San Diego-based director, actor and writer Jennifer Linch is branching out from her martial arts comedy filmmaking into "The Forbidden Forest," a "dark tale about a young and innocent princess with magical powers."

Sunshine Pictures Productions, Linch's flagship production company, has been hard at work. "The Forbidden Forest" is being directed by its star Jennifer Linch, who also wrote the screenplay.

Linch begins with the look.

Speaking exclusively with KpopStarz, the director said "I like to start with the cinematography. To film in the most beautiful way possible."

Linch said "The Forbidden Forest" is "is a short film for the comic book version that Kenneth Montgomery and I have been working on for a while. A commitment I made to my friend so no matter how busy I am."

The actress says she is able to explore much darker sides of her character than she's had the freedom in the past.

The star says she took on the film to "challenge my ability to transcend some parts of me that I don't really have: contempt, anger, tears , resentment. ... It would be interesting to see how an actor can tap into the deepest part of their subconscious mind to transfer some part of their personality into a role .

The  shooting of "The Forbidden Forest" is being  films in true indie fashion. The director is casting the film as it shoots.

"Dustin Stern-Garcia is my first love on screen and I am Eric Occhipinti's first love," she said. "I need a male actor, 23 to 29 years old, who can play a handsome charismatic ghost."

According the official synopsis, The Forbidden Forest "is a dark tale about a young and innocent princess with magical powers who is exposed to dark magic and violence while living within an Forbidden Forest. She rescues and falls in love with a handsome prince, only to have him abandon her for reasons unknown, and when he returns to claim his love for her, will their love survive the dark magic that has grown while he has been gone? A mystical adventure of love and magic."

Jennifer Linch plays The Sorcerer. Eric Occhipinti makes his screen debut as The Prince. The movie also stars Gerren Hall, who played in the film "Mission: Imposter," and appeared on the TV series "Grey's Anatomy" as a patient in the episode "Fear (of the Unknown)." He was also on the TV series "Blacklisted." Chris Black, who was in the short films "The Good Gay" and  "The Violin's Blade."

Linch told KpopStarz exclusively, that her training includes "six years of karate and one year of Mixed Martial Arts." The athletic beauty also admitted that she's trained "only 3 months of Wushu sword."  

Linch opened Sunshine Pictures Productions in April 2014 and has three projects in production. Her film "Malevolence (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3633686/)," is gathering funding for a release as a feature. Linch also finished principle photography for her short film "The Dream."