Andrea Hays

When Andrea was about 7 years old, she watched "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" for the first time. While other kids were afraid of the bloody organ scene and had nightmares; Andrea and her siblings tried to recreate the set in their basement. "I had the bright idea of using my Mom's red nail polish on my fingers and making bloody fingerprints on our Hammond organ." Mom was both impressed with the creativity shown and upset that the organ now had bloody fingerprints! This led to a lifetime of appreciation for the sets, props and Make-up associated with horror films. Her mother also found a local Haunted House that allowed children to volunteer-She and her siblings that were old enough jumped at the chance! "Basically, blame my Mom for encouraging this fascination with what scares people!" Andrea went to school originally for Technical Theater-costume emphasis. She got interested in film while studying at MSU ,they had a great film program. After graduation Andrea moved to Seattle and was working in local Theater (including the Rep) and the Independent film scene in the area in the 1980's and early 90's. Fed up with how people at the beginning of the AIDS crisis were being treated, she took a course in how to home care for them and found another calling. She went back to school to study nursing while working full time-Her role as Heidi on the David Lynch series "Twin Peaks" helped her to go to Nursing school full time! Fast Forward over 25 years and, due to injuries sustained in an assault, Andrea had to semi-retire from Nursing. Coincidently, "Twin Peaks the Return" was being filmed and she reprised her role of Heidi. "I was able to thank David for helping me through nursing school-he was touched". Back to her first love, Andrea teamed up with the people at Cascadia Dread to produce several Horror shorts. "All my Years as a charge nurse really helped me become a good producer as I see minute details. I also joke that I put out fires before they start". Andrea formed Smarticle Productions for any non-horror films the group wanted to do. She continues her love of Haunted Houses by volunteering for Nile Nightmares for the past ten years.