Child filmmaker gets the final say
It’s a wrap for Dominic Scott Kay.
The aspiring 11-year-old filmmaker has settled his first Hollywood lawsuit. Now, he can get back to editing his debut movie, “Saving Angelo,” presumably when it doesn’t interfere with his schoolwork.
“I’m so excited,” Kay said in an interview Wednesday after a play date. “I’m so, like, dedicated to this film.”
Kay, a child actor whose credits include Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” and voicing Wilbur the pig in the recent “Charlotte’s Web,” turned a real-life experience into the 15-minute film starring actor Kevin Bacon. In Kay’s film, a young boy and his family rescue an injured dog and find a home for it at a local fire station.
But, as with a lot of film projects, creative differences ensued.
In January, Kay sued his Malibu neighbor Conroy Kanter, a producer of the film who helped bankroll it with $11,000. Kanter met Kay when her son played with him on a soccer team.
Calls to Kanter’s attorney, Michael Stoller, were not returned. In January, Stoller said that Kay’s mother was behind the lawsuit and was seeking financial gain, adding that his client considered financing the film a “charitable contribution” to the animal rights cause.
Under the agreement, Kay gets full ownership and control of “Saving Angelo,” said his attorney, Dylan Ruga. Editing of the film should be complete by July.
Kay hopes to submit “Saving Angelo” to festivals, then launch his next project, a short film titled “Grandpa’s Cabin.” He envisions Dick Van Dyke in the lead role.
After that, Kay said, he has an “edgy” full-length drama in mind.
“I’m going to get to whatever I can as fast as I can,” he said.
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