Actress/producer Brigitte Kingsley and writer/director Andrew Cymek’s original intention was to create a horror film. Instead, the creative team came up with a Sci-Fi comedy that’s taken on a life of its own.

Since its original Canadian release in 2007, Summer Vale and the Dark Rising series has developed a cult following that’s continued to grow – as evidenced by the latest U.S release of the Dark Rising series, “Agency of Vengeance”, which is now available on DVD and all On Demand platforms, including iTunes and Amazon Instant.

“When the “Rising Dark Agency,” a black ops division of the Government headed by Colonel Haggerd (Michael Ironside), suspects that a sudden surge of supernatural activity and violent attacks on Earth are the work of an evil Demon-God, it must call upon the services of super soldier Summer Vale (Brigitte Kingsley) to solve the mystery and prevent the coming apocalypse.”

“Agency of Vengeance” stars Brigitte Kingsley, Landy Cannon (American Psycho, Catwoman) Michael Ironside (X-Men: First Class, Total Recall, Top Gun), Julia Schneider (American Pie Presents Delta House) and Angel Williams (aka Angelina Love) of TNA Wrestling fame.

Written and directed by Cymek and produced by Kingsley, the film (with the Canadian title “Dark Rising 2: Summer Strikes Back!”) was nominated for two Canadian Comedy Awards: Best Film and Best Female Performance (Kingsley).

With exquisite cinematography and special effects, “Agency of Vengeance” is one in a series of Sci-Fi comedies created by Kingsley and Cymek that also includes “Bring Your Battle Axe”, “The Savage Tales of Summer Vale” and “Warrior of Worlds”.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Brigitte about “Agency of Vengeance: Dark Rising”, her career and a few of the new projects she’s currently involved with.

What can you tell me about your character, Summer Vale?

Summer is a Warrior Princess who has a good heart, but grew up in a demon dimension. She doesn’t always understand how the world works and tends to punch first and reason later [laughs]. She’s a killing machine but in the world of love and life, she still has a lot to learn.

How would you describe the story of “Agency of Vengeance”?

I like to describe it as the story of Summer Vale and a group of misfits who bind together to try and save the world from imminent doom.

What was the filming process like?

We shot up in a small town in northern Ontario with a group of people who really enjoyed working together. Our team has worked together quite a bit, so there’s a lot of good chemistry. Everyone does a little bit of everything on set and we all trust each other. Andrew [Cymek] did an amazing job. In addition to writing and directing, he was also the cinematographer and was involved in the editing, color timing and special effects (along with Doug Lentz). He spent a year and a half making this film look pretty in post-production.

You wear a lot of hats on your projects (actress, producer, crew member). What are some of the challenges you encounter?

One of the real challenges about wearing multiple hats is that you don’t get to sleep all that much [laughs]. You’re always running around doing everything. So when something like a piece of wardrobe is missing, you’re the one driving to the mall in full make-up and costume during your lunch break to pick things up. You’re always solving problems as you shoot but because our team is so collaborative, everyone wears multiple hats. It’s one of those sets where it really was a family. It’s challenging and very difficult at times, but also a lot of fun.

What other projects are you currently working on?

We’ve just finished work on an original psychological thriller called “Night Cries” that’s now in post-production. It has a lot of the same creative behind the scenes people in it and also has Colin Mochrie, Mishael Morgan and Angelina Love involved in it as well. It’s an interesting and beautifully shot film that tells the story of a man’s journey to find his wife in a post-apocalyptic world.

This fall, we’ll start work on a country musical called “Country Crush” starring Jana Kramer. Then in the New Year, we’ll be launching a completely new franchise called “Rayven Rose”. It’s in a genre that’s very similar to Dark Rising.

Did you always know that you wanted to be an involved in entertainment?

I think so. Even as a kid, I remember begging my parents to let me go out and do it. They were always extremely supportive of me and would drive me around to auditions when I was in high school.

I went to University for theater and once I graduated I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to just be handed my dream job or a lead role in a TV show. I knew that if I really wanted to do these cool projects I was going to have to work hard and produce them myself. So that’s what I did. I spent the next several years figuring out how the business worked by hopping on a lot of planes and knocking on a lot of doors. I got a lot of rejections during that time but if you wake up every morning and keep knocking on doors, eventually you’re going to get your movie made. That’s how it all came into play. It was a passion for acting that eventually got me into producing.

Be sure to follow Brigitte Kingsley on Twitter @beekingsley

Agency of Vengeance: Dark Rising

Genre: Sci-Fi / Comedy
Writer / Director / Cinematographer: Andrew Cymek
Producer: Brigitte Kingsley
Exec. Producer: Mihkel Harilaid
Produced by: Defiant Empire Corp. and Black Walk