Director Kimani Ray Smith Talks “Two Sentence Horror Stories”

January 22, 2021

Written by Kelli Marchman McNeely

Kelli Marchman McNeely is the owner of HorrorFuel.com. She is an Executive Producer of "13 Slays Till Christmas" which is out on Digital and DVD and now streaming on Tubi. She has several other films in the works. Kelli is an animal lover and a true horror addict since the age of 9 when she saw Friday the 13th. Email: horrorfuelinfo@gmail.com

 

 

“Two Sentence Horror Stories” is back with its second season of frightful delights. We sat down to talk with director Kimani Ray Smith who filled us in on his episode featured in the premiere, titled “Bag Man”.

 

Smith, a jack of all trades in the film industry, also discusses his directing, acting, and stunt work on series like “Ghost Wars,” “Van Helsing,” and “The Order,” and films such as Deadpool 2, and the upcoming movie Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, and more.

 

 

Horror Fuel: “How did you go from acting and stunts to directing?”

 

Kamani Ray Smith: “I first started doing stunts – I’ve always wanted to do it – and I started a small production company. Back then we didn’t have YouTube so we would create content, short videos, music videos and take them to film festivals. But it’s difficult for a person of color to get into the director’s chair so I started doing some stunts and choreography, martial arts, and gymnastics, and extreme sports, like BMX and snowboarding. I knew that was my way in. So, I started doing stunts at first and that was basically my film school. I could watch all of the different positions on set. From there, I became a stunt coordinator. I got my shot there. I was also directing short films. Once I got to that point people started giving my shot to direct. By directing debut was on Van Helsing, season four.”

 

Horror Fuel: “That’s awesome man. I like Van Helsing. It’s a good show. Talking about series, will you tell us a bit about directing the season two premiere of Two Sentence Horror Stories?”

 

Kimani Ray Smith: “So, it’s called Bag Man and it premiered earlier this week. It was supposed to come out on another day, but I guess they liked it so much they made it the premiere which was cool. Yeah, it’s a really cool show, an anthology and I love anthologies like Two Sentence and The Twilight Zone. I love that they are quick watches and you can put them in any order. I’m always on the move so that format really works for me. It’s perfect for this day and age. You can always watch a quick episode. But the show was a fantastic experience.

 

The episode that I did, Bag Man, is about five kids in detention on a weekend. One of them was responsible for setting off a cherry bomb in the school. The principal gathers these kids and put them in a classroom for detention and little do they know a bag got left behind and in that bag is a man.”

 

Horror Fuel: “I watched it last night. It’s a great episode. And I really liked the way that it unfolded and the ending was a great touch.”

 

Kamani Ray Smith: “Thank you. It’s really about high school lockdown and those types of situations. They are becoming more and more common. That’s the underlying message. I use an actual creature to tell that story and the kids to capture that fear. What is the right way to protect kids in school?”

 

 

 

 

Horror Fuel: “I see it. And you’re right it is scary that this is the type of world kids live in now. Through the use of the story, the kids, and the entity it does make you think about the fear that the kids today are experiencing.”

 

Kamani Ray Smith: “Yeah.”

 

Horror Fuel: “As for the entity in the story, how did it evolve from concept to creature? It does remind me of Slenderman a bit.”

 

Kamani Ray Smith: “We wanted to pay a little homage to Slenderman for sure, but didn’t want to copy it. We gave him very white makeup and a creepy face. And I think his silence only makes him creepier. I love the idea of a slow methodic creature, the idea of him coming towards you without screaming or running at you, I think it adds to his creepiness. You want to stop him but you can’t. It’s a really cool character.”

 

Horror Fuel: “Right. He is creepy and we’ve never seen a character before that does what he does with the bag.”

 

Kimani Ray Smith: “That’s a good thing. In essence, the background character is put in place to capture that ideology of the lockdown. It’s about a moment that turns into – in my opinion. Like why do they lockdown? Because there’s a kid in there that could be mentally ill. Schools are now more about security measures, guards, metal detectors than getting people to help. They need more education and outreach, programs that could help. I think they have a lack of that now. They’d rather make the school like a prison than an educational institute. The episode is all about that ideology.”

 

Horror Fuel: “I get what you’re saying. There does need to be more programs that help kids. You make a valid point. It is scary for kids nowadays.

Will you be doing any other episodes for Two Sentence Horror Stories in the near future?”

 

Kimani Ray Smith: “Yeah, I directed another one. I can’t say much about it because it hasn’t aired yet, but it’s about controlling the narrative and whose side of history is real, people are writing history from their own perspective, their own version. Who’s to say their version is right? It deals with that subject.”

 

Horror Fuel: “Oh, that sounds interesting. I look forward to seeing it. Can you tell us when it airs?”

 

Kimari Ray Smith: “It airs on February sixteenth.”

 

Horror Fuel: “Awesome! I’ll be sure to check it out. Are you working on any other projects?”

 

Kimani Ray Smith: “I just finished writing a script. I’m also working on another show called Motherland: Fort Salem which is in its second season on Freeform. It’s about witches in the military. It’s a really cool show you should check out the first season.”

 

Horror Fuel: “Oh, I will. I love witches.

 

Kimani Ray Smith: “It’s really well written. It’s totally different than anything you’ve seen before. In the show, witches have persevered after the witch trials didn’t kill them all. They became so strong that the military has come to rely on them. They have kind of taken over the military. It’s all about three students in military school. It’s really well done.”

 

 

 

 

Horror Fuel: “It sounds great. I’ll have to hunt it down.

When we first began to talk you brought up being a director of color, how is it affecting you now in the film industry?”

 

Kimani Ray Smith: “Things are getting better. When I first started my career, I was always typecasted as the bad guy, always a prisoner or a burglar. I finally got to a point in my career that I decided I’m not going to play those parts. I don’t mind being the bad guy, but I won’t play a prisoner or anything stereotyped. In the beginning, it was very complicated because there weren’t that many actors of color that I could stunt for. Yeah, it was really difficult to climb the corporate ladder, being a person of color. Now with Black Lives Matter and things it’s gotten a lot better. But we still have to fight for it, you know? But it’s definitely getting better. We’ve got to get more people of color involved.”

 

Horror Fuel: “I’m sorry that you’ve had to deal with things like that. It’s not right. But I’m very glad to hear that things are improving. Hopefully, soon no one will have to deal with prejudice or stereotypes. I wish you all the luck and success you can handle. I can’t wait to see your next episode of Two Sentence Horror Stories and Motherland: Fort Salem.”

 

Kimani Ray Smith: “Thank you. And you know Two Sentence stories was created and written by Vera Miao, an Asian woman. She really wanted to put forward something that’s really diverse. That’s what drew me to the project. She really supports people of color. It’s that time, things are changing.”

 

Horror Fuel: “I was aware of that. She’s very talented. It’s a great thing that the series is so diverse. We need new voices, new points of view.”

 

For more on this fantastic actor/stunt man/ writer/director please visit Kamani Ray Smith’s website and follow him on social media. Be sure to tune in for new episodes of “Two Sentence Horror Stories” on the CW. The season two premiere featuring Smith’s “Bag Man” is streaming now on the free CW app.

 

 

 

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