Kick Me

Local filmmaker takes on first feature.

Named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “New Faces of Independent Film” in 2006, Gary Huggins is a Kansas City based filmmaker whose short films have screened at Sundance, SXSW, Clermont-Ferrand and dozens of festivals worldwide. Now he is branching into feature films. “I really have to limit myself when I write and direct shorts. It’s about concise filmmaking. I am hoping the feature film allows me more license to develop more,” he says. Huggins has three short films under this belt.

KICK ME auditions were in late February and filming should begin in late May and run into early June. Producer Leone Reeves says they need the summer evenings to film in. She is also handling the Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the movie. Reeves has produced performance art, but not a movie. Her goal is to learn how the process works.

KICK ME will star Huggins’ inspiration Santiago Vasquez. The Kansas City, Kan. police officer who will take a turn as a counselor terrorized by a student. “Santiago is the sort of person who seems like he should have burst out of a comic strip.” Vasquez met Huggins while working undercover. He has starred in Huggins’ shorts, portraying a sexual deviant.

Huggins says he likes Kansas City and the unique landscapes he can find around the metropolitan area. “I couldn’t see making a film elsewhere. We have the places and the people. We used to be a movie town and I would like to see folks pay attention to Kansas City again.”

Huggins says he hopes to have KICK ME ready for festivals, but he also hopes the end result will be distribution for the film. “I just want as many eyes as possible to see what we create here.” l