New Kent native, actress receives ‘best supporting’ award at film festival

“Jack of the Red Hearts,” the movie in which New Kent’s very own Taylor Richardson co-stars as an autistic child, ended its movie theater run Feb. 29. The movie played in 25 major metropolitan cities across the nation and was shown exclusively in AMC movie theaters. (There are no AMC theaters in the Richmond area, the nearest being in Northern Virginia.)

The movie was filmed in New York. Once filming was completed the movie went on the film festival circuit across the nation and also competed internationally in Rome, Italy. The movie received awards in several categories and obtained financial backing from one of the nation’s largest retailers, Wal-Mart. It is scheduled to come out on CD in May and will be for sale at all Wal-Mart stores and on Amazon, and will be aired April 23, 8 p.m. on the Lifetime channel.

According to Taylor’s mom, Tiffany, “The film festivals are similar in nature but they do differ from one film festival to the other.”

At one particular festival, the judges (known in the industry as jurors) view the movies privately in their own homes prior to the festival. They then vote privately not knowing how other jurors vote. After the movie is shown to audiences attending the festival, awards, if any, are announced. Jurors then gather for a large gala and meet the movies’ cast, directors and producers.

When jurors were introduced to Taylor, they all became surprisingly quiet and had a somewhat perplexed look upon their faces, according to Tiffany. They all thought Taylor was an autistic child who was simply being herself. After meeting Taylor the jurors voted her “Best Supporting Child Actress” of the festival.

Taylor, 14, is currently starring in the off-Broadway production of “Smokefall” in New York City. The play is receiving excellent reviews, and there are calls for the production to be taken on Broadway. Also, she could be appearing in some national TV commercials before year’s end.