Introducing Jezebeth Films and their Blind and the Dead. By Brian Kirst

Jezebeth Films, a new company dedicated to promoting women in film, recently premiered their initial production, The Blind and the Dead- a haunting vampiric odyssey. Director and writer David Paul Schmickel wanted to be “as visual as possible” and to end up “leaving things open with the characters.”

While The Blind and the Dead definitely sports a languid visual essence and haunting tone, Schmickel most importantly achieved his goal of creating strong female characters -particularly with his leads Blanca Dandy (The Blind) and Clare Fluff Ryan (The Dead).

Dandy who skillfully plays the blind from birth Isabelle actually spoke with a sightless teen girl to gain background for her role. They talked about color. “She knew pink was ‘girly’ and that black was morbid,” Dandy states. Despite the assistance, Dandy claims her toughest scene occurs when her character gains her sight after feeding upon the vampiress who sired her. “How to go from never seeing to the surprise of finally having sight – it was tough grasping that.” Dandy succeeds in that moment and ultimately found the whole process to be a delight – “especially the cast and crew with their entertaining and stories”.

Claire Fluff Ryan, vampire Julia to all you mortals, actually just enjoyed “being a part of this in the first place. I don’t have much acting background. I’m a singer. I have my own band.” Initially cast in a smaller role, Ryan found herself eventually cast as the driven vampire lead – “The most fitting role for me,” she claims. “Being evil is so much fun – I love all the blood and to be able to vent so many feelings. It relieves a lot of stress.”

Ryan and Dandy, slated to appear in upcoming films with Schmickel -who claims Ingmar Bergman is his hero – will definitely have many chances to relieve their stress in the future. This will be especially true as Jezebeth Films keeps true to their goal of creating multi-leveled parts for actresses. “Their will only be small roles – if any – for men in my films,” Schmickel determines.

To find out more about Schmickel and Jezebeth Films, visit www.jezebeth.com.