Filming continues for Tropic Picture’s next movie.
By John F. Kaiser III – Navarro County Gazette
Over the course of the weekend, writer/director Richard Bailey shot a number of scenes for his latest film project, King Judith, in downtown Corsicana.
The story of King Judith follows the lives of three unconventional women dealing with past personal traumas that are intertwined by visitations from a beautiful ghost.
King Judith stars Jenny Ledel as Catherine; Jo Schellenberg as “Jolene”; Stephanie Cleghorn Jasso as “Rebecca”; Emily Ernst as “Judith”; and Sasha Maya Ada as the narrator, “Rabbit”.
Last Sunday, extras gathered at the Blackjack McCanless bar where primary actors rehearsed lines, and were tended to by hair and make-up.
Bailey, alongside second cameraman Jason Flowers, set the tone of the scene through the use of fog machines, hanging lights, and positioning the boom mics.
A number of the people that showed up to the set had never been an extra in a film before.
As with any movie shoot, there is a lot of “hurry up and wait.” When it’s a good cast and crew, and being a relatively short shoot (comparatively) the waiting is not so bad. You make new friends, get a chance to visit with old ones, and then when it is time for places, you compose yourself and follow the director’s vision.
The scenes filmed on Sunday were varied. There were scenes of a talent show featuring tap dancing (provided by local talent Erin Jones), a rather provocative reading of the ingredients of a cookie by actress Mallory McCall and the fall of Aristotle interestingly portrayed by actors Jenny Ledel and Braden Socia. Additional scenes included actors Ledel and Socia meeting at the bar while being served by the bartender, actor Michael W. Green (a talented writer and director himself who jumped at the chance to work with Bailey on this project).
Bailey was very appreciative of everyone who came out to be a part of the shoot, and looks forward to coming back into town as production continues on King Judith.
Bailey is a childhood friend of local Charles Dunnahoe of Hometown Medical Associates. In talking with Dunnahoe about their friendship and working with Bailey he says it is just something they have always done.
“I was about 8-10 and Richard was about 12 or 13,” Dunnahoe said. “We grew up out in the country where parents would visit and play dominoes and cards while us kids just ran around and made up stuff to do. One day Richard just came up with a story and started assigning us all roles.”
Richard Bailey’s films have shown at Alchemy Moving Image, Anthology Film Archives, AVIFF Cannes, Bare Bones, Berlin Revolution, Black Maria, Blow-Up (Chicago Art House), Dallas VideoFest, KERA (PBS), Proyector International, SENE, SXSW, and many other festivals. He has a film featured in Vol. 36 of the Journal of Short Film, a peer reviewed journal in DVD form. He operates the Dallas-based production company Tropic Pictures. (taken from his IMDB profile, provided by Tropic Pictures).
Bailey’s last full length production, A Ship of Human Skin, premiered at the Dallas VideoFest in February 2019. The film then went on to win top honors from the L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival in India, and the Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards in the UK. Additional recognition has continued to come in from festivals in Madrid, Los Angeles and New York. A Ship of Human Skin is currently available for rent and purchase on Amazon Prime.
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