Johanna Brooks ('14 Filmmaking) wishes she had set up a different email address when she put out the casting call for Rennie - a mockumentary-style feature film about a small town Renaissance Fair shot on-location during the 2023 Kansas City Renaissance Festival.

"Casting for it blew up and my inbox was crazy. The messages buried all my other work. I must have had 500 submissions," Brooks - Director of Photography for the picture - said. "It was great to see so many people interested in the niche topic and the story. They wanted to be a part of it."

Here is the description of Rennie: "This voyeuristic look into a small town’s Renaissance Festival delves into the lives of a motley crew of characters and what brings them back to their comfortless corsets... year after year. Through the twists and turns of personal exploration, our heroes and heroines use this time together to fulfill the most basic desire in life: to love, be loved, and belong as one’s true self."

The Folly Theatre is sold-out of tickets (1,000 of them) for it's premiere showing on Friday, October 11 - but added an additional showing on Saturday, October 12 | 8 PM accessible to people using the code 'student' (Tickets are $10 + processing fee). Info here

There will be a planned red carpet entrance for the premiere dates. But - keeping in theme - Renaissance Festival attire is as acceptable as Black Tie-style garb.

"We shot during the fair while it was going - which was pretty crazy. Some days there would be 30k people going through while we were filming," Brooks said. "But people were respectful and we didn't really need to shoo anyone away."

Brooks says this is the first feature film where she carried the mantle of DP - mentioning that comedy is a departure from her standard gravitation toward more dramatic storytelling.

But, even as an alumni of the Kansas City Art Institute, she - like many - was unaware of KC Renfest's connection to the school.

The festival started in 1977 and was much smaller at the outset. For its first 23 seasons organizers operated it primarily as a benefit for KCAI. In 1999, it was purchased by Mid-America Festivals and turned into a much larger business concern.

Brooks says that she goes to the festival every year and it proved to be a great place for Rennie's mockumentary-style - inspired by films like Christopher Guest's Best in Show. She calls the style "forgiving" - which was necessary in the festival environment.

Brooks on-set at the 2023 Kansas City Renaissance Festival

"We shot in 11 days and the first day got rained out. But the cast and crew was great. Everyone was local to Kansas City. Directed, produced, and shot by women - which is rare in the industry," Brooks said. Rennie is written and Directed by Jessica Dressler and Jen Frank Klenke.

"I had people coming up to me telling me that this was their favorite set they've every worked on. It felt like family."

Read more about the film here.