By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The feature debut of Destry Allyn Spielberg (an award-winning short filmmaker and yes, Steven’s daughter) is headed for a prestigious debut of its own.
PLEASE DON’T FEED THE CHILDREN, scripted by Paul Bertino, will have its world premiere Friday, October 11 at the Sitges International Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with cast and crew. It stars Michelle Dockery (DOWNTON ABBEY), Giancarlo Esposito (MAXXXINE), Zoe Colletti, Dean Scott Vazquez, Vernon Davis, Emma Meisel, Andrew Liner, Reagan Aliyah and Joshuah Melnick. The synopsis: “A gang of orphans travels to the south in quest of a new life after a viral outbreak decimates the adult population of the nation, only to find themselves at the mercy of a psychotic woman who is hiding a perilous secret.”
“I am beyond thrilled to be premiering PLEASE DON’T FEED THE CHILDREN at the 57th annual Sitges International Film Festival,” Spielberg says. “It’s an incredible honor to showcase our film alongside such visionary works. This movie was everything I needed to officially step into directing feature-length films. It came with all the exciting challenges that made me a stronger filmmaker and collaborator. We shot this in 18 days and I am so proud of the entire cast and crew for coming together and proving that anything is possible. I couldn’t be more excited to share this experience with the world.”
“It’s such an honor and a privilege to premiere at Sitges not only because it is the longest-running genre film festival in the world, but because it is all about the audience, and that’s what drives cinema,” says Perry Street Films’ Jason Dubin, who produced CHILDREN with Josh Kesselman, Michael Hagerty, Bill Kenwright and Daniel Ryniker. Executive producers Kim Cleworth and Atty Cleworth of Fieldhouse Productions add, “When the project was first brought to us, certainly Destry’s last name got our attention. Having said that, we could never get behind the project unless raw talent and a compelling film came attached with it. Destry and PLEASE DON’T FEED THE CHILDREN deliver on both accounts.”
