Tabor- Loris Tribune Tabor City's Hometown Newspaper Showdown: a Film, a TC Homecoming for its Star "April 22, 2026" by Deuce Nivan tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com What's a wedding event planner with an appetite for music and movies doing in Tabor city? For Kandi Thompson, it's all a part of the adventure that is her life, a Tabor City native who felt drawn to Knoxville Tennessee, where she became involved in helicopter tourism, singing, ghost hunting, and acting before launching a Wedding event business with operations in Myrtle Beach and the Smoky Mountains with her husband, Justin Thompson. Their meeting is as unusual as their lives, but more on that later. Showdown Kandi's star seems to be rising as she stars in a new feature film, Showdown in Secret City, produced by Independent southern filmmakers: Big N Funky Productions Producer and Big N Funky co-owner/creator Vinnie "Funkmaster V" Vineyard says Kandi is just right for the role and their latest project extends a long collaboration between the friends in the creative team. Showdown blends "satire, sci-fi, and action" while asking the question at the center of today's cultural conversation: "what happens when machines begin to replace human artistry?" Artificial intelligence, AI, is at the center of the film, which is due for a June 30 release on Amazon and Tubi, Vineyard said. A portion of the film was shot in Tabor City, near the former WF Cox supply hardware store downtown. Kandi says the movie "reflects the grit and determination of southern independent film makers working with limited resources but delivering a story with global relevance." The news release said the film is based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and features the Oak Ridge super computer as the AI villain. Kandi, the former Kandi Nealy, was born in reared and Tabor City, with her father, Terry, being a well-known local pastor. She felt a different calling, dropping out of South Columbus high school but eventually completing her high school work. "I did three years in college and ended up going into business," Kandi said. Business took Kandi to Knoxville, Tennessee. "I just felt like I was being pulled," Kandi said, "I felt like God was me leading there. When I got there something in my life just clicked." After joining an alternative rock band Kandi said "I felt like I found my voice." She then found a day job as a ticket officer with Scenic Helicopter Tours, a Sevierville based company, whose name pretty well describes the mission. It was through that business where she met Vinnie, a transplant from Baltimore, a pro wrestler, a reverend and an independent filmmaker. She's been involved in other projects with Vinnie, including "The Hike," a 2021 horror survival movie, and also Camp Smokey, a movie that was filmed in Tabor city, Fairbluff, and at the Lu Mill Vineyard near Elizabethtown. "I do like to bring it home," Kandi said of her influence on selecting locations for her film. Marathon Adventure Kandi met Justin at Tabor City's Marathon convenient store. "We were both at the pumps getting gasoline. I was so smitten that I forgot to pump my gas and ran out of fuel down the road," Kandi said "I had gotten his phone number and I called him. I don't think he believed that I just ran out of gas." Justin is from the Molly community and like Kandi has plenty of family in the area. Both felt the call to Knoxville, which was paid off when they started their wedding event business, which operates in Myrtle Beach and in the Great Smoky Mountains. "He runs to the beach, I do the mountains," Kandi said. AI wrote itself into the latest film, in a way. One of their partners suggested doing an online skit based on an AI meme. "AI wrote a Batman script," Vinnie said "It was terrible. It was so terrible. It was funny." "Vinnie literally fell on the floor, laughing in the middle of the restaurant," Kandi recalls, "we agreed, we need to make a movie about AI." Showdown in Secret City is fiction, though it may be hard to see it that way. "We're all playing ourselves: a ragtag movie making group," Kandi says "my twist is that I have a British accent for no reason." "We spent nine months working on it. I've edited it for four months after that." Vinnie also said the film is a micro budget movie. Micro budget indeed! When the production company executives from Lionsgate and Runway found out it was made for less than $10,000- they were stunned. "I explained, I'm likable and I've got a lot of friends," Vinnie said "we're Big N Funky! a family: comedians, wrestlers, musicians, rappers, all sorts. It's growing too." Much of the cast and crew work for very little or no money. That includes Justin Thompson, Kandi's husband, who is a Big N Funky cameraman. Message Vinnie said the film mixes science fiction, horror and comedy. "The real crux is human beings versus AI. The war for art. I like AI in some forms: for medical technology, experiments, trying to develop new ways to treat people. But when it comes to art? Forget about it." "There are so many programs you can use now and say 'make me a funk song about giraffe smoking pot' and it will come out with a song in less than two minutes. AI is here, and it's not going anywhere soon." But that won't stop him or his film from making a statement: "I'm the stagecoach guy shaking my fist as the train goes by." HOME