Fort Nelson local initiates casting call for horror-themed film project

FORT NELSON, B.C. — A Fort Nelson local is looking to give residents a scare courtesy of their upcoming horror short-film project.

Katelyn Vandersteen is the head organizer of the yet-to-be-titled project and will be holding open auditions for roles in the film on Thursday, June 11th, at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum.

Vendersteen is also the head of the Fort Nelson Phoenix Players, an informal acting troupe she has been trying to revive in the town for “a couple of years.”

Unique in its approach, the entire film – estimated to be around a half-hour in length – will be of the slasher genre, with former employees of the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum having a reunion, complete with a killer in their midst.

Vandersteen says she has written the script and will be in the director’s chair for shooting. The entire process, including editing, filming and acting, will feature locals from Fort Nelson.

The inspiration for the project came when Vandersteen was a university student working at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum.

“One of my co-workers and I started writing a horror story,” Vandersteen explained. “[It was] a fictional story taking place in the museum that never got finished. Then a couple of years ago,  I found that story, and I remember thinking: ‘this would be a cool thing to shoot at the museum.’”

Vandersteen said that, given she would like to cast the seven characters in the script and its horror theme, shooting in October was not an option. 

“I always thought about it in October,” said Vandertsteen. “[Because of Halloween] there’s not enough time to film.  This year, when I thought of it, I [thought] if I start working on this early on, it can actually happen.”

The casting call for Vandersteen’s film will take place on Thursday, June 11th, at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum on 5553 Alaska Highway in Fort Nelson, starting at 6 p.m. 

Vandersteen said after roles are cast, shooting will begin in July. Further details about the film can be found by emailing Vandersteen at katelyn.vandersteen@alumni.unbc.ca.