267 | Elizabeth Whitmere (Cold)

My Summer Lair Chapter #267: How Does The Living Tell The Dead…They’re Dead Without Being Rude About It?

Cold is a body horror short that’ll have its World Premiere at Blood in the Snow Film Festival as part of the 2023 Mournful Mediums Shorts Program.

A quick snapshot of Cold: “Jane likes things to be clean. Jane has just turned 40. Jane died sometime last week.”

Indeed: Jane (Melanie Scrofano) is part of “The Walking Dead” who roam the Earth. I would think the hardest thing for a zombie is social mimicry to fit in. Though Jane as a woman living in this hectic society with all of its relentless pressures has had years of practice. Years of faking it and years of trying to fit in.

Jane’s doctor (Peter Keleghan), her friends, her partner (Sean Baek), all tell her it’s normal – this “Change” happens to women of a certain age. A-hem. 

How do you help someone when you can’t talk about the thing they need help with?

This is just a Costco sample of what’s going on in Cold.

I’ll let Elizabeth Whitmere unpack Cold as she is the writer, director and producer of this memorable project. It comes out of her own experiences as a woman and as an actor.

If you don’t know Liz by nickname you certainly know her by face: as an actor she’s been in Being Erica, 12 Monkeys, Suits, Designated Survivor, The Handmaid’s Tale, Titans and more including a funtastic episode of Supernatural: Hollywood Babylon.

This is the meta episode where Sam and Dean go undercover on the set of Hell Hazers II: The Reckoning to determine if the ghosts are real or not. If you adored that episode you’ll recall how much Dean enjoyed being a PA and eating so much food. I am Team Dean!

As for Blood in the Snow it is an imaginative showcase of contemporary Canadian horror, genre and underground cinema typically in downtown Toronto. It is a fun time and totally #PantsWorthy. If you’re not from that world…horror fans are some of the coolest and funnest people you’ll meet. Often with a lot of horror the sun comes up and banishes the darkness so there’s an electric third rail of hope that powers many scary movies.

Now shall we kick off this warm conversation with Liz Whitmere about her Cold movie.

Cold will have its world premiere on November 25th as part of the Mournful Mediums BITS Shorts Program.

Cold @ W • T • F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at 1:00 pm (EST)

Stress free pop culture tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter so we can have some fun…talking about the things that leave us cold!