Like HAZARDOUS before it, DAMN HANDY is a horror short created by a mix of industry professionals, local enthusiasts, and talented High School Students in key creative positions. For producer Alec Asten, actor\producer Roger Clark, producer/dp/editor Douglas Lively and writer\director Peter Filardi, these short films are a chance to share the cinema we love with creative young people in our community. We’re a Connecticut-based group, intent on teaching by doing and helping young people around us reach their movie dreams. 

By contributing to DAMN HANDY, you’re helping talented young people like special effects makeup artist GIANNA, a High School senior, make the transition from Instagram to film. You help costume designers LEXI and CASSIE, a High School Senior and Sophomore, learn the demands of their craft among working professionals. And you help composer DAVID, a junior at Berklee College of Music, writing a film score.

None of the money you contribute goes to actor\producer Roger Clark or writer\director Peter Filardi. Because filmmaking is expensive and crew is constantly asked to work for free, 100% of your contribution will be funneled to the crew on our projects. It’s the only way to surround our mentees with top quality professionals they can learn from.

We ask you to join us on our next movie venture and share in the fun and many challenges of independent filmmaking. Your donation gives you a backstage pass to the making of a horror short. You’ll get interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and special souvenir merchandise for your support. Every gift is greatly appreciated and helps us continue our mission to teach and inspire young people in the love of short filmmaking.

THE STORY

In DAMN HANDY, plumber Roger's routine call to Marge's rural farmhouse spirals into a nightmarish enigma filled with secrets, madness, and unseen horrors. Caught between reality and delusion, Roger must navigate a terrifying labyrinth where characters like the enigmatic Marge add layers to the mystery. The film explores themes of fear, the fragility of sanity, and the discovery of hidden truths, pulling both Roger and the audience into a disorienting and suspenseful experience. This dark and elusive tale promises a chilling journey through the human psyche and the shadows that lie just beneath the surface of everyday life.

DEVELOPMENT

Our core belief is to educate as well as tell good cinematic stories. Damn Handy will be our second horror/comedy short and will push the model further. More aspiring young filmmakers have been added to the team and will work with department keys throughout production and post production. Like Hazardous before it, Damn Handy hopes to teach and inspire young filmmakers. We know from experience that working in cinema is a dream within reach. 

CAST

ROGER played by Roger Clark

Roger Clark is an Irish-American actor and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Arthur Morgan in the 2018 video game Red Dead Redemption 2. He attended University of Glamorgan in Cardiff, Wales and achieved a BA in Theatre, Media and Drama. His professional acting debut was in 2000 with the Wales Actor's company and their production of 'Juno and the Paycock'. Most of his resume lies in theatre, voice over, television, and motion capture. He has performed in a total of 45 countries and now lives and works in New York.

MARGE played by Kaili Vernoff

Kaili Vernoff has worked with some of today’s most respected directors and playwrights; including Todd Haynes, Woody Allen, Cory Finley, Bart Freundlich, Amy Heckerling and Ed Burns. Recent film and television credits include the upcoming Day of the Fight (Venice Film Festival) her recurring role as Counselor Pamela Albert on Law & Order: SVU (NBC) The Enemy Within (NBC), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), House of Cards (Netflix), Materna (Tribeca Film Festival), Thoroughbreds (Sundance), Hulu’s The Path, Cafe Society, Crisis in Six Scenes (Amazon), Ratter (Slamdance), and The Affair (Showtime). In theater she has originated roles in new plays by Juliana Francis-Kelly (Abrons Arts Center) Toni Press-Coffman (Humana Festival), Denis Johnson (Vineyard Theater), Warren Leight (Alice’s Fourth Floor), DP Kelly (HERE) and had the great honor of collaborating directly with Arthur Miller for his play, Mr Peters’ Connections (Guthrie Theater). Kaili is perhaps best known these days for her portrayal of the fiery Susan Grimshaw in the video game smash Red Dead Redemption 2. She lives in NYC with her favorite people; Scott and Lucy.

DIRECTOR

Peter Filardi

Writer/director Peter Filardi is best known as the screenwriter behind Flatliners, The Craft, Ricky 6, TNT’s Salem’s Lot, and an episode for Nightmares and Dreamscapes.  Most recently Filardi has worked as writer\showrunner of the Epix limited series Chapelwaite starring Adrien Brody and Emily Hampshire.  Peter and actor\producer Roger Clark made their first short film Hazardous together after meeting in a Connecticut dog park during COVID. The horror\comedy was accepted into numerous festivals across the US and has won several awards.

LOCATIONS

We will be filming Damn Handy around Mystic CT, Guilford CT, and Westerly RI.