GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Another West Michigan film is getting the red carpet treatment in Grand Rapids.
‘Miss Rainbow Magic’ will premiere Thursday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. at Celebration Cinema GR North.
Written and directed by Nuri Bauswell, the film tells the story of a young girl coming to terms with her supernatural powers.
“Miss Rainbow Magic grew up very troubled in a battered home,” Asiah Devlin, who plays the lead character, said. “She gets involved with some of the wrong people. There are people that are on her side and people who are not on her side who really want to see her fail. To her blessing, she has this group of people basically save her, and she also has magic powers which is why she's called Miss Rainbow Magic.”
The project started filming in late 2021, but Devlin did not join the cast until early 2022. She said she had been in contact with Bauswell about the film and was thrilled to land the lead role.
“He sent me the script, and I did an on-site read with one of my now co-stars,” Devlin said. “That happened maybe on a Sunday, and he said ‘hey, can you be at this location on Tuesday?’ And I'm like ‘I can.’ And he said ‘okay great, memorize your lines.’ And as soon as I got there, I pretty much was thrown right in.”
Devlin is no stranger to the world of acting. She recently starred in a music video directed by Grand Rapids native Josh Sikkema, who owns Black Pigeon Studios.
“The music video is called Cafe, and it's by Stokley and Wale,” Devlin said. “It's an amazing project that we worked on, and a lot of Grand Rapids natives were there.”
She said people are surprised to hear about film projects in West Michigan, but she’s hopeful projects like these will pave the way for other opportunities.
“When I mention to somebody like ‘well yeah, I have a movie premiering,’ they're so caught off guard, because they're not used to hearing that we have a movie that filmed here in Grand Rapids,” Devlin said. “So, it's been really amazing just to kind of tell my story about how I've gotten into it, and then even possibly help open doors for other people, because I have met individuals who are like ‘I've always wanted to act or model. How do I get into that?’ And I can say ‘well, this is what happened with me.’”
She said she’s only seen bits and pieces of the film, so Thursday’s premiere will be her first time seeing the full movie which will also be screening at Grand Rapids Comic Con this November.
For tickets to the premiere of Miss Rainbow Magic, click here.
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