Nanaimo will forever be part of Casey Walker’s story about how he began his career in the film industry.
The television and feature film director owned a landscaping and construction company in Nanaimo, having moved out from Thunder Bay, Ont., two years previous to start the company with two friends.
Film was always an interest, and he took drama classes in high school and university.
But it was during a night out with friends that an inebriated Walker declared he would pursue film as a career.
The next morning when he woke up, he choose to stick with it.
“It was just always there,” Walker said.
After film school in Ontario, he worked in television, directing children’s shows, including Zoboomafoo. In 2007, he filmed his first short film.
“I did that to show people I could do a film,” he said.
Walker’s first full-length feature film A Little Bit Zombie hits the big screen at Nanaimo’s Avalon Cinema May 18.
In the film, the mild-mannered groom is bitten by an infected mosquito while away for the weekend in the woods, where he, his fiancée, the best man and the maid of honour were planning the wedding. As he comes to terms with his zombie situation, he dodges a zombie hunter, played by Stephen McHattie, known for roles in The Watchmen and A History of Violence.
The independent film, shot in Sudbury, Ont., is currently on the film festival circuit, winning Best Feature Film at the Canadian Film Festival and the Best Dark Comedy award from the Houston International Film Festival.
Although Walker said he had a good feeling about the film’s success after running into George Romero, director of Night of the Living Dead and credited with creating the zombie/horror genre, in an airport.
Finally declaring the movie finished after days of editing, Walker was on his way to his brother’s wedding when he saw Romero. He calmly waited until they were all through security before approaching the director, who agreed to have a coffee with Walker.
Now that the film is out, Walker’s immediate goal is to take some vacation time before finding the next project.
“We’re a really small team and this was not a small film,” Walker said. “We’re on the right path.”
Please visit www.alittlebitzombie.com.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com