< Back | Home

Promotional photo of Kirkendall in his moviemaking element.

Shot from "The Edge of Reality," Ron Rausch as Game Warden Hitchcock

Saint Rose alum: Independent moviemaker

Alumnus, filmmaker to screen projects at Madison Theater

By: Kyle Griffin

Posted: 10/31/07

The Communications Department at The College of Saint Rose has churned out many students attempting a variety of careers. But few can put independent filmmaker on their resume.

Alumnus Jeff Kirkendall can. An independent filmmaker and actor, he began making movies back in 1996. His first production was a horror feature entitled "Terror Of The Master" and was shot right after he graduated from the college. The vampire movie's script was an expansion of one he'd written for a Film Arts class.

Kirkendall also took a few courses in television production during his time at Saint Rose. Learning about script writing, video production and editing and using those techniques for class projects helped spark an interest in making independent movies.

Other factors converged to further propel his interest. In the mid 1990s Kirkendall became interested in acting. He'd taken several courses from local private schools, including some as electives at Saint Rose. He took his experience from the classroom and then tested it out.

"I auditioned for some independent films being produced in the area and landed a couple roles, which allowed me to see first hand how scenes were filmed," Kirkendall said. "These experiences, coupled with my own production work in the Saint Rose classes, helped form the foundation for my filmmaking endeavors."

"Terror Of The Master" served as a crash course for Kirkendall and soon he followed up with three more short horror films. He's now credited for having a hand in more than ten productions. Over the years Kirkendall has discovered several pointers that have helped in his moviemaking.

One of those steps is that he now writes down all ideas as soon as he gets them. The fleeting thoughts are important to capture while they're still fresh in his head. Often Kirkendall says he'll get an idea for a scenario, a scene or a character, but he won't yet know how that idea will fit into the larger story. But if it turns out to be a valuable thought, Kirkendall knows he can build off of it; he can put an entire story together based on a key scene or character development.

"I'll also sometimes get an idea for an ending to a story and then build backwards from it to produce a full script," Kirkendall said.

Others who've known Kirkendall since his time at Saint Rose have seen him evolve as much as he has.

"Jeff was always interested in the horror film," said Mary Alice Molgard, Professor of Communications at Saint Rose. "He knew lots more than I did about the genre."

Molgard remembers him experimenting with many ideas during his time at the college, having creative approaches to telling stories in scripts. She also remembers his work being much more campy than gruesome. Molgard felt that Kirkendall was trying to parody the genre. She knew that Kirkendall never wanted to "gross people out" for the sake of doing so in his work because his storytelling was more important to him.

Molgard never doubted that making films was what Kirkendall wanted to do and feels that the department is pleased with his success.

"I consider him to be a significant figure in the horror genre, on the regional basis at least, and probably on the national level too," Molgard said.

"He has been extremely supportive of the Communications department through his participation in Culture TV and the alumni reunion program," said Gary Mc Louth, Professor of Communications at The College of Saint Rose. "He's very enthusiastic and determined in his filmmaking activities. I like his attitude about creativity and artists -- nothing elitist or whiney about him."

Kirkendall is about to make another impact on the horror scene with the showing of two films at The Madison Theater near the Saint Rose campus. One of those is "The Edge of Reality." It features Kirkendall as an actor, as well as an Associate Producer and Editor. Produced in Upstate New York, it's been compared to classics such as The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery television series.

It received many positive accolades from reviewers.

"The Edge of Reality gives us just what we've been lacking since they quit making the Twilight Zone episodes," said a reviewer under the pseudonym Spellcaster from Unspeakable Magazine.

The other film is "Of Theatre and Bikinis." This is the first production for Kirkendall not in the horror/suspense genre. Instead it's a lighthearted comedy about a college girl with acting aspirations and the crazy situation her and her best friend get involved in while trying to make her dream a reality.

The screenings are the second time Kirkendall has worked with The Madison. He likes the theater because it's an "independent, historic movie house." He feels he's supporting the theater at the same time as it's supporting his work. He also enjoys showing his films to audiences.

"For me, sitting with an audience during a screening of a movie I produced, directed or acted in is a great reward," Kirkendall said.

After these screenings Kirkendall will focus on DVD releases of some of his films. He's already begun some of the work. He plans on having the DVDs include several extras such as movie trailers, still photos, commentaries, and deleted scenes.

Kirkendall's also aiming to begin a new film in 2008. There are a few ideas in contention for production; one is a feature-length horror film he's written, and another is a follow-up from one of his previous short films. A friend and fellow filmmaker also has a project he plans to help bring to life.

Kirkendall's interests aren't dying anytime soon. His list of projects is constantly growing and developing, and it seems he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Moviemaking can be a wonderfully rewarding experience," Kirkendall said. "I plan to continue making both short and feature-length independent digital movies for a long time."

© Copyright 2007 The Saint Rose Chronicle