Chatham’s Kevin Staake’s ‘Red Velvet’ Scores Film Fest Success; To Screen At Martha’s Vineyard Festival Saturday

Kevin Staake has always been obsessed with movies.

Growing up in Chatham, he would frequently wake up his parents and ask them to put on a movie before his mother finally taught him how to use the VCR. 

“I watched a lot of stuff I shouldn’t be watching,” Staake said, including a VHS tape of Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” which put an interest and enthusiasm for the art form into his head at a very young age. “I decided that I had some good ideas for movies, and I’d love to be the one who gets to decide what the story is, what happens, and where it’s set.”

Years after setting his focus on a career in the industry, Staake’s latest short film, “Red Velvet,” premiered at the Santa Monica International Film Festival on March 15, where it won the award for Best Comedy. The film, which he wrote and directed, is set to screen at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival this Saturday, March 29.

“Red Velvet” is set in Staake’s current home of Los Angeles, and follows a struggling actor, Blaze (Nikolai Nikolaeff), who discovers an unhoused person, Kyle (Aidan Bristow), in the back of his car on the way to an audition. What follows is a touching story of kindness and fellowship set against the backdrop of the major issues currently plaguing the film industry.

Staake was inspired by the strikes which shut down major film and television productions for almost four months in 2023, specifically the industry anxiety about the increased use of and reliance on generative artificial intelligence, which threatens many industry jobs. 

“I also thought it was a little silly to be so ‘woe is me’ about these issues when you see people right next to you that don’t even have a roof over their heads,” said Staake.

Staake studied film in Boston and on Long Island before spending time as an assistant on various productions in New York City, but he’s always seen his home of Cape Cod as an untapped industry resource.

“The Cape community is more arts-focused than your average suburb,” he said. “Being around adult creatives when I was young gave me a sense of approval that the arts were a mature and viable career path.” (His father is well-known children’s book author/illustrator Bob Staake.)

Though he has never shot anything locally, Staake hopes to do so in the future. 

“It's impossible to ignore the cinematic value of the swaying dune grass and the Provincetown shacks,” he said. “As a backdrop, it's very dramatic and moving.”

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival runs from March 26 to 30, and tickets are available at tmvff.org.