Barking up the Right Tree
Erich Perez Brings Short Films to the Effingham Area

Story by Stephen Prudhomme

Photography by Erich Perez

Erich Perez describes himself as a creative individual with varied career pursuits and interests. These include photography and owning a dental practice with his wife in Rincon. The 41-year-old Pooler resident is sinking his teeth into another creative venture, one that has plenty of bark and bite and could shine the spotlight on Effingham County as an up and coming player in the movie industry.

Perez and his wife own iHeart Dental in Rincon. He’s a lab technician who does the prosthetics for the practice. To help promote the business, Perez helped with commercials and received positive feedback. He started doing his own commercials and opened Kronos Media Productions in 2019, followed by a studio in 2021. That eventually led to short films, which have received positive reviews at various film festivals.

His latest, “BARK,” is following a similar path. It’s a dark comedy written and directed by Steven Lai and Leonard Giovenazzo and featuring an impressive lineup of veteran and rising Hollywood actors and actresses.

Ted Ricker and Chris Kleinmann, producers of the movie who work at Kronos Media Productions, set up a meeting between Lai and Perez that ultimately led to their collaboration on “BARK.”

The story revolves around an Asian-American girl, Bella, and her white boyfriend, Roger. On the way to meeting Roger’s parents for the first time, Bella hits a dog at night with her car. She finds the badly injured animal bloody and whimpering and hits it with a rock to put it out of its misery. Understandably upset over the incident, Bella arrives at Roger’s home and finds the parents to be “super weird,” according to first assistant director and SCAD student Sam Prim.

While looking through some family photos, Bella spots a picture of the dog she hit and ultimately killed. She’s about to tell the family what happened when her boyfriend proposes to her. She accepts the proposal. To be continued - hopefully.

The Actors

Eric Roberts plays Roger’s father, Albert. The veteran actor has over 700 film and TV credits during his long career. His movies include “The Dark Knight,” “The Expendables,” “National Security,” and “The Specialist.”

As Albert, he’s the classic dad and retired professor with a dry sense of humor who gets along with everyone and thinks he’s the best chef in the world, according to Prim.

Karen Culp has the role of Roger’s mother, Evelyn. A veteran actress of stage and screen, she’s starred in TV in “Blue Bloods,” “30 Rock,” House of Cards,” and “Law & Order.”

Evelyn is very protective of her son, Prim said, and almost has a rivalry with Bella.

One of the most unique aspects of working of working on “BARK,” Culp said, was having an executive producer as hands-on as Perez.

“From airport pickups to coffee runs, he went above and beyond to make everyone feel valued,” Culp said. “His dedication made a real difference to the on-set rapport.”

Culp noted the other actors were not only incredibly talented but also a joy to work with. Their energy and humor, she added, made those overnight shoots fly by.

Making the experience even more enjoyable for Culp was the opportunity to film the movie in Savannah. “Savannah is an incredible city,” Culp said. “It was such a privilege to work there. We were lucky to film in so many beautiful, unique spots around the city, which richly enhanced the experience.”

Culp said she’s played upscale, entitled women before but not in a horror/comedy.

“It’s an interesting genre because it allows for uncertainty of character in order to keep the audience guessing as to whether the character is really sinister, so to speak, or just misguided,” Culp said. “But at times that also kept me guessing!

For instance, how much does Evelyn really know about what’s going on?”

Culp added that Steven, the director, would often see her processing it and would call out “Just make a choice.” She said he was very patient and it turned out that working that way was a lot of fun. “Now I’m hoping to work on more horror films,” Culp said.

Brianne Tju plays Bella. Her credits include Amazon’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “47 Meters Down, and Scream.” She’s also in “Uglies,” an upcoming Netflix movie.

Bella, in shock over hitting the dog, is hesitant to meet Roger’s parents and is super on edge, Prim noted.

Rounding out the quartet of thespians is Kiser Shelton, cast in the role of Roger. He’s starred in “Strangers in The Night,” and “Our Own Creation.”

Prim described his character as super sheltered and the goofiest boy you’ve met.

Prim said Lai and Giovenazzo did a great job of handling the actors on the set and allowed them to express their talents and embody their characters. He added the cinematography is beautiful, with Savannah’s iconic Spanish moss visible throughout the movie.

Proof of Concept

The 10-minute film, known as a proof of concept and designed to attract investors, was filmed in Savannah in August over three and a half days. Filming was done from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m., with two nights at a reportedly haunted home at 432 Abercorn St., and one night at Bethesda Academy.

“It went smoothly,” said Perez, who is funding the film. “SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) provided interns. I have a 42-person crew with skills. We had four stars and a dog. All the actors and actresses love Savannah and can’t wait to come back.”

The dogs, Bullet and Diesel, were handled by Kirk Brennaman, of Down and Dirty Dog Training in Effingham County. Bullet is an all Black German Shepherd, while Diesel is an all Black Rottie/Golden Retriever mix. “They were great,” Perez said. “Working with animals can be challenging,” Perez said.

Perez submitted the film to a the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, which will announce selected films Dec. 4.

“To get into Sundance is huge,” said Perez, who also submitted his film to the Atlanta Film Festival. “The 10-minute film is a hook. I want to get someone to invest in it and make it a full feature. We hope to get full funding on it and bring it back to Savannah for production.”

Kleinmann described the venture as great. “It’ll bring more attention to Savannah as a film area,” he said. “There’s been a lot of interest in it. We hope someone will invest in it as a full length movie, with the understanding we’re making it in Savannah.”

Ricker worked in the movie industry in Los Angeles before coming to Savannah and said the local crew is just as competent as the ones in Los Angeles. Through his Hollywood connections, he’s urging movie people to come to Savannah to take advantage of its great tax incentive program and work with Perez. Noted Ricker: “Eric respects the artists’ vision.”

Future Plans

Perez isn’t stopping with “BARK.” He plans on shooting a movie in Springfield and show that Atlanta’s not the only place in Georgia where movies are made. “I want to build a huge studio in Effingham County,” Perez said.

Prim said Perez is a great leader who’s super driven and motivates his crew to follow his example. He added that Perez pushed their expectations of what they could do as far as attracting top acting talent, capitalizing on their desire to visit Savannah, and this is only the beginning for Kronos Media and local filmmaking.

Possessing a high school diploma, Perez is a self-made individual who has Hollywood connections. He has a cousin who’s a director, a second cousin who’s an actor, and an uncle who’s a chef for the stars. “It’s in our blood,” said Perez, who grew up in Augusta.

Prior to “BARK,” Perez has done a number of short films that have garnered recognition.

“Harmless” was selected in the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and Charlotte Film Festival and will be screened at the latter event. Perez served as executive producer for the film, which stars Jordan Spalding and Jordan Carpenter.

“Mary’s Mixtape” was also selected in the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and Charlotte Film Festival and will be screening at the Charlotte Film Festival. It was written and directed by Prim.

“The Road Agent” has 22 selections with 12 awards. Most notable are the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival (Remi Award winner) and Austin Lift-Off Film Festival, where it was nominated for best Short Film. It was best short film directed by Brian Liepe and written by Liepe and Kleinmann.

Perez serves as executive producer and occasional actor in his films, using his 5-foot-eleven, 260-pound size to play intimidating characters. He’s also a photographer for DelSur Marketing and its various magazines and operates the aforementioned dental practice.

“I like to be busy,” Perez said.

Perez could even be busier this year as “BARK” has been selected or is under consideration for showings at a number of prominent film festivals. In the former category, the film will be shown at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. In the meantime, Perez has submitted his film to 17 festivals and is waiting for a response.

Perez is now working on his next project, noting he’s in pre-production for a full feature horror film that will be shot in Savannah. He said they’re in talks with several distribution companies.