Outside of the Byrd Theatre on Saturday afternoon, a small crowd waited with anticipation to finally see a film that began 10 years ago.
“Vampires in Virginia” follows reporter Peter as he reports on two women who get attacked in a Richmond alley. As he works to find the suspects and a missing victim, “he gets caught up in a vampire war,” Dotay said.
“Vampires in Virginia,” an independent film by Kahil Dotay and his production company, INTEGfilms, premiered in a one-time-only showing to the public and the film’s cast and crew.
“I think this is the first screening for just about everybody,” said John Cabaniss, who arrived dressed as a vampire with pointy teeth for the film’s premiere. “I would say it’s a very proud moment for us to see Dotay’s dream come true. I know it’s been a long time, and he has put so much into it. So I’m very thrilled to see this happen, and I’m very thrilled to be part of it.”
People are also reading…
Dotay, 57, is a Richmond-based filmmaker, producer and actor. He has been involved in over 200 projects, including Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.” “Vampires in Virginia” is Dotay’s first time directing a feature-length film.
“Vampires in Virginia” follows reporter Peter as he reports on two women who get attacked in a Richmond alley. As he works to find the suspects and a missing victim, “he gets caught up in a vampire war,” Dotay said.
“There’s a war between two vampire clans, and then it just follows how that flushes out. Can they escape?”
The film’s locations include Charles City, Chesterfield County, Henrico County, Petersburg, Powhatan County and Richmond.
Kahil Dotay, 57, is a Richmond-based filmmaker, producer and actor. He has been involved in over 200 projects, including Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.”
It wasn’t a love for vampire lore that inspired Dotay’s film but rather convenience.
“As an independent filmmaker, I was trying to figure out what kind of film I could produce at my low budget level. And after research, I found it was either zombies or vampires,” Dotay said.
At the time, the popularity of vampires was on the rise with the “Twilight” franchise and shows like “True Blood.”
“I wasn’t even a vampire fan, so I watched every single vampire movie I could get my hands on. I watched all the ‘True Blood’ series. I watched ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ Of course, all the ‘Twilights,’” Dotay said.
But the vampires in his film don’t follow the typical vampire TV standards. Dotay says he wanted this story to be more based in reality.
In “Vampires in Virginia,” there is no flying or turning into a bat. Becoming a vampire is a disease that gives victims strength and longevity, but it’s necessary to drink blood for their immune system.
The film’s original budget in 2012 was $379,000. Dotay said the movie was financed through Kickstarter, private investors and self-financing. Beginning in 2014, the film was shot over a 10-year time span due to setbacks including an editor being diagnosed with cancer, COVID, personal tragedy and the loss of funding, Dotay said.
“In 2023, we were able to get back on track and then finished it up,” he said. “And then we’re like, everybody’s been waiting for this movie so long, instead of trying to go to distribution immediately, let’s do a big premiere so all the cast and crew can see how the movie turned out.”
After the film’s plot-twisting end, the audience gave Dotay a warm applause before he answered questions about the filmmaking process.
There are currently no plans for the film’s distribution, although Dotay says a representative has shown interest.
John and Angela Cabaniss arrive dressed as vampires with pointy teeth for the one-time-only “Vampires in Virginia” screening at the Byrd Theatre in Richmond on Saturday afternoon.
From the Archives: South Richmond
This January 1956 image shows the intersection of Cowardin and Semmes avenues in South Richmond, which officials called one of the city’s most accident-cursed locations. That month, traffic engineers announced plans for a four-way red traffic signal, which would show a red light in all directions for several seconds before any signal changed to green. In the year before, 21 of 32 collisions at the intersection were blamed on motorists going through red lights.
In April 1937, several blocks of lower Hull Street, the main thoroughfare in South Richmond, were flooded so completely that it took rowboats and hip-waders to reach buildings. Three days of rains had caused the James River to crest at 27 feet. About 700 men worked around the clock for up to 36 hours to secure the dike. Total property damage in Richmond was estimate at more than $100,000.
South Side schools hold May Day – Students from eight South Richmond public schools joined in the city’s first May Day celebration at Carter Jones Playground yesterday. In the top picture the children trip around the traditional May Pole. Other Richmond schools will hold celebrations later in the month.
This October 1948 image shows Cowardin Avenue at the intersection with Hull Street and Jefferson Davis Highway in South Richmond. In August of that year, 250 businessmen petitioned to have “walk/don’t walk” signals installed at the intersection, which officials found to be the busiest in the city. Instead, seven other steps were recommended to improve safety, including new signs at corners, painted crosswalks and a pedestrian fence.
This June 1967 image shows Bainbridge Junior High School on Bainbridge Street in South Richmond. The school, which opened in 1915 with 23 regular schoolrooms, two open-air rooms and an auditorium, was closed in 1975 because required renovations would be too costly – its coal-burning furnaces did not meet new air pollution standards, it lacked air conditioning, and soundproofing was needed after Cowardin Avenue was widened. The building was later torn down.
This September 1942 image shows the Holden Rhodes House, also known as the old Stone House, located at Forest Hill Park in South Richmond. The house, named for the noted lawyer and businessman who built it, dates to around 1840 and was made of granite from the quarries on the original estate. It was remodeled in the 1930s and for a time was home to a library. The house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, now serves as an event venue.
This April 1966 image shows the firehouse built in 1911 at 10th and Bainbridge streets in South Richmond. It was demolished after a replacement firehouse was built nearby at Albany Avenue and Commerce Road. The updated facility was larger and was closer to the growing business district that had shifted east to Bellwood.
In June 1952, trucks loaded with wheat during the harvest season had a long wait – including along the Mayo Bridge – to reach the Cargill Inc. grain elevator at First and Hull streets in South Richmond. About 250 trucks delivered on this day alone, and as many as 85 were lined up at one time. One driver reported waiting eight hours to unload his truck.
This February 1978 image shows a block of West 31st Street in Woodland Heights. The South Richmond neighborhood, which was built from 1908 to 1920, saw a surge of new residents in the 1970s, mainly young families drawn to the charming architecture and large yards.
In March 1949, smoldering embers and charred, jagged walls were all that remained of the Dunlop Mills in South Richmond. The two brick buildings, which had survived damage during the Civil War, were lost to the fire, which took more than 200 firemen six hours to put out.
In June 1976, cars and other scrap metal awaited shredding at Peck Iron and Metal Co. Inc., located off Commerce Road n South Richmond. A large machine called a fragmentizer could chew up a car and spit it out as tiny chunks of metal in about 40 seconds.
In September 1950, ground was broken for the South Richmond Health Center at 14th and Bainbridge streets. Members of the Richmond public health community and South Richmond Community Nursing Service participated in the ceremony. The clinic, which opened in January 1952, was staffed by volunteer nurses.
In October 1982, Hull Street Station in South Richmond was vacant and boarded-up – the last regular passenger train to Danville had left 25 years earlier. The Southern Railway donated the station to the Old Dominion chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, which planned to convert the space into a museum and library. Today it houses the Richmond Railroad Museum.
In September 1951, the area of Hull Street between 12th and 13 streets in South Richmond was dug up for utility work and street rebuilding.
In September 1953, lightning flashed over South Richmond during a storm that brought heavy rain and stiff wind to the city.
In June 1977, youths cooled off in the new Bellemeade Community Center swimming pool in South Richmond. The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation had just dedicated it as well as the Chimborazo community pool, bringing the number of permanent city public pools to nine.
In January 1953, a fire destroyed most of a Richmond Ice Co. factory at Bainbridge and 20th streets in South Richmond. The four-alarm fire sent flames nearly 40 feet into the air.
In August 1975, a cleanup crew from Norfolk worked on an oil spill in South Richmond. Fuel oil had escaped from an open valve at Little Oil Co. on Commerce Road.
This post was originally published on here
