Interview: Gemma and Vegas Nacy Discussing The Full Moon Fathers Premier October 16th at Malta Drive-In -By: Rob Smittix

VN: Rob, How are you?

RRX: Things are good, I’m riding high, how about you?

VN: Yeah, things are good over here.

RRX: Excellent and today we will be talking with you (Vegas) and your daughter Gemma, who is also in the film. Hi, Gemma!

GN: Hi.

RRX: My name is Rob and I’ll be your interviewer today. How are you?

GN: Good.

RRX: Good. So is this the first movie that you’ve ever been in?

GN: Yeah.

RRX: Wow. That’s pretty cool, huh?

GN: I’ve been wanting to be a movie actor for a very long time.

RRX: How old are you?

GN: Ten.

RRX: Ten years old and for a very long time you’ve wanted to act. Is this the type of movie that you wanted to be in?

GN: Yes, I love horror movies.

RRX: Ah nice. Your Dad is really cool so I figured he’d let you watch horror movies. That’s pretty cool you must be really excited.

GN: Mm Hmm

RRX: Sunday you are going to go to a drive-in movie theatre and your face is going to be up on the big screen. Right?

GN: (Pauses) Oh God!

RRX: That’s cool though, that’s pretty neat. I mean the screen is big, so you are going to be probably ten feet tall.

VN: That’s right. She loves going to the drive-ins anyway.

RRX: Oh the drive-ins are great and we’re fortunate that we actually have quite a few to choose from around here because there’s not many left in the world. Full Moon Fathers premiers Sunday October 16th 5-10pm at the Malta Drive-In. What are people to expect?

VN: Actually, I believe there will be a full pig -roast going on. The School of Rock Band will be playing before the movie and there’s a short-film playing before our movie “Holiday Spirit” by Bailey Victoria.

RRX: That’s cool, so it’s not just your movie, you’re having an event.

VN: It’s an event, yeah. I think Fuzz from That Fuzzing Rock Show is doing a live podcast.

RRX: Fuzz is a cool dude.

VN: Yeah, he’s a really cool guy. He’s a great supporter and the Malta Drive-In is very accommodating, it’s great.

RRX: I know this is Gemma’s first film have you ever been in a film before?

VN: I’ve never been in a film you know? Just like you, videos and things like that.

GN: Dad, you were in a movie!

VN: No, I was in another show after we filmed Full Moon Fathers. I did another piece for a show called Pokerface which comes out on Peacock.

RRX: Nice, so that’s an NBC thing.

VN: Yup! That was great, that was the real deal.

RRX: I can imagine. How did you get into it? Was it something you always wanted to do? Did it just stumble upon you?

VN: It’s definitely something that I always wanted to do but never pursued  it. The director of Full Moon Fathers (Sean Cranston) shot a video for one of my bands Selfish Needy Creatures in the past.

RRX: Oh yeah, I love that band!

VN: Thanks man.

RRX: It’s been a while, I remember when Karl was in the band.

VN: Wow, yes, you remember the band. Yeah, yeah yeah.

RRX: I do.

VN: So he shot a video and then he said, “you know I’d love to have you in a movie.” I said “yeah let me know.” So he called me during Covid and said “I don’t know how we’re going to shoot this thing or when we’re going to do it because of Covid but I have a role that I think is perfect for you.” So we did it! We shot it during Covid and kept our distance the best we could. Everyone got tested and stuff like that. We we’re close to beginning the shoot and he calls me and says “I need like a real burly looking guy.” I thought of Jim Wertman, I said I’ve got your guy don’t worry.

RRX: Here’s what I noticed too, Full Moon Fathers has like an all-star local cast. I mean you’ve got former Albany mayoral candidate Jesse Calhoun. And local news sensation Jerry Gretzinger is in it too!

VN: Yeah, Jerry plays an agent.

RRX: I can definitely see him being an agent. I wasn’t sure where he fell into this cast and that seems like a perfect role.

VN: He played the part well, he really did. Most of the cast have done other movies with Sean before. It’s not high budget, there is CGI, I guess. But it was really fun and for me it really opened my eyes to wanting to do more of this. Halfway through filming I realized that I wish I would have had the screenplay and the script further in advance. But… as the movie went on I learned my character very well and developed as we were going.

RRX: Sean Cranston wrote and directed Full Moon Fathers. As a first time actor I imagine having a good director on set probably makes all of the difference in the world.

VN: He definitely was. He made everyone feel comfortable, you know? A lot of people say “Oh, yeah I want to do this” and then they yell action and people clam up. He was really good.

RRX: Well, I know when he needed a burly man for the film, you brought him Jim Wertman so if he ever needs a short Irish guy, please send Sean my name.

VN: (Laughs) Listen I bet you I could find you a part or he could find you a part no problem. It’s a ton of fun, it really is. And having it come out at the drive-in October with friends is amazing. For a while I was like I hope it’s good, I hope the acting is good but it is what it is, we’re not make a big budget film. It’s almost set up like a concert.

RRX: I mean, it is a concert because you’ve got the School of Rock kids playing.

VN: Going back to when we touched on people clamming up in front of the camera… This is a testament to how Gemma really wants to take this seriously. She was amazing, when they shot her scene the whole crew stopped and cheered and applauded. She really gave them the creeps, it was awesome.

RRX: Wow, that must’ve felt really good Gemma, huh?

GN: Yup.

RRX: That’s your first performance but from now on you’ve already had a part in a movie. That builds what they call your resume or portfolio, so this is a great start. Who knows? You could be one of the biggest actresses that Hollywood has ever had, sooner than we know it!

VN: What do you think of that?

GN: Yay!

VN: Sean made all of us our own IMDB pages.

RRX: That’s when it’s official. Well Vegas it’s been a pleasure as always and Gemma I appreciate it and I’m going to be bragging to people one day that I had the absolute pleasure of being the first person that ever interviewed you.

VN: What do you say?

GN: Bye.

VN: No. What do you say?

GN: Thank you and bye.

RRX: (Laughs) You’re welcome and bye.

The Full Moon Fathers will be this Sunday October 16th 5-10pm at The Malta Drive in for more information click HERE. General Admission is $10/advance & $12/night of show. This event is rain or shine.