Coronado High School and Coronado School of the Arts 2010 graduate Michael Silberblatt won Best Supporting Performance at the AFIN International Film Festival for his role in “Devil’s Playground.”
“Devil’s Playground” is a United State Short Film directed by Halle Sullivan and John Steele.
Synopsis: In the quirky suburban neighborhood of Devil’s Playground, multiple children, including Molly’s daughter Zoe, have gone missing. As Molly grapples with the devastating loss, she faces a choice: continue her relentless search for Zoe or succumb to the temptation of forgetting her grim reality and moving on. Molly must navigate the eerie landscape of her community while confronting her own inner demons. As she dives deeper into the mystery, she discovers unsettling truths that challenge her perception of both her neighborhood and herself. In this gripping story of loss, resilience, and the struggle for closure, Molly’s journey explores the darkest corners of truth and illusion.
A Coronado beginning
Michael didn’t always know he wanted to be an actor. In fact, he didn’t know about the CoSA program until eighth grade, when he was in Ms. Linda Kullmann’s Performing Arts class, and she encouraged him to audition. “Over the summer of seventh and eighth grades, I enrolled in short drama camps in Virginia, where my dad lives. But that was it.” He recalls a guest choreographer, Fusion, who Linda Kullmann brought in for a Hip Hop lesson. “He really brought me out of my introverted shell.”
Coronado School of the Arts
When asked how CoSA shaped his career, Michael says, “If you had asked me this question six or seven years ago, I would have said it was the scene study or the acting class. But now, everything is truly the answer. It’s all of them. Even for ‘Devil’s Playground,’ there was a very movement-heavy sequence that I could not have done if it weren’t for the dance classes. A lot of those dance and movement classes, learning to be in tune with your body and move in interesting ways that are maybe slightly inhuman, were really integral to that particular film. Honestly, it’s like every single class. It was voice acting, scene study, and dance. Blended, it creates a cohesive experience.”
In general, Michael refers to his teachers in Coronado as “Some of the best teachers I’ve ever had. Honestly, I would place them at the same level as, or above, my university professors. Because of the strength of the Coronado Unified School District, I grew up at an early age being very academically oriented, really curious to learn new things, and understand other people’s perspectives.”
Advice for current CoSA students and recent graduates
Michael shares his advice for other students trying to break into the industry. “The whole industry is about relationships, even more than your resume at times. It doesn’t matter what project you’re working on, whether it’s a small student film, educational theater, or anything. Be on time, do your best, and be a good human. Everybody you work with, whether it’s your high school teachers or your peers in your classes, eventually knows everybody. It’s especially true as you grow up. Then, you’re in your 30s, and your peers are the people who are the producers of the projects that you want to be in. It’s all about relationships and being a good person first and foremost.”
From Coronado to Chicago to New York to Atlanta
After graduating from Coronado High School in 2010, Michael was accepted to the acting program at Northwestern University. “They have an acclaimed acting program that I launched myself straight into and was pretty heavily involved in after graduating from college. However, that was a rough transition for me.”
Michael considers his post-college path relatable. “You have to set your own goal posts, you’re not surrounded by your peers 24/7, and you’re not chasing these arbitrary markers, like a grade in a class. You have to determine what you want to accomplish, and you’re not given gold stars or good grades when you get them. It took me three years before I felt like I found my feet again and understood what I wanted to try to achieve.”
He explains, “I kind of floundered around New York City for about three years doing small, odd jobs here and there, and not really gaining a lot of career traction. But after those three years, where I felt like I had a lack of continuing education or a lack of career development, I met another actor, Michael Shenefelt, who became sort of a mentor to me. He advised that I move to Atlanta to try to seek out some of the TV opportunities with smaller co-star roles to build up my resume so I could compete more practically in an audition environment for larger roles. That was really helpful.”
“Devil’s Playground” & AIFN
Michael explains “Devil’s Playground.” “The film is about a small, quirky town in Georgia where children seem to be mysteriously disappearing, and a mother searches for her missing daughter by retracing her daughter’s steps through a playground that seems to be maintained by an odd playground manager, played by me.”
Digging deeper into the heart of the film, Michael shares, “There’s a lot of symbolism, double meanings, and metaphors throughout the film. It’s a short film, about 11 minutes. A lot of people are really shocked by that. My character’s official name in the credits is Lucas. But, there’s a very, very, very, very brief shot, if you’re very attuned and paying close attention, it zooms in on his name tag, and his name tag actually reads Lucifer, but the ‘ifer’ is crossed out, and it’s with an ‘as.’ I interpreted the character as not really a human being, but almost as the spirit of the devil trying his best to inhabit the husk of a human and try to blend in with others in this town.”
Even though Michael was nominated for an award at AFIN, he almost didn’t go. “This was not one of those things where they would pay for your flights and accommodation, so I did that myself.” He adds with a laugh, “I also wanted an excuse to go to Australia.”
The festival experience overall was very positive. “I met a lot of really cool and very ambitious Queensland-based filmmakers down there, as well as other actors and folks. I went to all three nights of the film screenings and saw a ton of other award-winning films at that festival. The award ceremony was at the end of the week.”
AFIN Best Supporting Performance win
On learning that he won Best Supporting Performance, Michael says he was in complete shock. He takes us back to the beginning of the monumental week. “I saw one of the festival’s co-directors, Vicky Wanless, at each of the screening days. She was very kind.” Michael switches into a perfect Australian accent as he continues, “And she was like, ‘Hey, Michael, I want to let you know that it’s a huge pleasure to be a part of this festival, and just being here, you are a winner. But we can only choose one winner, so don’t be disappointed or anything. You’re here, and it’s truly an honor.” Michael laughs and drops the accent as he continues, “I figured she was letting me down easy. I was not expecting to win whatsoever. I was just happy to be there, and quite frankly, I saw all the other performances that were nominated in my same category.”
As humble as Michael is, he says, “If it were up to me, as objectively as possible, I would not have even voted for me. I would have voted for at least two of the other actors in that category above myself. So, I was truly, truly shocked. My dad was there in the audience. It was his first time in Australia. It was really special to have him there. There’s a video out there somewhere on social media. When my name was announced, I froze. He’s the one who’s shouting and clapping like a three-year-old child. He was more visibly excited than I was.”
“Devil’s Playground” is not currently available to stream, as it is still finishing up its festival run, but Michael believes it will move to online distribution within the next couple of months.
What’s next
As far as his next plans, Michael shares, “There’s a film that I worked on last year called ‘Temple’, and the trailer for that released last week. It’s a film based on a true story of two brothers who have to navigate caring for their elderly grandfather as he slowly loses his memory, and at the same time, a pair of Latter Day Saints missionaries tries to, not so subtly, extort money from him or to get him to sell over his house to the church. It’s actually a very sort of melancholy story. I’m excited about that. I’ve seen it myself a number of times. I think it’s quite good. We’re hoping to premiere that at the Atlanta Film Festival in April.”
As far as upcoming projects, Michael is the recurring voice for Galixon Townsend in Yu-Gi-Oh!: Go Rush!!! and a voice actor in an upcoming video game, Aether & Iron.
While Michael has been represented by agents in Atlanta, he has also joined a new agency in New York City. “Later this year, I’ll be transitioning into a phase where, rather than living full-time in Atlanta, I’ll be bouncing back and forth between New York and Atlanta.
Thanks to the Coronado community
Michael Silberblatt ends the interview with a note to the Coronado community. “I’m really grateful for having grown up in Coronado. I think it’s a lovely place to grow up, with lovely people, and really cool opportunities. Every time I go back, it’s always a great experience. I’m really grateful for my hometown.”
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