Kelsey Egan

Last updated
Kelsey Egan
Born (1983-03-20) 20 March 1983 (age 41)
Wisconsin, U.S.
Nationality
  • American
  • South African
Alma mater Vassar College
Years active2003–present
OrganisationWriters Guild of South Africa [1]
Website kelseyegan.com

Kelsey-Colin Kass EganWGSA (born 20 March 1983) is an American-South African filmmaker, actress, and stunt performer. She founded the Cape Town-based production company Crave Pictures. Her short film Gargoyle (2009) and science fiction film Glasshouse (2021) were nominated for SAFTAs.

Contents

Early and personal life

Egan is from Wisconsin and attended Whitefish Bay High School. She took a course at the British American Drama Academy in London. She double majored in Drama and Neuroscience and Behavior at Vassar College, graduating in 2005. She briefly lived in New York City and Beijing before moving to Johannesburg in 2008. [2] [3] She holds dual citizenship. [4] [5]

Career

Filmmaking

To gain experience in the industry, Egan decided to begin her career working both in front of the camera and on sets behind the scenes. She was a production assistant for the documentary Trumbo (2007) and the films I Am Legend (2007), Stop-Loss (2008), and Deception (2008), and a production coordinator for the films Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past (2008) and Gugu and Andile (2008) as well as the Sky One series Strike Back (2011). She was a script supervisor for Neill Blomkamp's District 9 (2009).

Egan's first short film Gargoyle, filmed in 2008, was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2010 South African Film and Television Awards. [6] Her other short films include 21th Street (2010), Red Herring (2014), The Bull (2018), [7] and The Fighter (2019).

Egan was a VFX producer for the 2014 adaptation of The Giver and cast assistant on the sets of the films Eye in the Sky (2015) and The Dark Tower (2017). She wrote on seven episodes of the 2018 children's animated series Munki and Trunk as well as on the 2019 M-Net crime thriller miniseries Trackers .

While The Fix was postponed, Egan began collaborating with screenwriter Emma Lungiswa de Wet on a slate of three "grounded" science fiction films for Local Motion Pictures. [8] The first of the slate Glasshouse was written over Zoom during the COVID-19 lockdown and filmed on location in the Eastern Cape in late 2020. The film premiered at the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival, officially marking Egan's feature directorial debut, [9] [10] followed by a wide release in 2022. Glasshouse received six nominations at the South African Film and Television Awards that year, including Best Feature Film, winning five of them.

On October 31, 2024 Egan's sci-fi dystopian feature, The Fix was released on Showmax and set for wider international release on November 22. [11] Other projects in development include Outer Edges, [12] and the latter two films in her slate with Lungiswa de Wet. [13] [14]

Acting and stunt work

Egan first did stunt work for Death Race 3: Inferno . She made her television debut in 2012 as a stunt performer in the Channel 4 historical miniseries Labyrinth . She played Nicole Weiss in the 2013 crime film Zulu . For Mad Max: Fury Road , Egan alongside the other stunt performers won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Stunt Ensemble. She was Claire Foy's stunt double in the first season of The Crown on Netflix and Jane de Wet's in the BBC America adaptation of Terry Pratchett's The Watch . She played Honey in the dark comedy film Fried Barry and Siri in the Afrikaans romantic comedy Kaalgat Karel. [15]

Filmography

Filmmaking

Film
YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
2008Waiting in BeijingAssistant
Homo Sapien1ADShort film
2009Flat Love1ADShort film
District 9 Supervisor
GargoyleYesYesYesShort film
2010Khuthala Bo!2UDYesShort film
201021th StreetYesYesYesShort film
2014Red HerringYesYesShort film
The Giver VFX
2018The BullYesYesYesShort film
2019The FighterYesShort film
2021 Glasshouse YesYesFeature directorial debut
2024 The Fix YesYesYes
TBAOuter EdgesYes
I Carry You AlwaysYesYes
Untitled third slate film
Television
YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes
2018–2020Munki and TrunkYes7 episodes
2019 Trackers YesMiniseries; 5 episodes
Music videos
YearSongArtistNotes
2010"My Baby Don't Love Me No More"The Death Valley Blues BandDirector, writer, producer
2012"Rum Trifle"JakkalsDirector, writer
"Gunuza"Bongeziwe MabandlaEditor, producer

Acting and stunt work

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
2003Making RevolutionActivist
2005Discover MeRachel
2013 Death Race 3: Inferno Stunts
Zulu Nicole Weiss
2014Red HerringRiderShort film
2015DestinationShort film
Mad Max: Fury Road Stunts
2016Forever (Afrikaans : Vir Altyd)Cat
2020 Fried Barry Honey
2021Kaalgat KarelSiri
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
2012 Labyrinth StuntsMiniseries; 2 episodes
2013Kids RuleStunts (Tommy Wiebeck)Television film
Striving for FreedomStunts (Gräfin Cecilie von Hohenberg)Television film
2014 Shark Week LindsayEpisode: "Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine"
2015Clan of the Cave BearStunts (Ayla)Television film
2016 Of Kings and Prophets ServantEpisode: "Offerings of Blood"
The Crown Stunts (Elizabeth II)Episode: "Pride & Joy"
2020 Raised by Wolves SoldierEpisode: "Virtual Faith"
Warrior Mrs. KellermanEpisode: "Warrior"
2021 The Watch Stunts (Alice Band)Episode: "Better to Light a Candle"
Music videos
YearSongArtistNotes
2014"Lights Out" (ft JungFreud)PHFAT

Other credits

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007 Trumbo Production assistantDocumentary
I Am Legend
2008 Stop-Loss
Deception
Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past Coordinator
Gugu and Andile Production coordinatorTelevision film
2011 Strike Back Assistant production coordinator6 episodes
2015 Eye in the Sky Cast assistant
2017 The Dark Tower

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References

  1. ↑ "2015/2016 WGSA Council" (PDF). Writers Guild of South Africa. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. ↑ Africa, Keshia (10 August 2021). "Woman director speaks about the challenges of male-dominate film industry". IOL. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  3. ↑ "Kelsey Egan". Tongue Twisters. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  4. ↑ Sorrento, Matthew (21 August 2021). "Inside the Memory Box: Kelsey Egan and Emma Lungiswa De Wet on Glasshouse (Fantasia 2021)". FilmInt. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Bull". B-Sharp Entertainment. 22 November 2017. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "SAFTAs Season 4". TVSA. 20 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  7. ↑ "The Bull by Kelsey Egan - Short Narrative Film". Queens Film Festival. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Vourlias, Christopher (29 July 2021). "South Africa's Local Motion Inks Three-Pic Pact With SVOD Showmax, Drops Trailer for Fantasia Premiere 'Glasshouse' (EXCLUSIVE)". Deadline. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Kermode, Jennie (11 August 2021). "Unforgettable: Kelsey Egan on memory, fairy tales, pandemics and Glasshouse". Eye for Film. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Paskevich, Hayley (18 August 2021). "FANTASIA 2021 INTERVIEW: 'Glasshouse' – Kelsey Egan". Flipscreened. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  11. ↑ Ntwasa, Thango (1 November 2024). "Halloween meets South Africa on Showmax's 'The Fix'". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
  12. ↑ Bałaga, Marta (21 July 2022). "Spier Films Boards Kelsey Egan's Sci-Fi Thriller 'Outer Edges' Ahead of Frontieres (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Benson, Tracy (17 February 2022). "Glasshouse: Exclusive interview with filmmaker Kelsey Egan". Pfangirl. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  14. ↑ Derckson, Daniel (9 February 2022). "Glasshouse – A Dystopian Fairytale Challenging Female-Driven Stories". The Writing Studio. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  15. ↑ "Kelsey Egan". Film Fatales. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
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