Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia McDonald

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

I grew up a theatre kid through and through. The focus of my summers was preparing my audition song for the following year’s musical every year without fail since the 4th grade. Throughout high school, I remained focused on theatre, serving as the drama club president during my senior year, and playing leading roles in plays like “And Then There Were None” and musicals like “Little Shop of Horrors” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”. I always knew I wanted to go to college for musical theatre and spent my senior year auditioning at schools throughout New Jersey. When the pandemic hit partway through my sophomore year of college, my classmates and I were sent home and did not attend an in-person acting class until Fall 2021, out of due concern for mitigation of the spread of COVID-19. During that time, like so many others, I was missing performing. I decided one day to set up a Backstage account and look for opportunities to act in remote readings. Spring 2020 through the fall, I began auditioning for films and realized my passion for acting onscreen. Playing the role of Lacey in the remote reading of the feature film “The Good Life” from Cinderella Motion Pictures in January 2021 and playing the role of Kerrie in the student horror film “Airdrop” in Spring 2022 confirmed for me that I wanted to pursue film. Upon college graduation, I auditioned for a while and then took on a full time job in a different industry that I later realized was not a fit for me, while simultaneously acting in few films that were really incredible to work on. I had the opportunity to play the roles of Agnes in “Jersey Birdies” (RufCut Pictures), the Banshee in “It Still Burns” (Scotastic Productions), Kaitlyn in “Recovery (Dir. Kelly Meagher), and a few featured background roles in films like “Which Brings Me To You” and “The History of Sound”. During my time working in a different industry, playing the role of Angela in “Grindhouse” (Retro Dream Films) in Summer 2023 reminded me of why I started and helped me to refocus on film,

This past spring, I reconnected with a friend of mine from high school, Kelly Meagher when I acted in her senior thesis film “Recovery”. During the summer, we began to spend more time together while working on another project and talk more and more about our love of film. In July, I shared with her a script I had written and asked her for feedback. Growing up, I had always loved writing and I decided to return to it after a few years hiatus. It was like recovering a missing piece of myself that had been present since age 8, but out of commission since 18 or 19. I wrote the script for “Last Summer”, a story about a group of six teenagers in the summer before their senior year of high school. As a lifelong Jersey girl, I centered the story at the Jersey shore and set out to create a captivating mystery rooted in mistakes made in youth and how they can follow us for the rest of our lives. In the fictional town of Salt Harbor, New Jersey, no one is exactly who they seem to be. The characters are multifaceted individuals, many of whom are harboring dark secrets or struggling with finding themselves, finding a place to belong, and finding the distinction between who they want to be and who their parents want them to be. Upon reading the script, Kelly and I decided we wanted to bring it to life together. We formed our very own production company, Star-Crossed Studios, from which we will produce “Last Summer” and countless other films to come.

We are set to film in Summer 2025 and have lined up a very talented cast consisting of JoHannah James (Sam St. James), Caroline Pastilha (Mia Brown), Dylan Perez (Liam Hayes-Pierce), Mari Blake (Harper Beckett-Vanderbilt), and Matthew Herman (Noah Beckett-Vanderbilt). In addition to directing, I will be playing the role of Katherine Keller, an enigmatic girl who moves to Salt Harbor and joins the group at the start of summer. We cannot wait to take “Last Summer” to camera and introduce the world to Katherine, Sam, Mia, Liam, Harper, and Noah very soon.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

While there will always be challenges along the way, I have learned that both filmmaking and acting are all about thinking on the go and adapting to the circumstances you are presented with. Unfortunately, opportunities are still fairly scarce as the industry begins to pick up again post-strike. However, I know that I am not alone in feeling optimistic that things will pick up in 2025 for actors and filmmakers alike.

Kelly and I have realized that while there may not be as many outside opportunities at the moment, it is the perfect time for us to create our own opportunities for ourselves and for others. We want to tell the stories that we are really excited about and see a space for onscreen. We realized that we were looking at other filmmakers and thinking ‘wow, we wish we could do that’ and then thinking ‘wait, a second, it’s up to us to go out there and try’.

Everything is a learning experience. I have found that the majority of filmmakers out there are so incredibly kind and willing to share what they have learned along their own journey to help guide others. I have learned so much from everyone I have worked with on set thus far, everyone I have met at film festivals, and from every film I have watched in my lifetime. I look forward to learning even more in my first foray as a director and beyond.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

Currently, I split my work between acting, writing, directing, and producing. I aim to learn as many different areas of film as I can, so that I can contribute as much as possible to my own sets through Star-Crossed Studios, as well as to all other sets that I work on. As an actor, I most enjoy playing multifaceted characters with a lot of heart, strength, and drive who have uniquely significant obstacles thrown at them that they must navigate throughout the course of their stories.

As a writer, I aim to create characters in that vein as well and tell women-centered stories that shed light on important themes, captivate the audience, and leave everyone guessing as to what will happen next.

As a director and producer, I strive to create a safe environment for everyone involved and I hope that everyone walks away from our projects having had a really fun and positive experience as well as having told a story that they are really proud of.

At the end of the day, I want to share my unique voice as an artist and lead with kindness and care, both on and off set. I am so proud of the work that we have done so far in pre-production for “Last Summer” and I cannot wait to take it to camera next summer and share the story with you all.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?

Over the next 5-10 years, I see the film industry expanding significantly. Even just in my home state of New Jersey, we have seen so much growth here over the past few years, with many major feature films choosing to shoot here – such as “A Complete Unknown”, “Happy Gilmore 2”, and countless others. Over the next few years, we will also see several major film studios make their home here in Jersey, including the Netflix studio coming to Monmouth County and Lionsgate opening up a studio in Newark. I believe this will create so many more opportunities for actors and filmmakers alike.

We are also very fortunate to have such an incredible independent film community in New Jersey, who are so willing to support each other and lend a hand wherever possible. I have been very lucky to see so much of their work at many film festivals just this year and I cannot wait to see what they do next. I hope that others outside of the filmmaking space, will continue to take an interest in the work of independent filmmakers and offer their support where they can to help tell these compelling stories – whether by attending film festivals, supporting crowdfunding campaigns, or streaming independent films.

I hope that we will see the film industry continue to evolve to be a more inclusive, safe, and consistent space for everyone involved and all those looking to pursue film as a career.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciamcdonald122/
• Facebook: Last Summer Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HQyHaSZ99/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: Star-Crossed Studios YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@starcrossedstudiosnj
• Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm16058917/ Last Summer IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33084896/?ref_=nm_flmg_knf_t_1 Last Summer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/last_summer_film/ Star-Crossed Studios Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starcrossed_studios/ Last Summer Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@last.summer.film?_t=8rwiPd0HC8s&_r=1 Star-Crossed Studios Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starcrossedstudiosnj?_t=8rwiLhdZnXq&_r=1 Star-Crossed Studios Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HQyHaSZ99/?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits

Jess Fidel – Garden of Consciousness Photography
Star-Crossed Studios