Longtime film industry champion Andy Edmunds mortgaged his home to produce his own film, which debuts Tuesday in Richmond

After nearly 30 years of championing Virginia’s film industry, Andy Edmunds will launch the 2026 Richmond International Film Festival with “The Cashier,” his feature film debut as a writer and director.

“The Cashier” is a dark comedy set in Richmond and centered on Glenda (Daphne Maxwell Reid), a humble cashier who stumbles upon a winning lottery ticket.

Rather than considering what she could do to improve her life with this sudden windfall, however, Glenda is more concerned about who lost the ticket.

“The lead character doesn’t have an arc,” said Edmunds, who is director of the Virginia Film Office. “She came into this wealth and, because of who she is, she doesn’t change, but the people around her change. Then we see at the end what she does with this.”

In addition to Daphne Maxwell Reid, the film also stars accomplished actors Michael Marundé, Robin “The Lady of Rage” Allen, Tim Reid, and Paul Wilson, and Izaak Bellis as a boy named Rush (a character named after the band, not the talk show host).

While “The Cashier” explores political extremism, morality, and integrity, often heavy subjects, the film uses humor throughout to lighten these issues; ultimately, “The Cashier” settles in as a “feel-good” film. 

Edmunds took a financial risk to fund “The Cashier” by taking out a second mortgage on his home. “In order to get this thing going, I had to leverage myself….it’s not a huge budget movie, but it’s a significant amount of money,” adding, “my wife and I haven’t been averse to taking wild, crazy risks in our lives.”

While Edmunds emphasized the amount of solitary time that writing the script consumed, he also noted that the process then transformed into a completely collaborative effort once the filming began.

“That’s when the beauty comes in. You have to trust your partners in going on this quest together,” he said.

The story for the film, essentially about the message that giving is more gratifying than receiving, came to him in 2018. Once he completed the script, he was confident the story would attract a great cast.

“Actors really respond to good writing and good dialogue,” he said.

While Edmunds initially sought the services of a top director for the film (he initially wanted Vince Gilligan or Jordan Peele), he ultimately chose himself, realizing his wealth of experience in working on over 80 other films with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Terence Malick, Ben Affleck and Ethan Hawke, among many others.

Ultimately, he credited his work with all of these directors, actors and crews in obtaining the vision to complete the film. “I was in the trenches,” he said. “I’ve seen how other directors handle the pressure.”

As he moved through the experience of writing and directing his first feature-length film, he emphasized trust, “to listen to everyone, whether you’re bringing breakfast or rolling in the lights. Hear what they have to say and know that the decisions you make at the top of the food chain can affect everyone, all the way down to the locations person trying to get parking on the street.” 

As Edmunds also anticipated from his experience, the days are long, which is why this trust is crucial.

“You work 14-16 hours a day for 20 days straight and then you collapse. And then two weeks later, you do it again,” he said.

For his cinematographer, Edmunds chose Kunitaro Ohi, who studied film and photography at VCU and who had worked on many commercials and film projects. 

“I just loved his work that I had seen,” Edmunds said. “He has a sense for composition, framing and light that I wanted to capture.” 

Along with the human actors in the film, “The Cashier” also includes animals, including a dog and a cat, both of whom had to be trained for specific scenes in the film. Edmunds was particularly excited about the cat, a “very long” Maine Coon. There is even a specific scene in the film with a fly, an insect that Edmunds explained represented karma. “It was shocking and I wanted it,” he said.

In addition to the choice of director, Edmunds also emphasized he wanted to make the film with a crew entirely from Virginia.

“I knew we had the skills here in Virginia,” he said. “When a big movie comes to the state (Terrence Malick’s film “The New World,” for example, on which he worked), they bring all their personnel. I wanted a Virginia crew with high positions of authority and creativity.”

“The Cashier” will open The 16th Annual Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF), on Tuesday at The Byrd Theatre. The RIFF screens more than 160 film premieres, plus six full days of panels, events, mixers, conferences and music, making it one of the East Coast's largest and most sought after international competitive festivals.

“The Cashier” will also screen at the Virginia Film Festival (Oct. 21-25) in Charlottesville and the Washington West Film Festival on Oct. 10 in D.C.

“The Washington West festival has a great mission of giving and philanthropy,” Edmunds noted. “All the proceeds go to supporting children’s charities around Virginia. It’s all about charity, man.”

Indeed, so is the message of “The Cashier.”