Filmmaker Kellie Madison first made her mark on the action movie world with her 2016 short film “The Gate”, and anyone who’s seen it can attest that she knows how to helm an action movie. Despite the strengths of “The Gate” and its popularity on YouTube, the short hasn’t really gone anywhere since then, despite Kellie having intended it to launch into a larger project. However, that limbo finally seems to be coming to an end, with Kellie now actively shopping “The Gate” around to numerous investors to be expanded into a full movie!
As reported in Deadline: “After Kellie Madison released the proof of concept short The Gate, the high octane film became a viral sensation with 4 million views and it got her the job directing Never Back Down: Revolt, a low budget action film backed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that got released recently. With that film under her belt, Madison is hoping to make the leap to direct the feature version of the short that put her on the map. Briarcliff Entertainment’s Tom Ortenberg is taking the concept out to financiers.”
Kellie is also quoted in the article, saying that the experience of making “Never Back Down: Revolt” has led to the wheels turning on “The Gate”:”People say to me all the time, when are you going to make this movie. “Working on The Tank”, the cast was a challenge and I thought too many of them had the attitude, who’s this chick leading 100 people through this movie. The only challenge on Never Back Down was getting through Covid, which we did. “The Gate” got me that job and three weeks after it was released, I was in London directing. I’m inspired enough to take it off the back burner and go shoot it in Indonesia, for authenticity and because some of the best fighters in the world live there.”
The two main stars of “The Gate” are well-known to martial arts fans, namely Amy Johnston of “Lady Bloodfight” and “Accident Man” and Cecep Arif Rahman of “The Raid 2” and “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum“. To say they killed it would be an understatement, with “The Gate” being a thunderous, action-packed ride in a running time just shy of 11 minutes. It wouldn’t be surprising if Kellie plans to bring Amy and Cecep back for her future plans for “The Gate”, and her intentions to film the movie in Indonesia implies an abundance of awesome Silat exponents, and perhaps some of Cecep’s contemporaries from “The Raid” films will also make a welcome drop in. Obviously, there’s still plenty of chips to place on the board, but with how outstanding “The Gate” was when it landed in 2016, it’s fantastic to see the larger vision Kellie had in mind for it now starting to unfold!
