When Vivian Kerr discovered a memory book from 12th grade at her childhood home in Arden, her answer to the question “what do you want to be?” surprised her.
“It said, ‘I want to be a writer, actor, director and producer,’” Kerr says. “Those are the four things I’m doing now. That’s nuts. I feel very lucky. I’m connected to everything I ever wanted to do.”
Kerr recently released her first feature film, “SCRAP,” which she wrote, produced, directed and starred in. The project culminated years of building confidence in a notoriously unforgiving industry.
“I’ve gone through so many internal and external shifts,” Kerr says. “Now I have total belief in myself to give myself creative permission and not care what anyone thinks. You spend so much time waiting for the industry to greenlight something when you finally realize, I could have greenlit myself all along.”
She continues, “By the time you’re 35, you get into (screw it) mode. I’m going to blink and be 60, if I’m lucky enough to live that long. What am I waiting for? What am I so afraid of?”
Kerr credits Sacramento as foundational to her creative strength. Introduced to theater by her older sister, Kerr began performing in middle school. By age 15 at Rio Americano High, she auditioned for community theater.
“Like most kids in high school, my friends and I were little arts nerds,” Kerr says. “We were super into music and would hang out at Tower Records on Watt Avenue. We’d drive around listening to Quad 106.5 and endlessly talk about music, see movies at Arden Fair Mall. We’d watch a foreign film and pretend to be so profound.
“The cool thing about Sacramento was that growing up, it had such a vibrant arts scene. The music scene was so great. There were so many interesting bands, so much theater. Even when I wasn’t acting, I was always seeing plays. As a family, we went to the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival every summer. All of that was really impactful.”
Kerr worked with T Street Players before heading to college at USC. Though not enrolled in film school, she assisted on student films and solidified her love for the genre.
After college, she “eked out an existence” with TV guest roles and two plays at Sacramento Theatre Company. And she longed for creative ownership.
Kerr made short films with friends and decided in 2016 to make her first feature. She shot a 15-minute proof-of-concept for “SCRAP”—the story of a single mom, played by Kerr, who tries to hide her homelessness from her estranged brother and his wife. Festival submittals followed.
In 2018, Anthony Rapp came on to play Kerr’s brother. They shot the feature in 2021 and premiered at France’s Deauville American Film Festival in 2022. They spent the next two years cleaning up on the festival circuit—20 awards in 44 festivals.
“SCRAP” was released in December on multiple platforms through Kerr’s production company, Rue Dangeau (named after the Paris street where her grandparents lived).
“When you’re making an indie, you’re constantly putting out fires, especially as director and lead producer,” Kerr says. “It’s hard to zoom out and see the big picture. But I had this moment on set where I looked around and thought, wow. I manifested all of this, made all of this happen, this dream of mine I never thought I could make happen. Now how do I make this happen again as quickly as possible?”
For information, visit scrapthefilm.com. Find Kerr’s next projects at ruedangeau.com.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
