Revelation
A love letter to yearning and surrendering and steeped in spirituality, REVELATION is a short tale of surrender. Is this recollection just a dream? Is it a post-mortem reflection of a collection of regrets? Or perhaps just a fleeting thought certain to pass as a wisp of smoke. The Girl in Amber is seemingly presented as a sacrifice to her thoughts, illuminated in a circle of candles and shielded in wisps of smoke. Accompanied by Ethel Cain’s haunting song, “Sun Bleached Flies”, she uses the apparatus of the dance trapeze to tell her tale of acceptance in a reflective haze. Stillness gives way to lines, then technical skill, and finally to quiet mania before returning to her sacrificial compass of solace, or is it one of death?
-
Brad A. KinnanDirector
-
Kelly MaryanskiDirector
-
Kelly MaryanskiProducer
-
Kelly MaryanskiKey CastDivergent (Lionsgate), The Perfect Christmas Present (Hallmark)
-
Kelly MaryanskiWriter
-
Brad A. KinnanEditor
-
Brad A. KinnanCinematography
-
Kelly MaryanskiChoreography
-
Holly DodsonCamera Operator
-
Holly DodsonGrip
-
Project Type:Short, Other
-
Genres:dance, circus, music video, religious
-
Runtime:7 minutes 36 seconds
-
Completion Date:June 20, 2025
-
Country of Origin:United States
-
Country of Filming:United States
-
Language:English
-
Film Color:Color
-
First-time Filmmaker:No
-
Student Project:No
-
Digital Cinema Package:Unavailable
Brad A. Kinnan is an award-winning director, photographer, editor, and film producer from Michigan. He cut his teeth in the film industry working on Ryan Gosling's directorial debut Lost River in Detroit before relocating to Los Angeles, California. Since then, he's worked on several feature films and television shows, including Westworld, Need for Speed, Key & Peele, Workaholics, Community, and Parenthood.
In 2017, he founded the commercial production company DYNMC Creative with Adam Bussell and Colin Knighton, two fellow Michigan State University graduates living in Los Angeles. Since then, DYNMC has produced work for a wide variety of clientele, ranging from Mazda and Mitsubishi to Forbes and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. In 2022, Brad co-founded DYNMC Films, a boutique feature film production company focused on making socially impactful and stylistically unique feature films.
His most recent narrative work includes the short WEIGHT, which was an official selection at the 2024 Oscar-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival and the Montreal International Black Film Festival, as well as Thirst, which he produced in collaboration with 20th Century Studios for Hulu's "Bite Size Halloween" television series alongside visionary writer/director and long-time friend Stefan Dezil.
Brad also helped produce and edit Green Day's music video for "Dilemma," which was nominated for "Best Rock Video" at the 2024 VMA Awards. He has also directed several acclaimed music videos for successful recording artists: The Stampeders, The Midnight, FM-84, Ollie Wride, Jay Diggs, W O L F C L U B, Michael Oakley, Parallels, PRIZM, and The New Division. His music videos have been shown at film festivals around the world and have been featured on MTV, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Popdust, and Earmilk.
When he's not shooting and directing, Brad DJs and produces electronica as SLACKMACHINE.
------------------------------------------
Kelly Maryanski is a Los Angeles based multi-hyphenate artist; a dancer, circus artist, athlete, aerialist, actor, singer, musician, illustrator, and choreographer with formal training in ballet, contemporary dance, musical theater, world dance, precision jazz, piano, competitive sports, and circus acrobatics.
Kelly graduated from Denison University with a BFA cum laude in Studio Art and Dance where she was a three-time Vail Scholar, Marimac Scholar, Mary K. Campbell Scholar, Founder's Scholar, and member of the Dean's List. Since then she has performed regionally as a musical theatre performer, aerialist, singer, dancer, musician, freelance choreographer, teacher, and illustrator. Before relocating to Los Angeles, Kelly was a principal actor with Lyric Opera of Chicago for five seasons including in their latest RING Cycle.
She is a 2018 graduate of the Professional Circus Training Program at The Actors Gymnasium. She also is a proud member of the American Guild of Musical Artists.
Theater/Opera credits include: The RING Cycle, CATS, XANADU, Legally Blonde: The Musical, Evil Dead: The Musical, A Christmas Story, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, The Merry Widow, Oliver!, Damn Yankees, Big Fish, Showgirls: The Musical, Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More With Feeling, Leader of the Pack, Urinetown, La Cenerentola, Romeo et Juliette, the RING cycle.
Circus credits include: Aloft Loft, The Grand Shanghai Circus, Bircus Brewing Company, Circo Sereno, Circus of the Moon, Cirque International US Tour, Cirque Dreams at the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade, Daley Plaza Chicago, Four Winds Casino, Fly By Night Circus, Le Haggis - Big Burns Dinner Scotland, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music Theatre Works, New Moon Chicago, Q Productions Las Vegas, San Diego Circus Center, SELF Magazine/Conde Nast, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Unbridled Variety Show at UNTITLED.
“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” - Nathaniel Hawthorne
I believe in the transcendent power of storytelling and it is the root element in all of my performances. In REVELATION, which can be played on loop or as a single music video/short dance film, I wanted to touch upon the human expression of inner demons and letting go using elements of magic, meaning, and momentum, witchcraft, and theology - weaving together a tapestry of emotion, rhythm, and narrative. As a circus artist by way of ballet, dance trapeze was my choice apparatus for this piece as it personally has been a source of both comfort and struggle. The song “Sun Bleached Flies” by Ethel Cain was actually the catalyst for this piece rather than just the accompaniment, for when I heard it for the first time the piece seemed to naturally fall into place with the trapeze sequences I was already working on. (If you have the time, I highly recommend looking into the lore of Ethel Cain’s album Preacher’s Daughter). As a person of spiritual faith (ex-organized faith) and practicing occultist I wanted to incorporate certain visuals that hint at paganism and christianity. Do you believe that if it’s meant to be, it will be?
In the end, there is a difference between giving up and surrendering.
-Kelly Maryanski, June 2025