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Worcester Native Working on Set of New Whitey Bulger Movie

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

A Worcester native is currently working on the set of the new Whitey Bulger film, “Black Mass,” starring Johnny Depp, Kevin Bacon, and Sienna Miller, among others.


Ryan Convery, 32, was born in Worcester and currently lives in nearby Lowell. He works as the special effects makeup lab production assistant, helping with all of the molding and prosthetics work for the movie.


“I haven’t had a chance to meet Johnny Depp yet because most of my time is spent in a lab,” said Convery. “I have had the opportunity to go into his dressing room to drop off some of the stuff I have made though, which is pretty cool.”


The movie is currently filming in locations throughout Massachusetts. The film chronicles the life of Whitey Bulger and John Connolly. The film is set to be released in October 2015.


Coming Full Circle

Convery’s film career has taken him across the country and back. Although originally heading out to Los Angeles, he pretty quickly returned to the Worcester area.


Convery originally went to college out in Los Angeles to learn how to do makeup and a variety of other cosmetic techniques for films. After the shops for movie makeup began to close in LA, Convery moves back to the area to go to college in Boston. It was there that he learned animatronics, editing and more, all techniques that he uses to this day.


Now in the Worcester area to stay, Convery is taking time to enjoy the local movie scene as well as the local talent. Convery tries to make his independent films as locally as possible, using local actors, locations, and workers.


“The Worcester movie community has been growing because there is so much local talent around here,” said Convery. “Because of the growth, it is easy to get involved with the local talent. For many of these jobs it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. After all, it was a local connection from one of my old jobs that got me the job working on the “Black Mass” set.”


Fat Foot Films

While “Black Mass” is the biggest film that Convery has had a chance to work on, he is no stranger to films. Convery is the Founder and President of Fat Foot Films, a production company he founded in Lowell in 2007.


Fat Foot Films has produced two full-length feature films: “Joy and the Apocalypse,” a straight to TV drama/love story and “Mourning Wood,” a zombie-based stoner/comedy. They are currently working on the film “How I Dumped My Boyfriend’s Body,” which Convery produced, edited, and did the camera-work for.


While all smaller independent films, Convery says that they were all an enjoyment to create. In addition to doing full length films, the company also does a variety of smaller comedy and offbeat horror films, all with a focus on entertaining their audience.


“The first movie I made was horrible,” but it really helped me to get into making movies,” said Convery. “People still call me to this day and talk to me about how much they still enjoy the film. It was definitely weird going from this crazy stoner comedy to a drama/love story, but it was cool to get the exposure from “Joy and the Apocalypse.” That movie made it on streaming sites, and a few TV stations which was pretty cool.”


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