Rivkah Reyes and Jack Black are getting the band back together! Decades after melting faces in Mike White’s 2003 comedy School of Rock, Reyes, and Black are teaming up for Gianna, a horror comedy short with an intriguing cast. Black is an associate producer on the project, which Reyes wrote and produced. Reyes also stars in Gianna, which finds her character snuggling up to her inner demons.
Jack Black and Rivkah Reyes shared the screen (and a band) in School of Rock. In the film, Black’s struggling musician character, Dewey Finn, poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious school where he convinces his students to form a rock band for an upcoming Battle of the Bands. Reyes plays Katie in the feelgood comedy, an adolescent bass player, and Queen of the Power Pout. After strumming out some tasty jams for White’s film, Black and Reyes are ready to rock again for the actress’s new project.
Margaret Cho (Fire Island) and Elizabeth Faith Ludlow (Peacemaker) also star in Gianna. According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Gianna “follows the newly sober and recently single Gina (Reyes), who is faced with the literal devil herself, after her sliding-scale therapist (Cho) suggests spending time with her inner demons.”
Kait Schuster (Geranium) directs from Reyes’s script, with Jarad Schwartz and Brando Crawford executive producing. Gianna premieres at Inside Out Festival and will appear at the Palm Springs Shorts Festival.
“I loved the perfectly twisted queerness of the story and script and I had to get involved,” Cho said enthusiastically about the project. “Rivkah is The Gay Future!!!!!”
After spending so much time playing “the Devil’s music,” Gianna feels like a fitting project for Reyes. While some acting ensembles come and go, Black and the Horace Green prep school students have kept in touch throughout the years. Earlier this year, Black confirmed he and the kids would reunite for a 20th Anniversary School of Rock Reunion.
“All those kids — dig this — they were 10 years old when we made that movie and now they’re all, like, 30,” Black said. “We’re gonna get together and have a 20-year anniversary. We like to jam. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the grownups from ‘School of Rock.'”