Jillian Clare To Make Directorial Debut on 'To The Beat!' Film Cast Includes Marie Wilson, Lilly Melgar, Eric Martsolf

Jillian Clare played Abigail Deveraux on Days of  our Lives in 2003-2004.
Her career has since included much success in TV, film and the Web.
Photo Credit: Albert L. Ortega

Days of our Lives alum and Indie Series Award winning actress Jillian Clare is stepping behind the camera with her directorial debut of To The Beat! a fun, family feature film which begins filming next week in Los Angeles. The dramedy tells the story of 14-year-old twin sisters who enter a contest to be dancers in their favorite pop stars music video, which leads to a battle with their rival, across the street, the best dancer of all, who wants to win the contest as well.

Portraying Camila, the soft-spoken, widowed mother of the twins, is Marie Wilson (As the World Turns, Port Charles, Days of our Lives), who is joined by Emmy and Indie Series Award winning Lilly Melgar (The Bay, General Hospital) playing their fashionista Aunt, Ana Sophia – the sister of their deceased father. Also in the cast is Emmy winner Eric Martsolf (Days of our Lives, Passions), playing Michael Adams, the father of the spoiled neighbor (who she has tightly wrapped around her finger), and Martha Madison (Days of our Lives) as Clare, her very Southern mother, that's slightly obsessed with Paula Abdul.

“I'm so excited to be directing some of my favorite co-stars including Martha, Marie and Lilly, whom I worked with on Ladies of the Lake, and Eric, who I've known forever and worked with many years ago on Miss Behave," said Clare about her directorial debut “It's definitely these four soap veterans like you've never seen them before as they join about 25 teenagers in a fun, family dance movie.”

To The Beat! is being produced by Susan Bernhardt, and her company Leonian Pictures, alongside Clare's own production company, Whimsical Entertainment. Additional cast, including the announcement of all the teen stars, will happen early next week, just prior to cameras rolling. The film is slated for a summer 2017 release.