Girl Trip (2018) from Black Stare on Vimeo.
Support female driven horror! Girl Trip dropped online TODAY! Watch a crazy fun scary revenge horror about female friendships! Sometimes the scariest things are the people closest to us!
Girl Trip is the pilot ep./ proof of concept for broadcast TV and Premiered Oct. 29th, 2018 on Fun Size Horror, NSI Online Festival (National Film Institute of Canada), and vimeo.
YES for complex female protagonists and congrats to the entire cast and crew! Girl Trip has been nominated for Best Short Film and Best Actress (Catherine Black) at the Nice International Film Festival! Nice IFF happens in the South of France in May 2018.
I had a ton of fun being interviewed about GIRL TRIP by James over at Us vs Film ep. 195. I yap a bunch about my visual inspirations for Girl Trip, loosing our 1st AD while filming, but somehow enjoying the challenges of making and keeping schedules for an action film with special effects and fight sequences while also acting and directing. AND, why I’ll never do that again!!! I share the podcast with Oliver Stone’s SNOWDEN and chime in at 37:17. Check it out and enjoy on itunes ep. 195!
Catherine’s multiple award winning film, De Puta Madre A Love Story, receives a Special Mention at I Filmmaker International Film Festival in Marbella, Spain! Awards on her birthday. So…. you know what to get her.
Official online premiere of De Puta Madre A Love Story
Monday November 16th on nsi-canada.ca
Catherine Black stars in the Supernatural Thriller Mary Loss Of Soul NOW available for streaming on VOD!
I had so much fun with Keegan-Michael-Key, Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham on Playing House! You can catch me playing Giselle Zarkovic in season 2, beginning August 4th, 10/9c on USA network.
Catherine Black takes home the award for Best Lead Actress at the 2014 Madrid International Film Festival!!!
With my family taking up 4 entire rows at The Royal, I’m feeling quite at home on stage! Still reeling from such an incredible premiere and the thriving film community in Toronto.
So beyond honoured that my Big baby, De Puta Madre A Love Story is official selection at 2014 The Madrid International Film Festival, AND that I was nominated for ‘Best Leading Actress In A Short Film, ‘Best Short Film’ and ‘Best Story’! I just found out from my very good friend, Layne Coleman, who’s film, The Shape Of Rex, was also nominated. Layne saw my nominations before I saw the email from Madrid IFF. I love that that was how I found out, and that my very good friend will be with me for this very special event. Can’t wait to see all the other films….in MADRID!
Movie I star in has a few screenings in upcoming film fests. Premiere’s in LA March 18th!
I play Malcolm McDowell’s ex girlfriend, Donna, in the dark comedy Shock Value!
What made my job almost easy as a director and actor on the set of De Puta Madre A Love Story, for starters, was having an amazing cinematographer; “Bradley Stonesifer”. Bradley became an extension of my own mind, while also adding invaluable wisdom and a sharp artistic eye. On top of a detailed shot list created over 3 days with Bradley, we photo-boarded the entire movie on location which became much more illuminating than my story board sketches. I had two staged readings with anonymous audiences and was lucky enough to have extensive rehearsals with my other actor, Pierluca Arancio, over the better part of a year. Some rehearsals were filmed for my reference. I probably taped myself performing the entire movie in one shot at least 10 times over with prerecorded audio of Pierluca’s dialog. I later went over these videos with a fine tooth comb. This all allowed me to not only be so prepared as an actor that it became second nature, but also to be 100% confident, deep in my bones, of what I wanted to see from both myself and Pierluca, as well as from each shot. On the day, we all just did what was planned. The preparation gave me all the freedom I needed on set.
Still photo on the set of my 1st movie as a filmmaker, De Puta Madre A Love Story!! Massive gratitude to my amazing crew, Meher Mount & Meher Baba for the gift of filming on sacred land along with all the love and generosity. Our footage is beyond my wildest dreams. This is happiness. Photo by Jason Paul Bennett
Help us help a Universal spiritual center and make a beautiful film! Consider it a Kharmic donation. Please check out my movie on IndieGoGo
Here I am overlooking the beautiful Ojai Valley on the north, the Pacific Ocean and Channel Islands to southwest, and the Topa Topa Bluffs in the Los Padres National Forest to the northeast at De Puta Madre’s filming location; Meher Mount. Meher Mount is a 173-acre universal spiritual center dedicated to Avatar Meher Baba. I am beyond honored that I have this opportunity and I know our movie will be so much more powerful and go on to touch even more people. I am also grateful that I can help Meher Mount in return, by filming there and bringing awareness to Meher Baba’s message in celebrating Divine Love and Oneness, service, and for loving God through nature.
We woke at 9am in Yellowstone and hit the road Oregon bound. No time for Old Faithful, or Grand Prisma. I heard that jumping off the waterfalls in Fairy Falls is a must. I guess I’ll have to return one day. On the way out we saw Pronghorn, more Bison with their babies and Bull Moose. We suited up in Canon Village Montana with some pretty serious cowboy hats and drove straight until 5:55pm when the geography told us to stop. In Idaho Falls, just outside of Areo, off the Oregon Trail (US 20) was an ocean of lava, known as Craters Of The Moon. It was an ominous pit stop that was beautiful in its silence of life. Like Mother Nature paved over a huge lush garden that was now forever sentenced underground. My pictures don’t do Craters of The Moon any justice. It was stupid windy and tumble weeds were chasing us and sticking to my prized paintings, so I rushed this shoot. My inner Harley homing device directed us right at Idaho Falls Harley Dealership where I was offered a job and scored a classic black HD t-shirt. We settled down in Baker City Oregon late that night with sloppy chicken wings and a local rock band in a strip mall parking lot.
We woke with the world at 9am. I sat listless on a log drinking my coffee with a bird. That bird just starred at me while sitting mere inches away. I felt special, but I think that bird is just so used to people and was probably just hanging around longing for a crumb of my breakfast. There was bison everywhere. They kind of took my breath away. It is so strange to me to be completely engulfed in nature while simultaneously entangled in society. That is Yellowstone in a nutshell. We spent the day in Yellowstones Grand Canyon, known as Lower Falls. Magical and stunning, even with the herds of people everywhere. There was no escaping these families, they were hiding in every nook of those woods. After a 3 hour hike to the falls base we were awarded with a DOUBLE RAINBOW!!! The crowds of people, young and old, that braced the trek down were all ironically freaking out just like the actual Double Rainbow guy. It was a moment of pure and silly consciousness, where we were all apart of the whole. After a vigorous day on no sleep we had a great dinner in the Canon Camps dinning room. This fancy camping is not really for me, it just seems so wrong, and takes all the fun out of the experience, but I must admit, I was grateful for the warmth, comfort and the wine tonight. Crowds of people make me want an expensive dinner. Later that evening we had another manic gorgeous photo shoot with Benevolence 2 in the woods. I was reminded of The Cure song, A Forest. When I look at these photos I feel such eery darkness and isolation. I wanted that. I don’t even remember the screaming children, the classic rock or the hum of conflicting mass conversation in surround sound. In these photos, I feel only the forest.
Finally ate a real breakfast of hash browns, eggs and salsa! I was so deprived of nutrients this made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Guzzled our watery coffee, and hit the road by 10am! I even bought myself a trashy pink Harley t-shirt in Casper. The old Oregon Trail is long and beautiful, even at 70 mph, I just can’t imagine it by foot. My cozy road trip in our VW SUV felt as if we would never make it to Yellowstone, let alone California. Traveling for years on foot and wagon, in a state of perpetual expansion, must have just been the most strikingly helpless buildup of excitement. In some ways, I long for such an experience, to travel through the unknown to the other side. No one in this day of knowing will ever truly know what that is like.
Today was the day. We stopped for so many adventures. Boysen State park is where my next vacation must be. That reservoir was gorgeous. I wanted to just pull over and set up camp forever. Wyoming felt like home. The terrain, the sky, the people, the way the cattle are raised and the fact that there is no cell phone reception in the entire state. I fell madly in love with Wyoming. Before ever setting foot on American soil, as a child, my first love was of “Americana”. I dreamed of the smell of Wyoming, of cowboys, open range, endless sunsets, freedom and motorcycles, and here it was. Had a mad feet dip dash in “The Worlds Largest Mineral Hot Spring”. My feet were vibrating for the next 48 hours. Our second meal that day was in Thermopolis – Whiskey, Steak, rainbow trout and vegetables! First vegetables since Canada, best steak of my life AND I managed to have it all without a trace of cheese thrown on top. You know you are headed towards civilization when there is no cheese on top of everything, vegetables and good coffee. Stopped again in Cody, the birth place of Jackson Pollock; a cool bustling town, and bought camping gear. We rolled into Yellowstone just after 1am, saw 2 otter, and 3 deer before setting up our fancy complicated tent. Freezing, absolutely terrible sleep by 4am.
Hit the road at 11:11 am and scored breakfast in Rockwell City. Everyone was so nice here compared to Fort Dodge. We drove like banshees on the two lane road and didn’t see a single car. This was the longest part of the drive because the geography, essentially, wouldn’t change and there was nothing to stop for and run around and enjoy. We ate hummus in the car and just drove. Peaceful magic hour photo op/yoga break in Cherry County Johnston Nebraska with hay stacks, giant sunflowers and billions of dragon flies. Two cowgirls came down to see what all the fuss was about. They were sweet as pie as we photographed Red Dance on their land. Finally settled in Chardron NE, late that night in the most striking 1800’s throw back saloon. Played board games and drank whiskey in the Old Main St. Inn where General Nelson Miles stayed right after his men massacred the Sioux Indians. I couldn’t sleep knowing there was blood on the floor, or maybe it was just the authentic lumpy beds that were surely from the 1800’s.
What I did not know that morning I took off from Fergus to LA, was that my inner world would never be the same again. Everything that had been in the shadows would come into the light and there could be no more hiding. I don’t know if it was because I pushed myself to drive 12 to 14 hours a day. I don’t know if was the desolate roads to seemingly nowhere and the sheer vastness of the geography that expanded my mind. Or was it the cold hard reality that I would never go home again. Maybe it was simply the stars. Whatever it was, this was the beginning of a new life.
Lost a day in Chicago. One Province and 5 states later I brush my teeth at 70 miles per hour to save time. Finally abandoning the Inner State for the Old Oregon Trail- US 20 West! Just like the original settlers of the West. So beautiful. I am so happy, so free, in love and excited. With my fresh Canadian Maple Syrup my aunt Nancy gave me at my side. Magic Hour opp somewhere between Stockton township and Woodbine township IL. I want to walk through this wood gate and follow the path to the setting sun.
We stopped driving around 2 am in the only hotel open in Fort Dodge Iowa, 6 states later. Slept soundly in the dirty honeymoon suite, in a King size bed, conveniently situated right beside a jacuzzi.
Mad Magic Hour photo opp, I was so sure I was going to miss. As my bare feet were sinking in the mud, this pic looks exactly how it felt – Free –
Researching for the role has got to be my favorite task of acting. Of course I love to perform, but I really couldn’t have one without the other. However much time I am given, I will take it, and I will do nothing but indulge from the moment I am set loose. This is where it get’s into my blood, into my bones and becomes intimate. There is a waking up in the middle of the night obsessive kind of thing, where characters become apart of me. For the role of Ann, I had about 2 months to prepare. I read everything I could on The Donner Party, and that time period in America. I even traced Ann’s genealogy back to England. I was obsessed. When I’m done with a role it is impossible to say how long she will linger with me. Sometime, I couldn’t get away fast enough, and sometimes, she never leaves. Part of my letting go of Ann involved having my own Westward Expansion.
My journey began at my 6th generation family farm in Fergus Ontario Canada. After a hot humid night on the front porch, we woke at 6am to fresh farm eggs, fruit and coffee made by my aunt Nancy, took a tour of the old barn before it gets torn down and the giant silo’s full of spelt, snapped a few photo’s and headed for the border!
At the border I got the same immigration officer that gave me a hard time 4 years ago. With 2 suitcases and a cat for my 1st pilot season, he cut my trip in half, and said “I’ll be watching you” as I walked away. It was nice to see him again green card in hand! We then drove 4 states and I called my 3 year old niece Emma. She cracked my heart wide open screaming “WHERE ARE YOU?!!” “WHERE ARE YOU!!??!!” I LOOOOOVE YOU!!!!”
Here is Benevolence 3 and Red Dance at the beginning of their tour from Canada to LA, across the old Oregon trail and down the coast to California.
