Podtalk: Director Michael Glover Smith & Cast on ‘Handle With Care’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 25, 2024 - 10:44am

CHICAGO – Writer/Director Michael Glover Smith has established himself as a preeminent filmmaker of unique emotional passages. His latest short film, “Handle With Care,” featuring Mickey O’Sullivan and Alyssa Thordarson, will have its World Premiere on Opening Night (Feb. 29, 2024) at the George Lindsey Film Festival in Alabama. For more info, click HANDLE.

“Handle with Care” tells the story of a very common scenario … the first date. A man (Mickey O’Sullivan) and a woman (Alyssa Thordarson) meet in a restaurant and start the small talk that the situation usually warrants. When a surprise revelation slips into the conversation, it opens up other possibilities.

Alyssa Thordason & Mickey O’Sullivan in ‘Handle With Care’
Photo credit: Michael Glover Smith

Michael Glover Smith is a filmmaker, academic and influencer. His first feature film, “Cool Apocalypse,” premiered in 2015, the same release year as his first book, “Flickering Empire: How Chicago Invented the U.S. Film Industry.” His next three films were “Mercury in Retrograde” (2017),“Rendezvous in Chicago” (2018) and “Relative” (2022). The latter film had a long festival and successful theatrical run.

The principle cast members are veteran actors and multi-hybrids. Alyssa Thordarson is a writer/producer/director as well as a performer, acting in her debut short film screenplay “After (A Love Story)” and first-time directing her next short (with Michael Glover Smith) entitled “Paper Planes,” which screened in 26 film festivals. Mickey O’Sullivan is versatile character actor, with TV credits on “Chicago P.D.,” “Empire” and “The Chi” and the films “Road to Boston” and “Captive State.” O’Sullivan is also a prominent acting instructor.

Writer/Director Michael Glover Smith and O’Sullivan on ‘Handle With Care’ Set
Photo credit: Leticia Santos

In a series of Podtalk interviews with Michael Glover Smith, Alyssa Thordarson and Mickey O’Sullivan by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, they talked about the processes and energies in “Handle With Care” and other topics.

Michael Glover Smith …

Alyssa Thordarson …

Mickey O’Sullivan …

The World Premiere of ”Handle With Care” … written/directed by Michael Glover Smith and featuring Alyssa Thordarson and Mickey O’Sullivan … is on Opening Night, February 29th, 2024, at The George Lindsey Film Festival (Founded by George “Goober” Lindsey of Mayberry) taking place at the University of North Alabama. Click GLFF for details.