Canadian Actor Matt Willson and Director Jeff Santa Barbara present the film adaptation of the successful Hamilton play, Skinning the Cat. The film will be making its debut at a screening in Hamilton, taking place at . A thought-provoking tale of human connections and conflicts, Skinning the Cat centers around the story of two men – Ned (Matt Willson) and Bruce (Jonathan Harrison) – who explore the idea of forgiveness and new possibilities.

The film takes the audience through a suspenseful story of abduction and threats leading to a deeper understanding of the complicated relationships that people form with one another. Through flashbacks and present dialogues, confessions are made and original agendas are abandoned. Both men are changed after their time together, but neither knows if this change is for the better or not.

Skinning the Cat is about taking responsibility for the past, whether it was something we did, or had done to us. It poses the question, if we as human beings can come to terms with what has happened and move forward. Skinning the Cat offers no answers, only possibilities.

About the Cast and Crew:

With abilities ranging from classical acting, Shakespeare, comedy and improvisation, to advanced acting, stage combat and singing, Matthew Willson demonstrates extraordinary versatility on stage and in front of the camera. With over 400 stage performances under his belt, Willson has received critical reviews for his work in theatre, starring in plays such as Oliver!, The Full Monty, Mambo Italiano, Waiting for Godot, Glass Menagerie, Glen Gary Glen Ross, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Lie of the Mind. Matthew Willson is also best-known for his performance in Michael Lee Chin’s The Artists.

Currently residing in New Zealand, Jeff Santa Barbara began his career as a director in technical theatre production in Hamilton, Ontario. From there, he moved on to producing and directing across the province. Having been the original director of the playwright theatrical production of Skinning the Cat, Jeff took on the project of adapting it into his first feature film alongside the original cast and crew. “Skinning the Cat has such a unique and fresh story to tell that it seemed like the appropriate step to turn it into a movie,” Jeff says, “It is the kind of story that leaves the audience guessing and wanting more.”

Jonathan Harrison started acting at a New Zealand teacher’s college in the ‘60’s. In the 70’s he toured Canada’s Yukon, then Alberta and Saskatchewan. Leaving professional theatre behind him, he wrote an arts column throughout the 90’s. He has since acted and directed throughout the Kitchener/Hamilton area. Some favourite roles include Higgins, Fagin and German conductor Furtwangler.

With a strategic approach to filmmaking; Ben Locche has been honing his craft producing socially relevant and historically based Canadian docu-dramas, educational programming, public service announcements, music videos and award winning commercials since 1999.
Lead by his passion for storytelling and an opportunity to collaborate with stage theatre professionals, Ben accepted the challenge to help convert the stage play into a feature film. Ben is currently developing a feature screenplay entitled When Opportunity Kills, which explores the exploitation of the Ontario Student Farm Program that was in place during the early 1890’s.

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For more information, please visit http://skinningthecat.ca

Available for interviews:
Matt Willson
Jeff Santa Barbara
Jonathan Harris
Ben Locche

For media inquiries please contact:
Pennant Media Group
Kevin Pennant [email protected]
Toronto 416.596.2978
Los Angeles 818.748.7517