Movie featuring ‘Girl Meets World’ star, Chloe from ’24’ shown at Myrtle Beach Film Fest

Director Mark Blanchard felt the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival was the right fit for his new, family-friendly movie “A World Away.”

He could have chosen a different film festival to attend, but the ocean and the family-oriented tourist destination made for an event he felt his movie belonged in.

“I read that it is a very good, family film festival, so when the producers were entering I said enter into this one too. We chose between this and Toronto,” he said. “Everything I read said this festival is pretty terrific.”

The Myrtle Beach Film Festival celebrated its 14th year of existence this month and was held in The Market Common’s Stone Theatre. It featured dozens of films and highlighted the achievements of folks in the film industry.

Blanchard’s film, “A World Away,” is about a group of kids traveling to a different dimension who must work together to get back home. Along the way, the teens learn from different aliens they meet along the way. Rowan Blanchard, who was in television show “Girl Meets World,” and Mary Lynn Rajskub, who played Chloe in TV series “24,” play lead roles among the kids.

The film had a screening at the festival Saturday, will be on Amazon Prime for streaming this summer and then later will be available on Netflix.

Two of the movie’s actors came to Myrtle Beach for the screening. Caroline Lagerfelt, who plays “Grandma” in the movie and is known for her role as CeCe Rhodes in TV show “Gossip Girl,” and Sal Landi, who plays the role of an alien in “A World Away” and has been in many shows including “General Hospital,” “Days of our Lives” and “Scandal,” attended.

When Blanchard started making “A World Away,” he said getting good actors was a priority so he could let the cast have freedom to make changes to the movie.

“I know what I want, but I’m not the one to go out there and tell them I’m the king,” he said. “I wrote a lot of things and the kids were like ‘why are we saying this?’ ... they would understand it but they would say ‘here’s how I would say it at home, but I would do it like this.’ I’d say ‘that’s better, let’s do it.”

Landis and Blanchard have worked together in the past. Landis said he was unsure if he was right for the role as an alien until Blanchard let him start changing up the script to make him fit into the role.

Blanchard said he wanted to make sure the movie was family-friendly even during production. He instituted a swear jar system for the adults and teen actors. Nearly $5,000 was collected by the end of the shooting.

“The whole point of the movie is loving family up and down,” Blanchard said. “I just thought a place like Myrtle Beach would be the place for it.”

Lagerfelt said the Myrtle Beach festival was more welcoming and organized than many of the festivals she attended in the past. She was given the option of going to film festivals in Myrtle Beach or Chicago, and she chose the former so she could see a new place.

“As soon as this screening is over, I am going to go home, put on my jeans and hit the beach,” Lagerfelt said. “And eat some fish.”

And like any good visitor to South Carolina, when the three arrived in Myrtle Beach, they stopped at Tupelo Honey in Market Common to get biscuits.

Landis and Blanchard walked to the ocean and were surprised by the warmth of the water, the sea shells and open beach as compared to the beaches in California. Blanchard said being on the beach brought back memories of when he was a kid vacationing here.

“All in all this is a beautiful place and makes you feel very welcome,” Landis said.

This story was originally published April 27, 2019 at 2:45 PM.