Mike Pratt as Tim and Seth Holbrook as Nathan in “Casting Kill.” Photo by Bodhi Ouellette
The last time I talked to Kittery-based filmmaker Mark J. Parker, the New York transplant noted that his 2021 Maine-made short horror film, “Family History,” was just the beginning of his Maine filmmaking journey.
Parker wasn’t kidding.
“In a little over three years, I’ve completed five – no, wait, four – shorts. The fifth is in post-production now, and let it be finished soon, please, God.”
That most recent film is the horror-comedy short “Casting Kill,” a cheeky, bloody, Maine-set murder-fest (shot in Biddeford) about a beleaguered casting director for a local TV series (Mike Pratt) whose last-minute casting session turns into a bloodbath when an actor (Gavin Damian-Loring) comes armed with a knife and some surprisingly understandable grievances against the entertainment industry. In the short, it’s obvious that Parker, himself a veteran actor and casting director, is all too familiar with the frustrations on both sides of the casting table.
“‘Casting Kill’ is based on the people I worked with back in New York,” explained New Jersey native Parker, who served as casting director for the long-running ABC reality show “What Would You Do?,” among others. “There were lots of good people, but mostly they didn’t care about casting, they were just chasing clout. So I’m sort of skewering some people, like the producer who’s always on her phone chewing gum – that’s a real person. It’s a spotlight on everything a casting director has to do. In the film, it’s the night before a shoot, everything’s last minute, and nobody’s happy. Then in comes this killer.”
Filmmaker Mark J. Parker. Courtesy of Mark J. Parker
For Parker, a real-life incident was inspiration for his darkly comic tale of the unexpected dangers of show biz. “Some people view casting people as predatory, and there’s certainly been plenty of examples of that. But also, I remember when I was flown out alone to do local casting for ‘What Would You Do?,’ and after a whole day of nonstop auditions, I was packing up when an actress came in very late – and her boyfriend just wouldn’t take no for an answer. He wasn’t violent, but it was still a little freaky. So I unpacked the camera, put her on tape for 30 seconds, and they left. I thought, well, there are no background checks, I’m all alone, and what if suddenly there’s a knife in their hand. I thought there was a creepy story there, a chance to have some fun with a sort of ’80s-style slash fest.”
And “Casting Kill” is fun – if watching an office full of variously oblivious entertainment types face one dangerous guy’s idea of frustrated actor justice. It’s a side of the biz Parker can relate to as well. “Gavin Damian-Loring does an incredible job. He’s so scary and psychotic, but he’s also oddly sympathetic. Being an actor is a tough life. It takes real courage for actors not to get down and keep going. It’s just that this casting director got the wrong person’s hopes up and didn’t think of the effects.”
For Parker, moving to Maine has only accelerated his filmmaking pace. After making his 2016 horror short “Sticks” as a visitor to the state, now-resident Parker, who lives in Kittery with his husband, touts the uniquely welcoming and vibrant Maine film scene for continuing to fuel his imagination. “Long story short, ‘Sticks’ really got my creative juices flowing, and I knew Maine was the place to be. There’s a flourishing film scene here, so much so that I’m still trying to assemble a core team – everyone’s just so busy. I’m still feeling like the new guy, but we’ll get there.”
Parker’s time in Maine has also seen the filmmaker delving into a little-discussed sideline – fan films. His other current release (“Casting Kill” is currently prepping for a film festival run) is the Kittery-based short, “Your Last Summer,” which, as the title hints, forms a very unofficial mini-sequel to the 1997 teen slasher “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” In it, a pair of friends (Ian MacGillivray and Ryan Spies) meet for an illicit rendezvous at Kittery’s Seapoint Beach, only for one to reveal an ominous note reading “I Know,” which seems to hint that someone is aware of their secret relationship. The short film is full of callbacks to the original film (and a throwaway retort to the much-maligned 1998 sequel), as the two young men and their unsuspecting girlfriends (Olivia Barberian and Jenna Kathleen McLaughlin) are stalked by a terrifyingly familiar, slicker-clad figure with a hook hand.
“Your Last Summer” is a sly and well-made homage to/continuation of the semi-beloved ’90s horror film. It’s also, as a lengthy disclaimer at the start of the film proclaims, decidedly not authorized or endorsed by any of the legal entities involved in the original movie. For “I Know What You Did Last Summer” fan Parker, that’s a sometimes frustrating, but also liberating, stipulation.
“It’s a funny little subgenre of filmmaking,” explained Parker, whose earlier 2022 short “25 Years After Woodsboro: A ‘Scream’ Fan Film” treads similar murky distribution waters. (Not that it’s prevented that “Scream” mini sequel from racking up some 90,000 views on YouTube and Vimeo.) “It’s a little hairy, with a lot of restrictions, but it’s such a great way for indie filmmakers to show their love for a movie while also proving themselves. And people love to watch them. It’s like a continuation of their favorite stories. I suppose some of them might be hate-watching, but the response has been mostly positive so far.” The internet being the cesspool it is, the LGBTQ-themed “Your Last Summer” initially received some semi-literate hate comments, but for the most part, Parker has seen his sensitive (and satisfyingly bloody) fan shorts embraced with open arms.
Both “Your Last Summer” and “25 Years After Woodsboro” are, indeed, making inroads into the thriving fan film community, with both shorts playing at various film festivals that specialize in such unauthorized, unremunerative endeavors. (“Good luck making money on them,” laughed Parker.) Still, for the endlessly inventive and industrious Maine filmmaker, inspiration comes from all quarters of his adopted state.
“I’ve been producing for other people and coming up with new film ideas,” said Parker, who indeed shared the concept for an upcoming comedy-horror mini short set in the Maine woods that sounds equally funny and gory. “Maine just feels so familiar, somehow,” he said. “I see the beach and the woods nearby and think, ‘You know, this would be a great location for a movie.’”
Check out Mark J. Parker’s website, sites.google.com/view/mjp-pov, and watch Parker’s Maine-set “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” fan sequels on YouTube and Vimeo.
Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and cat.
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