Callie Bussell is an actress and producer, known for Star Trek: Horizon (2016), Electron Blade (2017) and Wolf Hound (2019).

 

-Thank you Callie for your spontaneous commitment. Can you introduce yourself please? 

Hi! I'm never certain how to begin introducing myself, but here goes! I'm an actress in the US with a strong draw to science fiction and otherworldly stories. Most people know me from Star Trek: Horizon or my work with my film company TK2 Films. I'm really dedicated to storytelling, and acting is my favorite platform with which to do that. When I'm not acting or working in film, I'm probably studying nutrition, or hanging out with my cat.

 

-How did you get your first role in Star Trek Horizon as Lieutenant T'Mar?

That's actually a really funny story to me. Star Trek: Horizon creator, Tommy Kraft, and I became friends in college. He was a filmmaker, I was an actor, it just made sense. One day at the end of my junior year, he offered me the role, and my naivety caused me to laugh at him. I didn't understand Star Trek or its fandom, so I urged Tommy to make his own content, but he replied, "I don't know. I think I really need to make this project." When I signed on, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was young and had almost 0 onscreen experience outside of working with Tommy. Agreeing to do Star Trek: Horizon was hands down one of the best decisions I've ever made. After Horizon's release, Tommy and I teamed up to start TK2 Films which lead to Runaway and Electron Blade.

 

-Callie, did you watch Star Trek prior to your casting to Star Trek?

Much to Tommy's chagrin, I did not. I didn't start delving into Star Trek until after Tommy starting crowdfunding for Star Trek: Horizon. As I said before, I had no idea the scope of the Star Trek fandom and just how dedicated its fans are. I don't want to say I was a Doubting Thomas, but I was. I thought Tommy was way too talented to be making fan films. Turns out, he was the perfect amount of talented, and I was in the wrong. When Tommy surpassed his $10,000 kickstarter goal in less than 24 hours, it occurred to me how very wrong I was, and thus dived into Star Trek and haven't looked back.

 

-Before you joined Star Trek you had a role in "What Might Have Been", how was it the first time in front of the camera for you?

Actually, What Might Have Been wasn't my first on camera role. The foundation of my film career started with a series of short films Tommy was developing for fun on YouTube called Precious Moments. The series was comprised of short scenes that contained anything but what its name implied. My first appearance in front of a camera was with a college friend out in the cold in February, and I was addicted immediately.

 

-Are you currently working on any interesting movies or series that you can reveal? On IMDb are some projects like Wolf Hound.

Well, I just jumped from my small pond in Michigan to the much larger ocean of Atlanta, GA, so I'm currently working my way into this market, but I do have some cool projects I'm really excited about coming out this year including Wolf Hound which was a true honor to be a part of. The cast features some of the best actors in the midwest, as well as LA talent James Maslow and Trevor Donovan. The only scene I'm in, I was opposite James Maslow so I feel pretty lucky to have been apart of that. I've also done Reveries with Illuminated Productions and Normalton by Greenhawk Pictures in the last year which are projects done by some of the most talented filmmakers in Michigan, so be on the lookout for those. I've been blessed to work with really talented and dedicated independent filmmakers, I wish I could give them all shoutouts.

 

-Callie you're not only an actress , you also a producer, writer and casting director. What can you tell us about Electron Blade and Runaway? 

Runaway was my stepping stone into the production side of film. I originally wasn't slated to be a producer on it, but I just kind of incessantly asked Tommy and Harrison (the visionary behind the project) if they needed any help and the next thing I knew I was making call sheets and coordinating schedules. Electron Blade, though, is Tommy and mine's passion project to the extreme. We've been working towards it for the past two and a half years now because the scope of the thing is so big. I'm so, so in love with the story and every single person who dedicated their time to helping make our dream a reality. Electron Blade has everything. You want action? We'll give you choke slams and crazy whip stunts. You want romance? We've got multiple strong heart-wrenching and warming love stories. Politics? We've got a deeply political story centered around a being who has set themselves up as God of the universe and the Underground network that rages against her. Comedy? How about some bad puns and some rebel stoners who just can't seem to follow orders. 

 

Right now, production is moving very slowly because Tommy is our only person working on post-production, but we're soldiering on. We've had some major setbacks, like two of our computers breaking, and health issues, but we're still running. If you're interested at all in following our progress, check out our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/tk2films

-What was the best thing or the funniest moment about working on set? Is there something special you can share with us? 

Oh man, I feel like I've experienced some truly ridiculous things on set. I'd have to share a memory from Electron Blade. A lot of things out of our control went wrong when we were filming. 22 hours before our shoot, we lost our shooting location so we had to film in a haunted house, which was actually just an old grocery store. The place was full of mold, filthy, there was puddles of water inside, and the only part of the building that was appropriate to set up a green screen didn't have power. Right off the bat, we lost a day of shooting because everything was so behind and that set up a really negative precedent for the rest of the shoot. From there we had 19 hour days on set and I can't even begin to thank my team enough for sticking with us through that. It was absolutely insane.

 

I think my favorite memory of all time though is this: one of our particularly late shoot nights, we were all so exhausted. We'd been filming the same scene for about 3 hours and everyone was so stressed. So we took a break, but during the break, we all did yoga together, which was exceptionally hilarious because no one but my costar KateLynn Newberry was capable of holding the poses we did.

 

-Which role you would love to play in the future? 

Honestly, I'd love something juicy. Like, Clark on the 100, or June from the Handmaids Tale. I really love to envelope myself in a character, so having one that is really intense and really active is a goal of mine. I'd also love to try my hand at comedy as well, but not very many indies are comedy. It's hard to find GOOD comedy.

 

-Is there anything else you would like to let Star Trek Fans and your fans know?

Thanks a million for supporting me and for supporting TK2 Films. We're literally nothing without you!!

 

-Thank you so much Callie and i hope to see you one day in Germany.

Thank YOU so much, Bernd! 

 

 

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