is that the film is mostly set in a small coastal town, and Shelburne itself is perfect for that. The people there are great, and the town is extremely "film friendly."

And it's hard to beat the scenery in the area!

In short, I'm really looking forward to spending September in the Shelburne area, having fun doing what we all love to do!

Paul Kimball

P.S. In a truly weird coincidence, I'll be shooting my first feature film on location at what was once the military base at Government Point. Why so weird? Because it was involved in the famous Shag Harbour UFO incident, which was one of the ten cases featured in my last documentary, Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Sightings. To top it all off, I'll be speaking on UFOs at the Shag Harbour UFO Festival in August, just before going into production on Eternal Kiss! Cue the Twilight Zone theme...

Carly Street in Lord of the Rings

2008-05-29T10:06:00.003-03:00

Some video of Carly Street as Arwen Evenstar in the musical production of Lord of the Rings in Toronto, 2006, for which she received a Dora Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role-Musical, in what the Times Online called a "dignified, pure-voiced" performance.

Paul Kimball

The real-life David Manners

2008-05-28T03:59:00.006-03:00

In a tip of the hat to a Haligonian who made it big in Hollywood, and who had his own run in with a silver-screen vampire, I named the lead character in Eternal Kiss after the real-life David Manners, who played Jonathan Harker in the classic 1931 production of Dracula.

Manners (who was born Rauff de Ryther Daun Acklom in 1900 in Halifax), made his way to Hollywood at the beginning of the talking films revolution. Between 1930 and 1936 made 38 feature films, beginning with Journey's End, the film that also launched the careers of James Whale and Colin Clive. He is best remembered today for his work in Dracula, The Mummy, and The Black Cat.

Manners, an iconoclast if ever there was one, walked away from Hollywood at the height of his fame in 1936, and never made another film. He moved to New York, where he continued to act in plays until the 1950s. After he retired from acting, he spent the remainder of his life in private pursuits, such as painting and writing. Several of his novels sold over 100,000 copies each. His reflections on philosophy were put forth in Look Through: An Evidence of Self Discovery, published in 1971.

David Manners passed away in 1998 at his home in Santa Barbara, California. There's a wonderful interview with him done in 1997 that you can read here. You can tell that even at 97 he was sharp, and still had a healthy disdain for the bright lights of Hollywood. An actor's actor, he always preferred the theatre.

He had a great answer for the question, "Do you have any advice for anyone starting out?"

"No! Heavens, no! I think, to be what you are, don't take advice from other people.

Find your advice in your heart. Yes, find your advice in your heart. It's yours and you keep it. And if you think it's helpful to other people . . . then share it. I think the things we share are very important."

I think our fictional David Manners, who is going to be played by Joseph Gallaccio, shown at left, would probably feel the exact same way!

Paul Kimball

Soundtrack - "Vampirella"

2008-05-28T01:47:00.005-03:00

We plan on using a number of Nova Scotia artists on the soundtrack for Eternal Kiss, some of whom will be profiled here in the next few months... but I couldn't make a film about vampires without including "Vampirella", a song I wrote back in the early 1990s, and recorded with my old band Julia's Rain on our Wonderful Broken Silence e.p. in 1996. I'll be re-recording the song for the film, but here is the original version... with a photo of Carly Street, who is cast as Elisabeth Langstrom, Eternal Kiss's "Vampirella"!

"You give me your thoughts
you give me your soul
then I tear it apart..."

Indeed!

Paul Kimball

Bio - Paul Kimball, Writer / Director

2008-05-27T12:03:00.000-03:00

Paul Kimball
Producer / Director / Writer

After winning multiple scholarships and awards - including the University Medal in History at both Acadia University and the University of Dundee, and the CLB Award at Dalhousie Law School - Paul graduated from Acadia in 1989 with an Honours Degree in History and Political Science, and in 1992 from Dalhousie with an LL.B. A former Program Administrator at the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, and consultant for Salter Street Films and several provincial governments, Paul founded the Halifax-based production company Redstar Films Limited in 1999.

His work includes:

Caesar (Bravo) – Producer / Writer, 1999
A Nite at the Opera (CBC) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2000
Dying Fall (indie feature) – Producer, 2001
Stanton T. Friedman IS Real (Space, Bravo) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2001
Denise Djokic: Seven Days Seven Nights (Bravo) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2002
Do You Believe in Majic (Space) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2003
The Classical Now – Season I (Bravo) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2003
Aztec 1948 (UFO TV) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2004
The Classical Now – Season II (Bravo) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2004
Fields of Fear (Space) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2006
Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Sightings (Space, TVNZ) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2007
Synchronicity (Bravo) – Director / Writer / Producer, 2008

Since 2001, Paul has also established a reputation as one of Canada’s leading UFO and paranormal researchers, both through his work as an award-winning documentary filmmaker (2005 EBE Awards for Best UFO Film and Best Historical Documentary for Aztec: 1948, 2007 EBE award for Best Historical Documentary for Best Evidence; nominated for a total of seven other EBEs from 2005 to 2007), and as a researcher, writer, and speaker. He has appeared on television, radio (Coast to Coast, CBC Morningside, X-Zone, Binnall of America, Strange Days Indeed) and in person at conferences and symposiums in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, to discuss the UFO phenomenon and the paranormal. His critically-acclaimed blog The Other Side of Truth has registered over 400,000 unique visitors in the past three years.

Paul’s work extends beyond documentaries, however. In 2007 he founded Semaphore Theatre Company, which produced the critically-acclaimed sci-fi play “Doing Time” in November, 2007. The play was directed and co-written by Paul, who had previously adapted Caesar for television and MacBeth as an indie feature which he also directed (currently in post-production). In 2008, Paul directs Eternal Kiss, a feature film for which he also wrote the original screenplay.

Paul is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society and the Society of Composers Authors and Publishers. He is a past President of the Nova Scotia Film and Television Producers Association, and a former member of the Nova Scotia Film Advisory Committee. He is currently a Board Member of the Motion Picture Industry Association of Nova Scotia.

Amy Kerr on "Stunt School"

2008-05-26T20:10:00.000-03:00

Amy Kerr talks about learning all about movie stuntwork on the podcast Just Between Us - Women's Radio... you can listen in here - episode 45, segment 3. It's always interesting to hear actors talk about the work behind the scenes.

She's a trooper!

Eternal Kiss - synopsis

2008-05-26T20:06:00.006-03:00

Synopsis

Eternal Kiss tells the story of David Manners, a thirty-something filmmaker from the small seaside town of Harker’s Cove who gets more than he bargained for when he sets out to make a documentary about people who believe in the existence of vampires… and finds himself the target of media mogul Elisabeth Langstrom, a very real vampire who is convinced that David is her soul-mate.

But nothing is as simple as it seems in a film that has more twists and turns than a mountain road – David has secrets of his own, including a tortured past that even he doesn’t fully remember or understand, and a burgeoning love affair with Laura Watson, the new girl in town, who may also be more than she seems.

Also in the mix are vampire hunters - Dr. Simon Polidori and his daughter Miranda, who have an agenda of their own, which involves using David as bait for Langstrom.

Meanwhile, David’s best friend and business partner, Oliver Seward, thinks that David is going a bit nuts, but he remains steadfast, even when called upon to help combat a creature that he doesn’t really believe exists.

Finally, there are Langstrom’s victims – Emily Parker, a girl David meets at a bar in Toronto… Amanda Doyle, the deputy mayor of Harker’s Cove… and Stephanie Fielding, a young lawyer who specializes in "real estate" exclusively for one client. All of them are just pawns in her game, as she manoeuvres everyone towards a final showdown which was prophesied centuries before.

In the end, however, it all comes down to a choice for David – destiny, or free will – and the question of whether true love can really conquer all!