Kevin Gillese’s New Film Highlights Actors With Special Needs And Brings Attention To Some Of The Issues They Face
“How to Ruin the Holidays” stars actors Colin Mochrie, Amber Nash, and Luke Davis.
Kevin Gillese
Kevin Gillese stepped down as artistic director of Dad’s Garage Theatre Company at the end of 2019. Since that time, he’s been involved with producing a film comedy featuring adult actors with special needs. Famous comedic actors like Amber Nash and Colin Mochrie share the screen with local actor and Special Olympics competitor Luke Davis. The feature-length film is called “How to Ruin the Holidays.” Davis and Gillese joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to talk about the premise.
The film revolves around a character with a developmental disability, played by Davis, who has to deal with some big real-world issues. Topics such as being treated like an adult, taking care of themselves after their parents pass away, employment, and sexuality are all discussed in this film. “If you want to tackle really weighty issues, then in my opinion it’s always best if you can do that with a lot of laughter and joy mixed in as well,” said Gillese.
“I would say the character is pretty much just like me and my own personality, except for the drinking and smoking and doing drugs. [laughs] He’s just a loving person and very affectionate and just wants to enjoy life and have fun, as well as be able to be with his friends and family,” said Davis. “He has a strong relationship with his sister, as well as his dad.”
This project was very close to Gillese’s heart because his younger brother also has a developmental disability. “I’ve had a lot of exposure to that community and I have a soft spot because I have such a personal connection,” said Gillese.
He continued, “Just like any group of people, there’s a spectrum of personalities and yet for some reason when we go into the world of film and TV, we just get one personality. It’s kind of the very loving, very sweet, couldn’t hurt a fly … and of course, that type of personality is out there, but it’s not really reflective of the breath of personality type. So that’s why in ours, we have a character who curses. He drinks! You know, it’s some of these behaviors you’re not used to seeing, but from my experience in life, that’s real.”
Gillese also wrote a short film in 2017, starring Davis, called “That Was Awesome.”
They are seeking $100,000 in crowdfunding in order to produce the film. The Kickstarter campaign for this project will run from April 20-May 20. If all goes well, they are hoping to begin shooting this winter.
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