WINCHESTER — Local references abound in the movies, commercials and books that Kerri Lane Mariano helps to craft.
Though she now lives in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the Shenandoah University alumna grew up in Stephens City and lived most of her adult life in Winchester.
Asked why mentions of people and places in the Northern Shenandoah Valley are prevalent in her work, Mariano gets emotional and says, “It’s pride — pride of the area, pride of where you grew up, what your home is.”
“It is just sharing your heart,” she added, “sharing what’s important to your heart.”
Mariano co-produced the movies “Santa Girl” and “Cupid for Christmas,” which are on Peacock and Hulu, respectively, as well as “Miss Valentine,” which will come out in the spring of 2025, among others. Also, she’s made radio, television and social media ads and released her first book this fall.
In each narrative, “You’ll see local places and local faces,” said Mariano, whose full-time job is with Chick-fil-A.
“My goal is to create a film and art center here in Winchester where I can help inspire more and more youth, especially as they’re trying to figure out what they want to be, what they want to do,” Mariano said.
Her latest endeavor is largely focused on youth. It’s a five-minute short film that recently won third place in a contest held by the Washington, D.C.-area nonprofit Women in Film and Video (WiFV), sponsored by Mattel. Her submission — which is called “Step” — features a cast and crew of local students and was recorded in Harpers Ferry and at Handley High School.
The plot briefly follows Laney Patton, who is president of a professional empowerment organization called STEP. After delivering a keynote speech at an event, Patton receives cruel online comments and turns to her childhood Barbie dolls, who come to life, for support.
“I’m a girl. I grew up playing with Barbie dolls my whole life,” Mariano said. “When I heard there’s a film competition and you had to use a Barbie doll, I was like, ‘Sign me up.’”
She said the script she wrote is intended to provide a positive message for people in the era of cyberbullying.
James Wood High School junior Sean Hodel led the cinematography and editing for “Step.” He and Mariano crossed paths when she owned a photography studio in downtown Winchester and he was a young teen seeking photography advice. Now, Mariano said, Hodel has gone far beyond what she could have taught him.
“That was my first short film type of thing, so I got to experience a lot of aspects I never thought I’d get to do with movie productions,” said Hodel, who would like to open a videography agency in the Winchester or D.C. area.
Jo Hott, a senior at Shenandoah University whose hometown is Martinsburg, West Virginia, played the leading lady in “Step.”
Hott fell in love with acting in middle school and thought that if she didn’t at least give an acting career a shot, she’d likely regret it for the rest of her life. It’s now her major at SU, and she jumps at the chance to participate in projects like “Step.”
“I realized that [acting] was more than just fun,” Hott said. “It could also be incredibly rewarding and teach me a lot more about myself. And that was kind of what I was always missing when I was looking at what I wanted to do after high school and after college.”
Hott, who was crowned Miss Berkeley County in 2023, expressed that playing the character of Patton resonated with her personally, since she’s dealt with negative social media comments. She was overjoyed and empowered to portray a strong female lead.
Hott was in “Step” with some of her peers at SU, and the group seemed to mutually gain from the experience.
“For at least a week afterwards, every time we saw each other, we were talking about how much fun we had and how much we learned,” Hott said. “It was really, really awesome.”
Being passionate about teaching, Mariano indicated that even if “Step” does not bring home awards, she is glad it could offer something positive to the young adults involved.
And the WiFV-Mattel challenge isn’t the only competition that Mariano, competitive by nature, is set to partake in.
On a recent Saturday, she and her team shot two 30-second commercials in the Winchester area, which will be sent to Doritos’ NFL Super Bowl commercial challenge.
Filmmakers can submit up to 10 TV advertisements to compete to be shown during the Super Bowl — one of the most valuable times for brands to secure an ad spot. Super Bowl ads are also known to be funnier and more creative.
Mariano’s commercial stars a group of adoptable dogs from the Winchester Area SPCA, two of which were quickly adopted after it was advertised that they starred in a potential Super Bowl ad.
Doritos will name the finalists in December and the winner closer to the Super Bowl, which is in February.
Mariano is also a recently published author.
“The Gingerbread Games,” a Christmas romance set in Middletown, is Mariano’s first novel. It became available this fall with Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
The tale references local businesses and people, Mariano shared. Middletown’s current mayor, Charles Harbaugh IV, makes an appearance, as does Solenberger’s hardware store in Winchester, and more.
“Anytime I could weave in our community, I did,” Mariano said.
“For me, it felt like I was just telling the story of me growing up, telling the stories of our Christmases and the things that we would do as a family,” she added.
In the story, an annual tournament takes place in Middletown each holiday season called “The Gingerbread Games.” One year, Holly, the main character who has just returned home from college, is faced with a love triangle as the games unfold, invoking romances, rivalries and sabotage.
Mariano is set to have book signing events at Solenberger’s located at 832 Berryville Ave. on Nov. 23 at 10 a.m. and Winchester Book Gallery located at 7 N. Loudoun St. on Nov. 30 at 11 a.m.
The self-published book is dedicated to “Mr. Jones,” who was Mariano’s fourth-grade teacher at Bass-Hoover Elementary School in Frederick County. The author credits Jones with being her first supporter in the pursuit of writing, since he held small creative writing contests in class and delivered positive feedback to her.
She said that when she starts to doubt herself a little bit, she hears “that little voice, Mr. Jones, saying, ‘I can’t wait to read your first book.’”
Learn more about Mariano’s work at marianoaff.com.
This post was originally published on here
