Spotlight: Artist Kelly McCormack

Artist Kelly McCormack drew heavily from her own experiences as an actor and writer when she wrote Sugar Daddy, which is an intimate and honest look into the life of a young female artist named Darren.

McCormack wrote this film as a “love letter to the dark ages of my early twenties and the last stand of my “girlhood”, when things were less clear and the power I wanted I was giving away to men to get by.”

McCormack, who also plays the main character in the film, is well supported by the cast, which includes Colm Feore, Amanda Brugel, Aaron Ashmore, Nicholas Campbell, Noam Jenkins, Ishan Davé, Kaniehtiio Horn, Jess Salgueiro, Tony Nappo, Rob Stewart, Michelle Morgan and Andy McQueen.

Darren is a very talented young musician who dreams of making music. Unfortunately, she is broke, juggling multiple part-time jobs, and has no time to create. Desperate for cash, she signs up to a sugar daddy paid-dating website, and throws herself down a dark rabbit hole that forces her to grow up fast, shaping her music, and how she sees the world.

We see Darren struggling to appreciate herself, her own worth, and her relationships with other womxn in her life. She is constantly looking for approval from the men around her. The interactions with some of these men and the confrontations with some of the women in her life push Darren to find her voice.

Sugar Daddy is a film that contains many layers. From the carefully planned 4:3 aspect ratio, sound editing, casting, art direction to its music – they all come together to create a film that forces us to think about many themes, which then lead to some interesting conversations about its themes and our reactions to them.

One theme that McCormack profoundly relates to is that of negotiating and setting boundaries with men both in professional and social settings, as a woman, a director, a creative.

I had the pleasure of speaking with McCormack about her work on Sugar Daddy and the film’s intricate layers, as well as, various aspects of the production.