Derrickson Played by Alan Conway with a sharp dose of attitude and sex appeal, Derrickson is no stranger to groin injuries. Once voted People Magazine's "Sexiest Man of the Year", Conway had little success after Vendetta. Some have gone so far as calling him the "David Caruso of the Eighties".
McKeegan C. Thomas Murray lends the character McKeegan an uncanny flair for cold blooded violence. Murray never aspired to be an actor; he was picked up in New York after a talent scout saw him "take a guy down" for smoking in a designated no-smoking area. After Vendetta, Murray went back to his former job at a delicatessen. He still makes a mean pastrami sandwich.
The Chief In this episode, essentially a "Christmas Special", The Chief doesn't get much screen time. This is unfortunate because renowned actor Martin Mitchell played The Chief like a bitch in heat. Mitchell once said of his role in Vendetta, "Yes, that was me". Regardless, Mitchell went on to become one of Hollywood's more memorable small time character actors.
Mrs. Claus The lovely Kathy Sutherland brings both sweetness and unfettered testosterone to the role of Mrs. Claus. In Vendetta we are shown a side of her that rings true the old adage: "Behind every great man, there's a woman with a gun".
Santa Claus Santa Claus. Need more be said?

Behind The Scenes Photos Below!

Please Note: some of these shots contain "spoilers",
so view them only if you've already seen Vendetta or you just don't care.
setting up interrogation scene The interrogation scene was the first scene filmed. Here, Jonathan Field (aka "McKeegan") sets up an early shot.
Brendan holding cue card Screenwriter Brendan Smith (aka "Derrickson") holds up a cue card to make sure his carefully crafted dialogue is delivered perfectly.
Gandhi throws a punch Gandhi warms up "Mr. Fist". Yes, that's his real name. Gandhi, I mean, not Mr. Fist. Although "Gandhi Fist" would be a pretty cool name.
applying make-up Field applies a little makeup to the lovely Sarah Norton (aka "The Elf").
finished make-up Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.
The Chief yells David O'Malley (aka "The Chief") gets ready to bust some balls.
script doctoring Sean Smith (aka "Santa") and Field go over the script.
filming phone booth The phone booth scene is shot, like much of the film, in freezing temperatures. B Smith holds up a black mat to reduce the reflections on the glass. Because we care.
waiting for action The Brothers Smith are ready for the next shot.
Santa in an alley Santa on the run.
Derrickson in an alley Derrickson runs dramatically down the alley. The cool looking steam vent on the right just happened to be there.
Santa scaling a wall Santa attempts to get his fat ass up the wall.
prepping at the fire escape Field frames a shot of Santa through the iron mesh of the stairs. It's clever camera work like this that helped Vendetta rake in the big bucks at the box office.
filming at the fire escape Derrickson takes a shot at Santa on the fire escape.
stuffed Santa Brendan, Jonathan, and Sean stuff the Santa suit before tossing it off a three story building.
proud parents We take pride in a job well done. Note Sean's glue-and-cottonball eyebrows.
kidnapping Santa It's not every day you're caught on film smuggling Santa's body in your trunk.
Santa kicks crotch There's nothing quite like a good kick in the sack.
Santa kicks crotch again Would you like fries with that crotch kick?
Santa has a hostage Santa has turned the tables.
Holy shit it's the cops! The Norwood Police show up to check out reports of Santa Claus waving a gun around in an industrial park. We somehow avoid arrest.
Norwood's finest gave us the green light We had a good laugh after the cops left, as we set up the dust tubing for Derrickson's bullet proof vest shot.
sliding a gun into frame It's amazing how many tries it takes to slide a gun into frame.
Smith's bed head First thing in the morning before shooting the infamous cottage scene, we see that B Smith's hair is in serious need of some gel.
cute couple The lovely Lauren Buckland (aka "Mrs. Claus") poses with her movie beau.
preparing for assault on style Field adjusts B Smith's tie for their secondary role as tactical assault specialists.
angry Mrs. Claus Mrs. Claus practices her game face.
the attack begins The attack begins...
severed rubber hand Oh well. Someone was bound to get hurt.
Mrs. Claus goes down A point blank shotgun blast is the only way to chill some people out. Lauren squeezed the blood out of the bottle with such force we spent the next hour cleaning it off the draperies.
filming dead bodies Field documents the aftermath.
dead people like dogs too Sarah poses with her dog and gaping head wound.
barbershop singing Field brings the cottage shoot to a close with a brief episode of solo barbershop crooning.
Santa makes a dash After taking the Taco Bell emergency exit, Santa gets ready to bolt.
Santa tosses cookies Santa loses his lunch.
adjusting Santa's fake belly Field helps S Smith readjust his belly after it is displaced by a 100 yard dash.
Smith getting shot B Smith, as a generic gunman, practices getting blown away by the spirit of Christmas.
Ninja Jesus! In a rush of improvisational energy, Thomas Sola (aka "Jesus" and "The Ninja") combines his roles in a divine display of martial arts action.
a mysterious scene There's just something about this photo.
run Santa run Sean Smith, who plays Santa, was a track star. It was all Brendan and Jonathan could do to keep up with him in scenes like this.
Santa and Jesus Jesus gives Santa the usual messianic threat: "I'll be back".
suicidal McKeegan McKeegan pays his respects to an old friend.
Sophia Field Karaoke So who took all these pictures anyways? Who was behind both the 8 and 35 mm cameras when the rest of us were in front? It was the adorable Sophia Field. Pictured here at karaoke, she played no less than five roles in Vendetta in addition to filming and even directing many shots.

Special thanks to Sophie for taking these pictures despite my complaining about it on set, and double thanks for scanning them all in on a moment's notice when I wanted them after.

She is currently a photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Check out her stuff-- she might even be able to make you look as good as we do.

Scenes From Vendetta Click Me Up Down