Let's Make a Movie!
"A young hotshot (and knows it) dancer loses her headliner spot to an elderly showgirl legend and plots to upstage the unlikely rival."
My name is Tonya Kay and I'm the co-writer and director of High Heels, a 15 min dance drama. I'm known for bringing high-concept film and stage projects to life and to audiences. Let me introduce you to the story and team of the film I'm passionately producing next.
High Heels is a bodacious story about mentorship and honoring our elders set against the colorful backdrop of Vaudeville's burlesque, drag and cirque arts.
High Heels is supported by the BC Arts Council and Province of British Columbia! We're seeking additional funds to complete the budget. We're firmly in pre-production with locked shoot dates in Vancouver BC for Jan-Feb 2024. We will release in summer 2024.
Let's make a movie! Join our filmmaking team with a tax-deductible donation to the High Heels production campaign. In return, we offer elegant perks like: Executive Producer credit, Acting Roles, Shadow the Director, Movie Memorabilia and a tax-deductible charitable contribution on your US taxes (see FAQ).
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Meet Our Team
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Tonya Kay, writer / director / producer
Tonya Kay's career started as a professional dancer on Broadway and in blockbusters. Expect to see dynamic physicality, choreographed camera movements and a fascination with bodies glorified in all their gross, hilarious and sensual shapes in Tonya Kay-created and directed works. Mentored by Birds of Prey director, Cathy Yan, Tonya Kay's film directing debut, The Ascension of Ava Delaine (Amazon Prime), was called a "ridiculously difficult" single-take shot entirely on drone and won the AT&T SHAPE Film Awards with notable funding at Warner Bros Studios. Her tv directorial debut premiered on The CW in Ripley's Believe It Or Not! "Curious Christmas" segment, which she also wrote. With an established film/tv acting career, Tonya Kay works quickly and powerfully with actors' unique psychology as seen in her latest directing efforts; thriller Every Digital Ghost, comedy Band, the Admit One series and a library of artistic music videos with contortionist / songwriter, Lyra Star.
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Robert Beaucage, writer / producer
Robert Beaucage is an award-winning writer and producer. Their first narrative feature film, Closer to Death, won awards on the festival circuit and Robert’s second feature, dark fantasy, Spike, premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival where it was chosen as part of their Best of the Fest, won Best Fantasy Feature Film at Shriekfest in Los Angeles and has aired continuously by distributors such as Showtime, NBCUniversal, Starz, Amazon and Vudu. Their third feature, Raze, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically by IFC Films. With the support of Bob Gale and NBCUniversal, Robert wrote and directed short film, Back to the 2015 Future, shot at Courthouse Square on the Universal Studios Backlot with cameos from several of the original Back to the Future cast members. It premiered at Universal CityWalk as part of the Back to the Future 30th Anniversary celebration and has millions of views on YouTube.
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Teddy Yonenaka, producer
Teddy Yonenaka is an IATSE Department Head helping productions from studios like Marvel, Lucas Films, Netflix and Disney go smoothly for the past 31 years. High Heels marks his sixth film project with director, Tonya Kay.
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Jenny Foster, VFX
Jenny Foster is a seasoned visual effects producer with over 20 years of technical knowledge in traditional and digital narrative storytelling from stage to screen. Jenny builds, delegates and ensures timely deliveries and stunning visuals on multi-million dollar productions. Looking to branch out into new horizons such as animation, VR/AI, and medical uses for entertainment technology and storytelling, Jenny is always on the lookout for new challenges. She is passionate about mentoring young creatives and promoting women in visual effects culture, working closely with marketing and outreach departments to provide recruitment to schools and organizations. With an extensive portfolio that includes major studio projects for Marvel, Amazon, WB, and Netflix, Jenny has established herself as a true industry leader.
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Jordan J. Rivera, producer
Jordan is a Canadian/American filmmaker based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Born in Prince George, Jordan eventually relocated to New York for 13 years, until returning to Canada, making Vancouver his residence. Jordan earned a joint degree in Fine Arts and Creative Writing from the University of Northern British Columbia and the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and a diploma with honours in Film Production from the Vancouver Film School. He has worked in the production offices of the Man in the High Castle, Altered Carbon and a number of other television shows.
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Regina René Lines, producer
Regina René Lines is an award-winning, bilingual, Latina producer. Her career in film started in front of the camera as a child actor in a Francis Ford Coppola film and has grown to creating the stories from off-camera as a member of the Producer’s Guild of America (PGA). She recently wrapped production on The Last Horseman, a very ambitious short (8 days/4 locations). Regina’s love of the arts began by training under one of Twyla Tharp’s proteges and she is thrilled to see her passion for movement come full circle as a producer on dance drama, High Heels.
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Rogan Lovse, cinematographer
Rogan Lovse is an aspiring cinematographer with over 8 years of experience on a plethora of IATSE projects in both the lighting and camera departments. Rogan has had the opportunity to learn from a multitude of established cinematographers that have helped to hone his craft. That combined with significant technical knowledge of camera systems, from working as a 1st AC, has led to a budding indie porolio of projects. This year Rogan was accepted into the ASC’s Vision Mentorship Program. Rogan has shot many short films, music videos and other independent projects. Recently, he was awarded Best Cinematography at Vancouver’s 48 hour film competition, Run N Gun. Believing in the mantra that cinematography is about making informed and intentional choices to support a story with images; Rogan is always looking for a new project to exercise and expand his creative skillset.
