The premiere of DEATH LETTER BLUES, a supernatural and psychological thriller, set in the Deep South went well. A great audience showed up on August 7th to view the film at the Glendale Laemmale theater in Glendale, California, along with directors and co-writers, Michael Stevantoni (our grandson), and Strack Azar and actors Sherman Augustus, Karole Foreman, and Ramsay Midwood. It’s on for another week, as well as at the Santa Monica Laemmale theater in California.
It is now streaming in the USA on Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Fandango, and YouTube. In Canada, you can see it on Apple TV/iTunes or YouTube. I loved seeing it again, this time with captions. Being seniors, Robert and I miss some of the dialogue, so it’s great to have captions as an added bonus for viewing at home.
Daughters, Karen and Robyn attended the premiere as well. I wasn’t able to attend, so Robyn took a shot of the screen at the cinema when one of my scenes came up. I play Mrs. Webb in the film, a friend of the priest, played by Sherman Augustus.
How the Film Got its Footing
DEATH LETTER BLUES grew out of a short film Michael and Strack had worked on together when they were students at Dodge College, a filmmaking program at Chapman University, in Orange Calfiornia.
Since Strack had grown up in Greenville, Mississippi, and he and Michael decided it would be a great place to film DEATH LETTER BLUES and fulfil their dream of directing a film together.
As a professional actor, I was happy to be asked to be in the film, and few down with Robert to Mississippi. At the time, being Canadian, Michael was able to get permission from my union, UBCP (Union of BC Perfomers) for me to play Mrs. Webb, a friend of the priest’s. And Robert, Michael’s grandfather, played a few extra parts—a mourner and a cop.
A Little Background of My Work with Michael
When Robert and I moved to Vancouver Island, (four hours commuting time from the acting hub in Vancouver), to be close to our daughter Karen and family shortly after Michael’s birth—29 years ago—I cut down on auditioning for film and tv parts. I tried for a while (kept up my union membership) but it became too much of an ordeal commuting (the long distance) and dealing with the disruption from other activities in my life. So, it was a double pleasure to get a chance to act again, this time in our grandson’s second feature film.
But it wasn’t the first time Michael and I had worked together. He had been directing short films since he was very young. When he was 14, and had a project he wanted to write and direct—one with a very mature subject—I suggested he cast some adult actors in our community instead of his friends. I hoped we could find amateur actors who’d done some local theatre.
With help from family and community (including city hall and Joan Miller and Tanya Price of Island Film Commission) Michael, though nervous about directing adults, successfully directed the short film, Cipher, a thriller. Our local paper, The Campbell River Mirror wrote about his accomplishment.
That was followed by The Brother, which Michael and I co-wrote and co-produced. Again, this film drew on local actors, including myself, and generous help from other talent in the community. It won a number of film festival awards.
After following up The Brother with another short film, Michael was off to univesity. Though he was offered a full scholarship to Capilano University filmmaking program in Vancouver, he set his sights on Hollywood. It was a costly decision, but one his mother fully supported.
While at Chapman U, Michael continued to hone his skills with one short film after the other. After his second year, (on an extremely small budget) he wrote and directed his first feature film, Salton Sea, a wonderful domestic drama, now available on Amazon Prime. He was able to do it with many volunteers from his filmmaking program and donors through Kickstarter.
Our Time on the Set of DEATH LETTER BLUES
Robert and I had travelled to much of the USA, but this was our first trip to Mississippi, where we flew for the filming of my scenes for Death Letter Blues. We met some wonderful people and enjoyed southern hospitality, courtesy of Strack’s family and friends. Below is the carriage house where we stayed; it was in the back of a southern mansion.
Here are some shots from the set, clockwise, starting from the top left: me as Mrs. Webb at the door rehearsing a scene with Sherman Augustus as Father Moss; with fellow mourners; Robert (my husband) playing a mourner, Michael directing me and the car that plays a pivotal role in the story; Michael Stevantoni and Strack Azar.
So Many Hurdles to Overcome
The film was shot in 2019. But then came Covid and everything shut down. As if this wasn’t enough of a calamity, the young filmmakers then had to deal with the fallout from the Writers’ Strike and the Actors’ Strike. By the end of all that, they found that the streamers had too much product, much of it bought from countries outside of the USA.
While Michael and Strack continued to look for a distributor for their film, they kept submitting their movie to film festivals, where they won a number of awards.
Photos below are from the Newport Film Festival: cast with Michael and Strack, and the young directors with their parents.
Michael and Strack finally landed on Dark Sky to distribute their movie. It’s not a pefect fit, as their movie isn’t a typical horror film, but it’s a good one. As a supernatural gothic drama, DEATH LETTER BLUES will find its audience.
An End Note
If you see Death Letter Blues, please take a few moments to leave a REVIEW on Rotten Tomatoes and/or IMDB.com.
And you might want to check out Michael’s website. He not only directs (films, music videos and commercials) but he also does production design.
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‘Till then, I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer.
