A movie filmed in Chatham-Kent will make its debut in Chatham this Friday.
"Call of the Blackbird" is the first feature film written and directed by sisters Kat and Karissa Strain, who grew up in Chatham, and have been acting since they were 13.
"We lived in Toronto for 10 years and then L.A. for two. We have a pretty extensive resume in the industry in performing in other people's projects, which was amazing and fun, and built a beautiful resume. But now we're itching to keep creating our own stories," said Kat and Karissa.
The sisters are best known for being the doubles for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in "New York Minute" and have appeared in a number of horror films, including the 2013 remake of Carrie.
But Kat and Karissa turned to writing and directing because they were tired of getting typecast.
"We were just getting very limited opportunity, and we were like, 'we have a lot more to say.' And as we just got older as women, we realized that there was a lot of things about the world, or about society, or about being a woman that we wanted to share a little bit more of our storytelling side. We thought we love horror, it's great, but we want to show the world our other sides as well," said Kat and Karissa.
"Call of the Blackbird" will premiere this Friday, October 11th with a red carpet event at the Chatham Capitol Theatre.
"It was shot in Chatham last summer, it's a story about us returning home to Chatham and all that we found here. So it feels really important to share it here before it goes elsewhere in the world," said Kat and Karissa. "There's a lot of local people and places that people will recognize when they watch the film, and we're excited to share that experience with them."
Kat and Karissa added that they want to bring a taste of Hollywood to their hometown with the premiere.
"There will be a band, so people can walk the red carpet, get photos, mingle. We'll show a little proof of concept that we're pitching for our next feature, we're plan to bring the funding back to Chatham. Then we'll show our feature film, and then we'll invite everyone back to The River Rock to celebrate the feature together, to celebrate a night of cinema in Chatham," said Kat and Karissa.
After the premiere, the sisters will be taking the film to L.A. for a film festival.
"The movie is going to L.A. Femme International Film Festival at the end of October. It's a 20-year running festival that really supports female film-making, so we're really excited to go and meet other like-minded filmmakers, and showcase our film," said Kat.
The sisters are also working to get the film onto some streaming services in the new year.
"We've got a producers rep lined up to work on distribution, so hopefully the film will be available for people to view on most of the streaming platforms this spring. So this is a perfect opportunity for Chatham to see it first before the rest of the world sees it," said Karissa.
Tickets for the premiere event are on sale now at www.cktickets.com. Tickets are $10, or $20 for VIP.