Locally made movie will premiere virtually

Carrie Brennan stars in, produced and wrote a movie, “Block,” about embracing herself as a gay woman.

We all have secrets we hold deep inside.

West Chester native Carrie Brennan chooses to open up about what many others often keep to themselves.

Brennan stars in, produced and wrote a movie, “Block,” about embracing herself as a gay woman.

The movie recently nabbed several awards at the Los Angeles International Indi Shorts Festival, including for Best Actress.

Viewers will recognize many of the filming locations in the West Chester Area. Sprout Music Collective,

Fenn’s, Stroud Preserve, West Goshen Plaza, Dr. Sharon Kelly’s Village Psychiatry office where Brennan came out and a former West Chester synagogue, are all featured.

“My goal is to make an impact,” Brennan said during a recent interview at Benny’s Pizza. “It’s not me acting or making a movie, but telling a story that needs to be told, that might make a difference in other people’s lives.

“I’m very public about being gay because I want to show other people the importance of celebrating who you truly are meant to be. I wanted to hear the story that I needed to hear growing up as a queer, closeted woman.”

A 100-person production crew filmed the “coming out” flick, for six straight 12-hour days.

Brennan described the 43-minute film: “In a fit to detach herself from an imaginary cinder block, Kit O’Brien comes out of the closet.”

The protagonist in the film is named “Kit O’Brien.”

Brennan, a former high school lacrosse and field hockey player, and Communications major at James Madison University, is wonderful in the movie, but the true star of the film is that cinder block that the character Kit couldn’t shake loose from.

Brennan was scraped and bruised by the 30-pound block as she trained and ran with it.

“It was part of me and something that helped me

SUBMITTED PHOTO Movie actress, writer and producer Carrie Brennan and the “block.”