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Massachusetts-based independent filmmaker Jennifer Potts announces the cast for her short film, The Extraordinary World of Cecily Blinkstop, scheduled to film in Central Massachusetts in July 2017. Jennifer is not only filming in New England, but she has hired a cast that is entirely from the New England region.

Playing the lead role of Cecily Blinkstop is eight-year-old Colbi Gannett of Waterboro, Maine. Colbi has been acting since she was four years old and is best known for her role in HBO’s Olive Kitteridge, alongside Academy Award-winning actress Frances McDormand. Her brother, six-year old Emmett Gannett, also from Waterboro, Maine, will play the role of Cecily’s younger brother, Barney. Six-year-old Molly McCarthy of South Easton, Mass., will make her film debut in the role of Amanda Jane, Cecily’s magical friend, and Patricia Fitzgerald,  a 13-year-old actress from South Yarmouth, Mass., will play the role of Cecily’s older sister, Kim.

The adult roles include Ava Gaudet of Providence, R.I., will play the role of Helen Blinkstop, Cecily’s mother. Ava played the role of Maureen in both the National Tour and Broadway companies of RENT and had a memorable recurring role on the ABC series Ugly Betty as the scheming neighbor, Gina Gambarro. Other TV credits include NCIS, Private Practice, Franklin & Bash, The Exes, Mike & Molly, and Love Bites. Will Bouvier of Shirley, Mass., will play the role of Kevin Blinkstop, Cecily’s father. Will is best known for his role in Black Rock (Katie Aselton/Mark Duplass) and can be seen in Kathryn Bigelow’s upcoming film, Untitled Detroit Project, which is currently in post-production. Will also had lead roles in Potts’ previous two short films, Home and Charlie & Poppy .

Jennifer Potts wrote the feature film The Extraordinary World of Cecily Blinkstop in 2014 and won the Grand Prize in the New England Spotlight category for the 2016 Rhode Island International Film Festival. Set in 1974 rural New England, this enchanting story moves through the days of Cecily, a seven-year-old girl who, after the death of her baby sister, lives in a world with no music, no color, no laughter, no love—that is, until a magical imaginary friend shows up and joins Cecily on the quest to save her family from the grief that is destroying them. Based on the first 15 pages of the feature film script, this short film will be produced as a proof of concept for the feature film. In addition to enlisting at least 80 percent of her cast and crew from the New England region, Potts is also committed to building a crew with at least 50 percent women.

Find The Extraordinary World of Cecily Blinkstop at www.cecilyblinkstop.com, Facebook page: Cecilyblinkstop, and Twitter handle @cecilyblinkstop.

About Jennifer Potts: Potts is a Massachusetts-based screenwriter and film director. She is living proof that life does not need to slow down when you get to the middle. After graduating from Drew University in 1992 with a BA in Theatre Arts, she co-founded and ran Cornerstone Performing Arts Center in Fitchburg, Mass., where she oversaw a small non-equity theatre company and directed multiple productions every year. In 2012, at age 41, Potts returned to school to study film/video production at Fitchburg State University, where she wrote and directed two short films and was awarded 2014 Film Student of the Year. In July 2016, Potts received an MFA in Writing for the Stage and Screen from New Hampshire Institute of Art. Potts’ most recent short film Charlie & Poppy was selected to screen at fifteen film festivals around the world and won two “best of” awards. Potts resides in Fitchburg, Mass., with her husband of 27 years and has five grown children.  www.jenniferpotts.com