EXCLUSIVE: Jessica Marie Garcia (On My Block, Liv and Maddie) will produce and star in Randy Mandy and the Curse of the Plaza Theatre, a vampire comedy from Dawn of the Jerks Pictures set inside Atlanta’s historic Plaza Theatre.
Garcia will play Mandy Alejandra Pike, a British Latina vampire whose maker, Vicente, has held her captive as the Plaza Theatre’s sole employee since 1939. Living behind the movie screen and discovering herself through decades of cinema, Mandy, with help from her only vampire friend, Dawn, must find the strength to outmaneuver Vicente and secure her freedom.
Kristina Arjona (Christmas with Jerks, Mi Casa) directs from a script she co-wrote with Leanna Adams (Christmas with Jerks). The script won Arjona the 2026 Narrative Justice Filmmaker Award from the Women of Color Narrative Initiative with the Visionary Justice StoryLab.
Filming is set to begin in 2027 on location at the Plaza Theatre, which opened in December 1939. The Art Deco landmark is Atlanta’s longest continuously operating independent cinema and a longtime hub for independent, classic, and cult films. It is also the home of the Oscar-qualifying Atlanta Film Festival.
Garcia produces alongside Kiah Clingman of KiahCan Productions (Color Book, Boyz Trip), Marie Halliday of Curious Witch Films (The Great Lillian Hall) and Patricia Taylor. Richard Taylor, Patricia Taylor and Plaza Theatre owner Christopher Escobar serve as executive producers.
“I am beyond thrilled to go on this journey with this incredible team of artists,” shared Garcia. “A character like Mandy comes along once in a lifetime, and I am overjoyed to bring her to life.”
“We searched for a Latina Lucille Ball, a physical comedy queen with the authenticity to break your heart on a dime,” said Arjona. “The first time I met Jess, I knew we’d finally found our Mandy. She’s hilarious, sensual, fearlessly vulnerable, and absolutely magnetic. Not only is she killer as our lead, but as a producer, she shares our equitable and innovative vision for the entire production. We cannot wait to bring this film to life with Jess as our North Star.”
Garcia is a Cuban Mexican American actress, writer/producer and personality from Orlando, Florida. She most recently guest-starred on the second season of Hulu’s Paradise and the final season of NBC’s Lopez vs Lopez. She is best known for starring as the spitfire Jasmine Flores on the Netflix series On My Block and appeared in all four seasons of the hit Disney Channel original series Liv and Maddie as Willow Cruz. She also played Camila on Disney+’s Diary of a Female President, executive produced by Gina Rodriguez, and recurred on Shondaland’s How to Get Away with Murder, playing Rhonda Navarro opposite Viola Davis. Garcia is repped by CAA, Cohesive Entertainment Group, LBI Entertainment and Jackoway Austen.
