My name is Mary C. Ferrara and I am an actress/filmmaker based in Quincy, Massachusetts. I have been acting in film for over 20 years. Rhode Island has been significant in my career.

Back in 2005, while working on some films in the Boston area, I had met an actor/director named Daniel Lee White, who was from Rhode Island. He invited me to come to Rhode Island and act in his films (and I returned the favor by giving him a speaking role in my comedy feature “Wallie’s Gals”). I eventually worked with other Rhode Island-based filmmakers, like Barrington’s Seth Chitwood; acting in several of his web series.

Then in 2018, I got into filmmaking myself.

After completing my short film “Schmoopie,” I wrote a comedy feature about a group of women reuniting 30 years after working in a discount clothing store. It came after a discussion on social media about me personally having a lack of comedic footage for my acting demo reel. Other actresses chimed in saying that they’d like to do more comedy too. I said “OK, I’ll write us a script!.” And so began my script “Wallie’s Gals.”

After I completed the script, I then began locations for the store that the Gals would have worked in back the ‘80s. I decided I wanted the location to either be in Massachusetts or Rhode Island. I looked up stores in Massachusetts, only to be disheartened that they were either closed or a bit too small.

So I did a google search for “thrift stores in Rhode Island.” The first result was “The Lions’s Den,” a store in Warren, RI. I went to the web site and saw interior pictures of the store. I loved it, it was a nice size, had a great variety of clothes, and the wood paneled walls were so retro.

I messaged “The Lion’s Den” through their Facebook site, asking if I could use the store for a film shoot. They responded yes, that they would be interested! So the “The Lion’s Den” became “Wallie’s Big Deals.”

We filmed a couple of weekends in the fall of 2019; and came back in 2021 and 2022 for some additional footage involving the present day cast. It was a wonderful location for a big cast. It had a roomy basement the actors could hang out in, as well as a kitchenette and four bathrooms.

The building had a great layout for some fun blocking, including a back room that the employees of “Wallie’s Big Deals” could hang out in. In general, this store was so perfect for the flashback section of the film, which takes place in 1989.

In the flashback section of the film, we meet Wallie, who owns the store; Wallie’s Beauty Pageant winner girlfriend Leanne; the store manager Maxine; Jeannette and Lorraine, the two clerks behind the register; and Maneki, the outdoor greeter.

Maxine, Jeannette, Lorraine, and Maneki are unifyingly called “Wallie’s Gals” (an ode to “Charlie’s Angels”) as they are the glue that keeps the store together. The Gals each have their own unique personalities and quirks, which helps the store in its time of need.

The Gals then reunite 30 years later, over 50 now and funnier than ever. Their uniqueness makes for some fun repartee.

Many thanks to The Baptist Church of Warren and the staff of “The Lion’s Den” for being so accommodating; especially Esther Irish, who even after “The Lion’s Den” closed, wouldn’t return her key to the store until we finished filming.

“Wallie’s Gals” was just made public online after finishing a 3-year festival run. Notably, it won a 2025 Telly Award in the Comedy category.

Learn more about the film and the wonderful crew and cast - which includes Wakefield, Rhode Island’s Roe Pacheco as present day Maxine; and watch all of the teasers, trailers, and the film itself at www.walliesgals.com.