September 28, 2022 • 46 mins
Filmmakers Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer visit Screen Slate HQ to talk about their new feature God’s Creatures, a disquieting family drama set in a tightly knit seaside Irish fishing community. Our discussion included working with actors Emily Watson and Paul Mescal, the influence of dance and choreography on their visual storytelling, and how a last-ditch trip to Google Earth helped them find the perfect coastal fish processing plant location.
Hosted by Jon Dieringer. Audio post by C. Spencer Yeh
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God’s Creatures opens today at Angelika Film Center
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jon Dieringer (00:22):
You are listening to the Screen Slate Podcast. I'm
your host John Derringer, andthis week I'm thrilled to be
joined by the filmmakers andarose Homer and Sylvia Davis.
Homer and Davis are longtimecollaborators who may be
familiar to our listeners fortheir first narrative feature
the critically acclaimed 2015release that fits. Your follow
up is God's creatures, whichpremiered at Cannes this May and
(00:43):
is now hitting theaters thisFriday from a 24/7 a coastal
fishing community in Ireland.
The story focuses on the bondbetween a lien played by Emily
Watson and her adult son Brianplayed by the suddenly
ubiquitous Paul Mescal. Shortlyafter returning home from seven
years abroad, Brian is accusedof a terrible crime and alien is
torn between the mother and urgeto protect her son and her own
(01:03):
sense of right and wrong. It's atense emotional story rooted in
an almost haunting sense ofplace, and keenly attuned to
small town social dynamics. Andeveryone, including Watson and
Mescal give the nominalperformances, great chat with
Homer Davis, about thedevelopment their process in the
film story, and I'm excited foryou to hear it. Before we get to
(01:23):
the conversation, I want toshout out to our Patreon members
who make Screen Slate possible.
This is the primary form ofsupport for not just the
podcast, but the entire ScreenSlate operation, including New
York City Film listings andeditorial. We're nonprofessional
nonprofit organization. And thePatreon helps us to pay on a
record of writers and editorscover web development and
(01:45):
hosting and just keep the wholeship afloat. So if you depend on
our work, then give us yoursupport at patreon.com/screen
slate and throw us a couple ofbucks a month. And then you also
get access to stuff like OURDISCORD SERVER podcast, bonus
episodes, discounts frompartners like criterion and post
riportati invitations to specialevents and so much more. So
(02:06):
that's patreon.com/screen Slatepin for those of you who are
already supporting us, thank youso much for making this
possible. So you were at theRockaway Film Festival last
night? Yeah. How did that go?
Saela Davis (02:22):
It went really well. I mean, it was very cold,
which we were prepared for. Butit was just such a, you know, as
we were driving out the sun wassetting and I think it really
reminded us of our time inIreland, you know, just get on
the water again. And it's justsuch a perfect environment to
watch our film. You know, youkind of have the natural
(02:43):
environment the sound playplaying live for you. So it has
this like virtual reality callit like you can be in the world
of the film as you're watching.
So I thought it was very cool.
Anna Rose Holmer (02:53):
It was really cool. Yeah, and it was a you
know, very local crowd. And thecommunity in the Rockaways is
like a community that has a veryintimate relationship with the
sea and in the water. And, andso I felt like we had a real,
like, nuanced conversation thatwe hadn't had, we haven't had
the opportunity to have reallyabout, like, the relationship
(03:16):
between people and see and thatthe duality of that the fact
that you know, it's like, yousubsist off of it, you know, you
you feed your family off of whatyou gather from the sea, but it
also could take your life andyeah, it felt it felt really
nice. And then Lea. I don't knowif this is like, we're just
talking or if this is, yeah.
Moderated our q&a. And she's anold friend. And so that felt
(03:41):
nice to to, she asked like acool question at the end about
sensory, our sensory memories.
And it like immediate, like, weall just like immediately went
back to Denny gall and ourbrains into the set like it just
like, because we were out in thecold. I think like we were
already having that like, closesensory proximity to the memory
(04:05):
of making the movie. Sure.
Jon Dieringer (04:06):
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I mean, that was one
thing that really struck meabout the film is just that
immersion and that sense ofplace and how sensory it is even
in terms of just like, the smellof the ocean. And of course of
all the fish. Do you want totalk about, like how you found
that location? Because, youknow, as I understood, like, the
(04:27):
story was kind of set and carry,which is in the, I guess, for
the listeners, like thesouthwest part of Ireland, and
you ended up shooting in adifferent area than Northwest.
Saela Davis (04:39):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
You know, so the story comesfrom our producer, Lola Cronin,
O'Reilly and our screenwriterShane Crowley, and they are from
Cary. And so they really kind ofhad drafted the screenplay,
shared it with us. We fell inlove with it and kind of
continued to develop it forabout two and a half years with
them and We would travel tocarry while we were developing
(05:01):
the script and Anna and I, youknow, love to just like immerse
ourselves in a place and get atrue understanding of the
environment, the people, thetextures of the world. And so it
was important for us to livethere and spend some time there.
As we were like thinking aboutthis film, and I think one of
our primary focuses was thisfish processing warehouse, which
(05:24):
is where Aileen works and, youknow, kind of the second home
for her. And we really thought alot about kind of that location
and its relationship to theother parts of the world. So the
pier, the Ohara family home, andwe really want it to be kind of
this like central point. And soI think we were just kind of,
(05:48):
like, Where where is this fishprocessing warehouse like very
early on. And there are so manyalong the coast in Ireland. And
so while we were in Cary, wewould kind of like, right, and
then go and do the scouts andlook at different fish
processing warehouses, and neverfound the right one. And so that
just kind of became this, like,you know, goal, like, let's walk
(06:09):
in this location. And so, Annaand I were back in Brooklyn, in
our office, and we were justthinking about this location,
and I ended up going on GoogleEarth. And I was like, Okay,
we're gonna
Anna Rose Holmer (06:23):
look at the entire coast of Ireland, and
just kind of like, scroll scrolluntil we, because we have this
such a precise image in ourmind, of the, like, Sylvia said,
this relationship betweenplaces. And so,
Saela Davis (06:39):
you know, I'm like, particular shots, right? We were
like that want to see from thepier, we want to be able to see
the fish factory, and like theinverse of that. And so,
Anna Rose Holmer (06:47):
yeah, and so we were silly, he was doing
this. And I was saying, This isinsane. There's no way from
Brooklyn, we're going to do it.
And then suddenly, like, foundthis bit of land. And she was
like this, this and we looked,and we were looking at the shape
of things. And we're like,there's a building on it. And
it's like, you know, it's a fishprocessing warehouse. So we call
(07:08):
up Shane and fola. Or in Cary,it's like a six hour drive. And
we're like, you gotta go toSenegal, you got to define this
as I think this is it. And Iremember they, they sent some
videos and some photos of theapproach. And I was like, this
is our this is our movie, like Iwas, you know, getting chills
and then they they went and thewarehouse is completely empty.
(07:32):
It's it's not a functioning fishprocessing warehouse perfect.
And that that family that ownsit became just an integral part
of it. They were incrediblygenerous. So, you know, we were
able to build and design thefish processing warehouse to be
exactly how we wanted it to bebecause it was empty, you know,
and paint everything and designand we built that office up.
(07:52):
That was that was completely abuild, you know, so it became a
set but, but that communityreally became our home base. And
it is a little confusing. But itis set in carry. So yeah, it's
Donegall for carry, you know,everybody is speaking. You know,
it's a Western accent but it isspecifically carry accent Are
(08:14):
there
Jon Dieringer (08:16):
different dialects and it's okay.
Anna Rose Holmer (08:19):
So for Irish audiences, it's a little bit of
a, you know, trick because it'sbecause it's done it all but it
is it is carry.
Saela Davis (08:27):
But I think we also did a you know, we intentionally
we're trying to have kind ofcontaining like the image in
order to know that's therenecessarily, like obscure that
it's done in Gaul, but I thinkwe weren't you know, there are a
lot of iconic really, yeah, wellknown landmarks in that area
like these like beautiful hikes.
These beautiful points. Andyeah, I don't think we were
(08:49):
like,
Anna Rose Holmer (08:51):
Yeah, we were trying to kind of simultaneously
a little bit out of place alittle bit out of time. Yeah.
Jon Dieringer (08:57):
I mean, have have Irish audiences. Notice that
like, for instance, I'm fromOhio, and sometimes there's a
movie shot in like Los Angelesthat said, and I quote unquote,
Ohio when I can tell thedifference, but you know,
watching this of course, I hadno idea whatsoever, you
Saela Davis (09:13):
had a probably like a strong knowledge of the
geography because there is alike, mountain that is
recognizable. So and yeah, Ithink maybe,
Anna Rose Holmer (09:24):
I don't know.
Yeah, I mean, we haven't had arelease in Ireland yet. We're
really like, excited for thatfuture point. I did see some
chatter just on the trailerabout accent. You know, it's
like, I think Irish audienceswill be excited. I hope. I hope
they Yeah, really are for thisfilm.
Jon Dieringer (09:40):
Yeah. And also, I mean, I think another important
thing, in fact, maybe like acentral thing in the film is
social dynamics of the smallcommunity, from reading the
press notes, you know,understood, and I think you just
mentioned that follow on chainor both from from there. You
know, how did the communityreact to the filming Like, did
(10:00):
they? You know, obviously, thisis a different part of Ireland.
But did they recognize their owncommunity in the script? Or were
they not maybe fully aware ofwhat the story was about?
Anna Rose Holmer (10:14):
I can't answer part of that question. Like, I
can't speak for the localcommunity in their own
experience of shooting it. But Iknow that it was very important
to us, you know, you have youbring on location team, you
know, and they are kind of yourambassadors when you when you
start, like, they're the oneswho are going out and having
(10:36):
those early conversations. It'snot just about like, is this
house the right house, but youknow, you start small, you build
your team on location, it's afew people, and then it's a
dozen people. And then, youknow, before, you know, it's 100
people, and you have to be veryhonest, because that it's
important that when people sayyes, they they truly are saying
(10:58):
yes to your film. Yeah. And so,you know, we actually did have
early conversations with fola,our producer, and with Gordon,
our head of our locations team,about what those conversations
would be and how explicit wewould be about this film. And we
all decided, you know, that wasour philosophy to be very honest
(11:19):
and very open so that when yousaid, yes, it wasn't the movie
comes out, and all of a sudden,feels like you didn't know what
you're participating in. And theother element of working, we
were in Donegal, and we wantedessays that had very specific
skill sets. So all of ourbackground cast, you know, they
work in fish processingwarehouses, they are oyster
(11:41):
farmers, and that firsthandknowledge, you know, was really
important to us, and to treatall of that cast as experts in
this field. And so we hadactually, like, you know,
teaching days where the womenwould come in and filet with our
cast. And, you know, it was asit was an exchange and exchange
of ideas. And that authenticityand specificity of place was
(12:06):
something that we needed othersto bring, you know, to to the
process. And we were very awareof that. So,
Jon Dieringer (12:12):
yeah, did Emily or Paul get any feedback on
their respective skills and fishprocessing and fishing?
Saela Davis (12:20):
Yeah, as well. You know, both of them were like, I
need to know how to do thiswork. And so, one for Paul
Fuller's brother is an oysterfarmer in Cary. And so he
actually went to carry for abouta week to farm alongside his
brother. And so he learned thework was almost a year before we
(12:42):
started filming the year beforewe started, the first time he
said yet Yeah, and so and I wastalking about like, the
community, and we actually didshoot on oyster farms, like real
working oyster farms, and one ofthe farmers there, again, kind
of teached Paul, but then someof our other actors how to
properly like shake those bags,there's like, actually a
technique, you know, you have tohold it vertically, and you need
(13:05):
to have like a rhythm to it. Andso yeah, they learned through
the help of Patti, our oysterfarmer, and then Emily. Yeah,
was in the fish processingwarehouse. And as Anna said,
these essays are kind oftraining her to properly fillet
a fish and like, pull out theguts and do that work. And so
yeah, like spend a lot of timelearning the process.
Anna Rose Holmer (13:25):
Yeah, we worked with, you know, in
addition to our cast, we had ourincredible art department was
also involved in this kind oflike, absorbing knowledge
learning techniques, but also,like we said, we designed this
fish processing warehouse. Soits function. First and
foremost, was to serve ourcinematic vision more than the
(13:47):
mackerel is not going out intothe world. And so we actually we
said we wanted it tosimultaneously be authentic, but
then also have a, you know, theshot that we love is when the
fungus is discovered, and, andwe got to, you know, place
things around designing thatvery, very long wonder, but our
(14:08):
art department needed to knowthis firsthand. And so, we just
had this incredible artdepartment who just like, you
know, they just fell in love andeach flaying knife, you know,
there was there were differencesand how long you had worked been
working in the factory, whatyour filleting knife would
Saela Davis (14:24):
get them had, yeah, family that were fishermen, you
know, they came from that lineand I don't think that's
uncommon for people in Irelandto come from a family of
fishermen. And so yeah, I thinkone person in particular was
like, this is you know, minethis knife is mine This way, you
know, like, it has to be thissharp in order to get through
this macro and but you know,also to this like authenticity,
(14:47):
we we wanted to capture like therhythms of work and so it was
important to us that they weredoing it the way that people
would do it in real life. Andthen, you know, like, really
thought like when we were kindof doing our research and I'm
hearing the the rhythm of theoyster shells, like shaking
through in those bags. You know,we're like, oh, this is music
and we're going to incorporatethat into the film. And so yeah,
(15:10):
we needed Emily and Paul to kindof do those actions as we had
experienced them.
Anna Rose Holmer (15:15):
And yeah, I think that, you know, this
movies about a lot of things,and but it is important that our
movie is about working people,you know, yeah. And the way that
work changes the body issomething that we talked a lot
about with our cast. And so therhythms of that work, were not
(15:35):
just practical, right? It's alsoquite emotional. You know, like,
when Aileen comes home, she hasjust done a huge day at the
factory, she still is bendingdown to pick up Ryan's clothes.
But when she bends down to pickup rands clothes, she's bringing
her labor with her, you know, soher labor outside the home and
inside the home. And so thesekind of like this muscle memory
(15:56):
was something that we talkedabout a lot about, you know,
like, where are you carrying theday in your body? You know, that
type of thing?
Jon Dieringer (16:03):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I guess that relationship
to movement to like, reminds meof the fits. And I mean, maybe
that's, do you feel like that'sa way in which the film's kind
of relate or have a continuitywith each other?
Saela Davis (16:18):
Yeah, definitely.
You know, Anna and I have workeda lot. And like, before the
fits, we were working with theNew York City Ballet, and we're
thinking a lot about movement.
And I think we always are, we'rejust like, life is a ballet,
right? Kind of like the way wemove to through the world. There
is this rhythm there is thischoreography. And so yeah, when
(16:39):
we started working on the fence,I think that was just kind of
like in the forefront of ourminds is like, how do we capture
body and movement and tell thesepeople stories through more than
just words?
Anna Rose Holmer (16:51):
Yeah, we yeah, we talk a lot about there's a
few sequences in our film, inthis film, Gods creatures that
we refer silly, and I refer tothose as a dance. And one of
them is like the openingestablishing of the fish
processing warehouse. And it's aslight, it's not an aerial full
Top Shot, but it's a higherangle of the factory. And we're
(17:12):
kind of like slowly zooming inon Aileen moving through these
women. And it's like, there'sthis harmony of doing this every
single day together. And this,you know, it's, it's kind of
like the women at their best.
And there's this joy and kind oflike ease in which they
anticipate each other'smovements and are able to, like,
be there with the bucket. Andit's just like, it's this
intimate, kind of communal dancethat they each have a part in.
(17:34):
And there's something reallybeautiful and mesmerizing about
that. But then I think it alsogoes to what you can do with a
face, you know, and maybe that'sa much more abstract way of
thinking about dance. But it'slike, putting story into the
body is something we're alwaysthinking about and asking. And,
Saela Davis (17:56):
and I think the relationship, like the
choreography on screen, and the,you know, obviously the way in
which the cameras capturing thatchoreography, you know, and I
was referring like to the fungusscene. And so we were like, oh,
there's a rhythm to this, weknow that there will eventually
be music and how, yeah, how dowe capture this so that it feels
kind of like this fluid? Motion?
I don't even remember how manytimes we shot that. Just to get
(18:17):
that choreography right, youknow, so that in the end, it did
feel kind of like a dance piece.
Yeah.
Jon Dieringer (18:27):
And then in terms of working out the choreography,
is there one or the otherreview? Who's more involved in
that? I guess what I'm trying toget at is what is like the
nature of your collaboration onset? And do you feel like you're
working in lockstep? Are you doyou tend to kind of divide up
certain things? lockstep?
Anna Rose Holmer (18:48):
Yeah, definitely not a divide and
conquer philosophy.
Saela Davis (18:52):
You know, we, we've been writing together for a very
long time and collaboratingtogether in various forms. And,
you know, through that kind ofrelationship, I think we
recognize that we have the samevery similar instincts. And
that's, that's kind of what ledto us deciding to, you know,
(19:13):
join forces and become adirecting team. And so when
we're on set, you know, we were,we're just like, we know, we've
spent so much time with thisscript, and we like made a lot
of decisions in advance andthought a lot about the visuals
and you know, kind of justtalked about what this film
(19:34):
would be, and obviously, that isconstantly changing. And when
you're on set, you have to beflexible, and you have to make
new decisions and new choicesthat you hadn't anticipated,
right? But we always say, youknow, we're we're working toward
the same kind of like beaconlike we have the same goal in
mind. And so we each stepforward with our own instincts,
(19:57):
but we trust each other and Ithink that like trust just is
kind of like the foundation ofour partnership.
Anna Rose Holmer (20:02):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's like we both come
to directing from differentcrafts, you know, cilia is
incredible editor and, you know,I came up in camera. And so like
our relationship to servingother people's vision is
something that we're, we're veryaware of, but we also like are
(20:24):
coming at, like, theconstruction of what a shot is,
and how it will be used, likeit's used on the day, for
example, like, sometimes you doneed, like, the cast may need
the shot to do something elsethat you, you know, may not be
the end construction, but thereare elements of process that get
(20:45):
you there, you know, and so it'slike this, this, I don't know,
we have this kind of, like,Great Alchemy, where it is very
much about the some of us as ateam, like, I think that I know,
for a depth without a doubt thatlike, every idea that I have
gets stronger when it's filteredthrough cilia, and I think vice
versa, you know, because it'slike, we are each other's first
(21:07):
audience, you know, and then itjust it strengthens it hones, it
sharpens. And, yeah, when ciliawhen I start to see that cilia
is like, that thing in her eye,when I see like, she sees it, I
trust it, I like and I'm excitedto see what she sees, you know,
and like, that's how we move andwe move side by side so that we
(21:29):
can like, you know, spot eachother.
Saela Davis (21:31):
Yeah, and that's, you know, not to say we don't
disagree, we definitely havedisagreements. But we know like,
the end goal is always to kindof make the best idea of like
the best idea will evolve fromthe disagreements that we have,
or will emerge, sorry, from thedisagreements that we have. And
so like there's never withinkind of like that tension of
(21:54):
disagreeing. I don't thinkanyone's trying to win. It's
like, We're doing this for thecollective good. And so yeah,
and then we eventually reachedthe idea. And we're like, oh,
yeah, that's it. Great. Let's doit. So I don't know. That's like
an exciting electric space.
Jon Dieringer (22:08):
Yeah. Oh, I was gonna ask, like, what was it
like working with otherfilmmakers? Because as I
understand, like, they fold, andShane had written this script.
And they were thinking about,like, you know, what filmmakers?
Could we approach about this?
And they saw the FITS andbrought you on? What was the
nature of that collaboration?
And like, how did how does yourhistory interface with working
(22:31):
with other people.
Anna Rose Holmer (22:33):
I mean, it felt that core team of four,
fola, Shane cilia and myself,like, that feels like the heart
of this film, they had beendeveloping the script for some
time before we became involved,but we came on in 2018. And so
we have this like, two, two anda half year development process
(22:57):
as directors working with uswith the screenwriter and our
creative producer. And so itwas, I mean, it felt very much
like any I mean, it felt in linewith all of our collaborations.
And part of you know, we werevery moved by the screen, the
initial draft of the screenplaythat we saw, but more than
anything, it was like, thesefilmmakers, these are our
(23:17):
people, you know, like, this isour like, we connected with them
as artists and saying yes, wasas much about the screenplay, as
it was about just the energycoming back from them. And fola
in particular, my my friends andfamily who are not filmmakers
are always are like, what is aproducer? Or, you know, what did
how does this work but folate isa is a filmmaker, you know, and
(23:39):
she is like, the creativefoundational block of this film,
and like having a producer whohas that creative instinct,
muscle, artistic desire toprotect, not only protect, like,
the thing we're making, but theway we make, like that felt like
(24:00):
incredible to, to meet her andfind her. And we knew that we
could create in the way that weneeded. And we we tried to
question this process and makethis process, you know, a safe
space for us. So it's like weneeded we needed all of that.
And Fuller was just like thisincredible friend and producer
throughout this entire process.
Yeah. And I
Saela Davis (24:23):
think that that friendship was kind of like the
key element when we met fola, Ithink we were just like, oh,
this person will know for therest of our lives. And same with
Shane, and like, we're weird andgoofy in the same way as like
they are and I think it was justlike it clicked, you know, when
we all work together. And we'rekind of brainstorming on the
(24:44):
script together and just hadvery similar sensibilities and
sense of humor. Right. And Ithink that friendship, it was
like, oh, okay, we're bringingthem into or like we're forming
a family together a creativefamily. And so that I think is
just as important as like, youknow, all of these other Yeah,
intellectual concepts.
Jon Dieringer (25:04):
And when they first approached you did you?
Did you immediately feel likethis is the project for us? Or
did you need convincing? Did youhave any feelings of like, well,
this feels very, you know,specific to, like, carry Ireland
point of view.
Saela Davis (25:22):
I think that it felt very specific, but then
also, for us very personal, youknow, we connected really deeply
to a lot of the, I mean, youknow, what, what the, what the
script is kind of havingconversations about, but
immediately it was the writing,change, just kind of very poetic
(25:45):
and beautiful style of writing,you just, you just get so
engrossed in the script, like,we literally could not put it
down until the last page. Andso, we loved Yeah, we loved the
writing. And, overall, I thinkit's just, the script was asking
questions that we were asking atthe time, and kind of the work
that we were considering and,and writing together.
Anna Rose Holmer (26:09):
I mean, it's also just that we knew that
Shane and fola, were going to bepart of this process. I mean,
it's, it's like we weren'ttaking their screenplay away
from to make it without them. Imean, what we were joining
forces with them. So it feltlike, you know, that sense of
(26:32):
authenticity and specificity wasgoing to work hand in hand with
us at You know, every singlestage of the way, you know, it's
like, Shane, we, we bring Shanein for our rehearsals, with our
actors, you know, so he's sohe's there, we have dialogue
questions. It's like, you know,it's like, we're very
collaborative. You know, ShaneChang is also on our set, you
know, full is, you know, incoming into our edits at time.
(26:53):
So it's like, there was neverthis feeling that like, saying,
yes, was then taking it awayfrom the filmmaker. Sure. Yeah.
So it just felt like an additiveprocess. Right. Like,
Jon Dieringer (27:04):
yeah, I just wondered, you know, sometimes,
like, someone may approach onefor something. And there's that
sense of doubt, like, am I theright person for this? Like, do
I connect with the story, youknow, but like, it is obviously,
like a very, you know, in manyways, like universal story is
very good. As it is. Yeah. Sothat community,
Saela Davis (27:22):
I mean, I think whatever, you know, as directors
like, whenever a script comesfrom you, you have a choice. And
like in that choice, you're kindof evaluating many things. And
kind of what we were sayingearlier was like meeting fola
was part of kind of making thatchoice more, you know, just as
much as were we connecting tothe material? And so it was
like, what is the kind ofpartnership we're entering into?
(27:44):
That needs to work for us tomake that make this tell the
story? Yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (27:50):
Yeah. I mean, that's not to say that we don't
move through the world without,like, the anxieties and self
doubt. You know, kind of like,Yes, always that I don't. I
mean, I haven't met someone whodoesn't have that one. They
weren't sure. Yeah. But itwasn't my central doubt on this
film. You know, it's like, Ithink one of the things that the
(28:13):
scariest thing, I guess, sayingyes to this was, you know, we,
we call this film, it's like, ifit's a very heavy coat to wear.
And I think that that was thehardest is just like staying
emotionally in this content.
Your now for years. It's noteasy to, it's necessary. It's
not easy. And I think that, youknow, Sylvia was saying, like,
(28:37):
we're like, that core groupbefore, you know, like, I have
wept for so many reasons, likein front of them. And some of
that is from laughter. You know,it's like, it's just like,
because I love, you know,getting to that point. And, and
Shane in particular, has, like,the best sense of humor, you
know, and it's like, okay, like,we can do this, like, because we
(28:59):
can, like, you know, take careof each other, like, we can take
care of our time.
Saela Davis (29:05):
Exactly. But yeah, we were also just very
passionate about telling thestory. Yeah. When we read it,
you know, so.
Jon Dieringer (29:14):
Yeah. And I guess, I mean, in terms of like,
the core themes, what is itabout the story that appealed to
you? And also, I'm reallyinterested in that core idea of
like, what lengths a parent willgo to to protect their child,
maybe denying the reality of whotheir child is. Things like
(29:37):
that. I guess, you know, that'sgets to the heaviness. Yeah.
Yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (29:43):
I think it's like, it's really hard to see
people, a people you love to seethem, see them who they are in
front of you, because your loveis this. Oftentimes, you're
seeing your love. You're seeingyour vision of someone else. So
you're seeing your hope ordesire, sometimes you're just
(30:04):
seeing yourself, you know, and Ithink that that complication was
something that was like reallyfascinating about Aileen, from
the beginning is that she hasbuilt this vision of Brian, out
of love out of deep love, youknow? And that's who she sees
walking around in the world,this this this hope, and how
(30:27):
does that image come crashing upagainst who Brian really is? And
how do you cinematically givelife to both those versions of
Brian, the vision of Brian thethe charisma, the charm, the
that, like, hug that you want tobe part of? Yeah. And how do you
make that true and thisinstinctual like repulsion, you
(30:50):
know, desire to like, shake himoff your shoulder, like, you
know, like, how do you hold bothof those truths in nightside?
The same film like that wasfascinating for us right away.
Jon Dieringer (31:01):
Was it important to both of you that people you
know, in some fundamental way,or maybe it's not fundamental,
maybe it's a superficial way?
Like Brian or find him charmingor appealing or like, because
also, I think if you if you gointo the film, knowing very
little you, I mean, maybe I'mspeaking as a male viewer, but
you just tend to immediatelylike, identify with him like,
Oh, hey, it's the sky like hismom's really happy to see them.
(31:24):
Yeah, he's farming oysters thatschool.
Saela Davis (31:28):
Yeah. You know, you say maybe because your guy but
like, honestly, when we weredeveloping the script, and we're
getting feedback, there were somany men who were like, Oh, I
really liked Ryan, I thought Iwanted him to succeed. I really
wanted it to work out. And yeah,that was kind of the point. You
know, we wanted to set up thischaracter that you fall in love
(31:52):
with, just as Aileen does,because then you're going to
feel that heartbreak when whathappens when you know, he's
accused of sexual assault. Andso we spend a lot of time kind
of forcing the audience to be asinvested in his success as a
lien is in order to kind of makethat turn and make it feel
really jarring.
Jon Dieringer (32:14):
And you're also asking the audience to trust in
Sarah's story because you don'tportray the assault. Yes. And
can you talk about thatdecision?
Anna Rose Holmer (32:25):
Yeah, that was like fundamental groundwork
decision of, you know, thatscene is never in the
screenplay. That's not That'snot you know, this film is not a
procedural. It's reallyimportant. Like, this is not a
who done it. You know, we takeSara at her word. An even
Aileen, like, that is not herstruggle. It's not about
(32:48):
gathering evidence to figure outthe the night of the crime,
because she knows right away isgrappling with the truth, you
know. And, yeah, we felt, youknow, to render that violent act
on screen, or any informationfrom that scene would have been
(33:12):
posing the question to ouraudience, like, what is the
truth of this event? And for us,you know, Sarah's truth is
enough, you know, and so youcould build a film around other
tensions, other other tensions.
But,
Saela Davis (33:30):
you know, we we always say, we're interested in
the reverberations of trauma.
And so that is not the kind ofwhat happens that night is not
what our focus is, or focuseswhat happens to Sarah, like,
what physical state whatpsychological state? Is she in
the morning after, you know, andthen how does that kind of
vibrate out toward a lean towardthe community, you know, toward
(33:54):
everyone? And what are thereverberations of that?
Anna Rose Holmer (34:01):
It was also something that was, like we
talked a lot about with Shane,and fola, when we were
developing it, it was veryimportant to cilia and I that
the the night of the assault isnot the inciting incident of the
film show so that it actuallylike you were talking about kind
(34:22):
of that that whiplash orheartbreak that happens on the
accusation is as much about kindof the bind to Brian, as it is
that like, his actions, thatnight disrupts a story in in
motion. So it's not like that'swhen the story begins. It's
actually like, that's when thestory is completely like, you
(34:43):
know, T boned and it becomes atotally different film and, and
then how do you how do you like,take that propulsion, that
propulsion of his actions andthen, you know, you move you
were moving now in a completelydifferent direction than we were
Yeah, yeah. It should feel likethat, you know, that's that is
(35:05):
that felt the, like the truestway to tell the story about how
an act of sexual violence like,disrupts lives in motion?
Jon Dieringer (35:15):
Sure. Could you also talk about passing Paul in
his relationship to thatcharacter? And that story is
something that he seemed like,really invested in? Sorry,
that's a dumb way of putting it.
But yeah, that makes sense. Imean, did he has reservations
about playing a bad person.
Saela Davis (35:38):
I mean, he recognized how how heavy it was,
you know, but as an actor, hewanted to approach the character
without judgment. And so,because I think for a lot of
actors, if you judge your, yourcharacter, then it's really hard
to portray them authentically.
And so we had a lot of difficultconversations around just
(35:59):
understanding Brian psychology.
But also to really, we, we did,we built kind of this extensive
backstory for all of our actorsand their characters. And in
Brian's we had to understand,okay, like, what, what violence
existed within the household,you know, what violence is kind
(36:22):
of being passed on through thegenerations? And what, what
compelled him to leave, and goto Australia for 10 years? What
happened in Australia. And so Ithink we all just wanted to have
a really solid understanding ofBrian's life before we meet him.
And then, you know, togetherkind of talk through what
(36:45):
happened that night, how doesit? How did it affects Sara and
Sarah's body as well as Brian'sbody? And? Yeah, it was like a
very delicate, difficult thingto explore. But I don't think he
had reservations necessarily,but it was it was a challenge
for all of us to kind of talkthrough.
Anna Rose Holmer (37:07):
Yeah, I mean, that one of the reasons why we
cast Paul is that we, we knew,for us, as filmmakers, we needed
someone that we felt safe goinginto this territory with and
that we could converse with, notas Brian but as Paul, like, you
know, so like, we needed weneeded someone that was going to
(37:29):
be considerate and generous,and, and have these
conversations with us first aspeople, you know, not out like,
not outside of characterbuilding. And so I think, I
think he knew how we wanted toapproach it, like with that
sensitivity, but I would say,Brian, you know, Brian is, is
(37:49):
really hard body to get into,and I think, you know, more than
maybe anyone else in the filmkind of like, shedding Brian was
very, was necessary for Paul sointeresting. You know, he
couldn't he, you know, he, ashis process, it was, you know,
(38:09):
he really needed to get out,when, when we were done doing
certain takes and things likethat really shed, and that that
like creating space for him tostay safe during this process,
like in the way that he neededemotionally mentally, like, was
something that was likeparamount for us.
Saela Davis (38:26):
Yeah, I think that was probably more challenging
than the prep. Right. Where, Idon't know, if he hadn't had
anticipated how it would feel tocarry Brian within him. And so
yeah, as Anna said, Ithink like, after a take it
would, it would require somekind of like, shaking it off.
Because, yeah, it's it's kind ofscary. I think so.
Jon Dieringer (38:50):
Yeah. Yeah. And I was working with Emily and what
was her process? Like?
Anna Rose Holmer (38:57):
Emily is incredible. You know, she, one
of the best things about thisentire process, you know, was
the prep time we had with all ofour cast. And, you know, we it
was during COVID And so it waslocked locked down in Ireland.
(39:18):
And so we had access to thisentire hotel that there was no
one in it, you know, and so wehad this kind of, like big space
to play and, and she was veryshe, she was a constant reminder
that like what we're doing isplaying, you know, and like
making sure there's room forexperimentation and joy. And,
(39:39):
you know, it was her desire toreally focus that the first week
of our rehearsal on the joy andthe love and like that, so that
like that was the foundation andso we just focused on that and
built that and that kind of likecapsule of that vibrancy of that
(40:00):
was something like that was sonecessary to build this so that
their entire relationship thatwas the foundation of it, and
that was the foundation of themworking together. I'm just I'm
speaking about Aileen and Brian,Emily and Paul. Yeah. And she's,
I mean, she's incrediblestoryteller. And yeah, it was.
Jon Dieringer (40:20):
I mean, it also seems very, very, like shrewd
given, you know what you'resaying about it being like a
heavy coat to wear to like,establish a sense of joy upfront
and like, you know, maybeprevent things from being like
fully heavy throughout. And Iwonder if maybe that's something
(40:40):
that just comes from experienceof being, you know, such an
accomplished actress? Yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (40:48):
I think and also, having gone through, yes,
her her experience as afilmmaker having gone through,
like having worn other heavycoats, right, like, at different
stages and knowing, I think shewas, yeah, she was a resource
for all of us. But she's alsolike, so collaborative and open.
(41:12):
Like, she really does becomelike an open book. For, you
know, to kind of like, or alike, she, she was so open to
tuning herself to the frequencythat we were
Saela Davis (41:30):
setting. Yeah, yeah. I mean, she, like, trusted
us. And, you know, we weredefinitely intimidated. We know
her body of work, and we've beenlong admirers. And so stepping
in to that space with her. We'relike, Okay, we're gonna tell
Emily Watson, what to do. That'sinsane. But she was like, yeah,
(41:51):
like, you're, you know, you'rethe directors, and I trust your
instincts. I trust your ideas.
And I may have some ideas, butthis is a collaboration. And I
think with all of our partnerson this project, I think the
spirit of collaboration reallykind of guided it. So
Jon Dieringer (42:08):
yeah. And so as of I guess, the time this will
be published, the film hasn't,you know, been released yet. But
I wonder, so far, in thescreenings you've had, is there
anything? Are there anyresponses that stand out to you
anything that's been unexpected,or joyful or not so joyful?
Anna Rose Holmer (42:31):
We have watched the film only two times
with the audience. We watched itin can, which I wouldn't even
call watching. I don't know whatit was. But I wasn't like,
Jon Dieringer (42:40):
everybody experienced.
Saela Davis (42:43):
Black blacked out.
I definitely was like, whatwe're watching movie right now a
movie is, oh, it's ours. It wasintense. And, you know, we like
flew out from New York, and thenhad a tech check. The day we
landed at 145 in the morning, amand we were told, we can't
complain, because people weredoing it, like texty, 30 years.
(43:07):
But um, and then the next day,it was, you know, press
screening in the morning andthen premiere at night. And so
it was just kind of nonstop. AndI don't think we had time to
process it until we left. But Imean, yeah, it's the most
wonderful experience, you know,like, I'm a, I'm a French cinema
fanatic. And so it was just adream to have a film premiere, I
(43:32):
can,
Anna Rose Holmer (43:35):
can was the first time we had seen it with
an audience couldn't absorbeverything. Then we saw it two
days, with an audience, advancedaudience at Walter Reed. And it
was really special. It felt likethe first time the movie felt
like, alive, you know, and therewere a few things that, you
(43:55):
know, full audience gasp islike, a such a rewarding
experience to just like feelthat? Well,
Saela Davis (44:05):
because it's strange, because you know, every
single thing that's going tohappen, you know, every edit,
right? And so when you putyourselves in their perspective,
and you're those guys are like,Oh, right. Work, they can do
that. And so that's always sofun to Yeah, yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (44:21):
And that's one of our favorite theaters. You
know, so to watch your own workin a space where you like,
you've sat and studied and beenmoved. And yeah, it's just, it's
a real sense of, like, gratitudefor the privilege of being able
to do this every day. I don'tknow. It was very meaningful to
(44:46):
play the film there. Yeah.
Jon Dieringer (44:47):
Do you have a sense of what's next? I mean, I
know you're, like deep in theprocess of promoting and
releasing this film, but I thinkit seems fair to assume that
you'll continue to collaborateand
Anna Rose Holmer (44:59):
you Yeah, we're in it for the long haul.
We have a body of work tocreate.
Jon Dieringer (45:04):
Do you have like, like an outline of like your
next steps or career arc?
Saela Davis (45:09):
Well, we were adapt. We've been adapting
something for the past couple ofyears. So that's kind of on the
horizon and then
Anna Rose Holmer (45:18):
have some ideas. Yeah, but as a team, as a
team, yeah. As a writing team asa directing team. Yeah, that's
that's how we move
Jon Dieringer (45:42):
You have been listening to the Screen Slate
Podcast. We've been jumping thegun on our intended bi weekly
schedule lately, and will infact be back yet again next week
with Clyde Foley, curator of thecriteria and channels highly
anticipated 80s horror series,along with fan favorite co
hosts, Caroline Golum, and JohnKlacsmann, it's going to be a
(46:03):
return to the glorious chaosmode of earlier Screen Slate pod
episodes, so that is most likelysomething to look forward to.
Once again, I'd like to thankour guests and a rose Homer and
Sylvia Davis and to ClaireColetti for May 24 for setting
it up. This episode was editedby Spencer Yang and made
possible by our Patreon members.
If you are a daily Screen Slatereader or enjoy the podcast or
(46:27):
just want to help us out visitpatreon.com/screen Slate, you
can throw us a couple bucks amonth and that is our number one
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And once again, thanks so muchto everyone who is already
supporting us. Thanks forlistening and catch you next
time.
You are listening to the Screen Slate Podcast. I'm
your host John Derringer, andthis week I'm thrilled to be
joined by the filmmakers andarose Homer and Sylvia Davis.
Homer and Davis are longtimecollaborators who may be
familiar to our listeners fortheir first narrative feature
the critically acclaimed 2015release that fits. Your follow
up is God's creatures, whichpremiered at Cannes this May and
(00:43):
is now hitting theaters thisFriday from a 24/7 a coastal
fishing community in Ireland.
The story focuses on the bondbetween a lien played by Emily
Watson and her adult son Brianplayed by the suddenly
ubiquitous Paul Mescal. Shortlyafter returning home from seven
years abroad, Brian is accusedof a terrible crime and alien is
torn between the mother and urgeto protect her son and her own
(01:03):
sense of right and wrong. It's atense emotional story rooted in
an almost haunting sense ofplace, and keenly attuned to
small town social dynamics. Andeveryone, including Watson and
Mescal give the nominalperformances, great chat with
Homer Davis, about thedevelopment their process in the
film story, and I'm excited foryou to hear it. Before we get to
(01:23):
the conversation, I want toshout out to our Patreon members
who make Screen Slate possible.
This is the primary form ofsupport for not just the
podcast, but the entire ScreenSlate operation, including New
York City Film listings andeditorial. We're nonprofessional
nonprofit organization. And thePatreon helps us to pay on a
record of writers and editorscover web development and
(01:45):
hosting and just keep the wholeship afloat. So if you depend on
our work, then give us yoursupport at patreon.com/screen
slate and throw us a couple ofbucks a month. And then you also
get access to stuff like OURDISCORD SERVER podcast, bonus
episodes, discounts frompartners like criterion and post
riportati invitations to specialevents and so much more. So
(02:06):
that's patreon.com/screen Slatepin for those of you who are
already supporting us, thank youso much for making this
possible. So you were at theRockaway Film Festival last
night? Yeah. How did that go?
Saela Davis (02:22):
It went really well. I mean, it was very cold,
which we were prepared for. Butit was just such a, you know, as
we were driving out the sun wassetting and I think it really
reminded us of our time inIreland, you know, just get on
the water again. And it's justsuch a perfect environment to
watch our film. You know, youkind of have the natural
(02:43):
environment the sound playplaying live for you. So it has
this like virtual reality callit like you can be in the world
of the film as you're watching.
So I thought it was very cool.
Anna Rose Holmer (02:53):
It was really cool. Yeah, and it was a you
know, very local crowd. And thecommunity in the Rockaways is
like a community that has a veryintimate relationship with the
sea and in the water. And, andso I felt like we had a real,
like, nuanced conversation thatwe hadn't had, we haven't had
the opportunity to have reallyabout, like, the relationship
(03:16):
between people and see and thatthe duality of that the fact
that you know, it's like, yousubsist off of it, you know, you
you feed your family off of whatyou gather from the sea, but it
also could take your life andyeah, it felt it felt really
nice. And then Lea. I don't knowif this is like, we're just
talking or if this is, yeah.
Moderated our q&a. And she's anold friend. And so that felt
(03:41):
nice to to, she asked like acool question at the end about
sensory, our sensory memories.
And it like immediate, like, weall just like immediately went
back to Denny gall and ourbrains into the set like it just
like, because we were out in thecold. I think like we were
already having that like, closesensory proximity to the memory
(04:05):
of making the movie. Sure.
Jon Dieringer (04:06):
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I mean, that was one
thing that really struck meabout the film is just that
immersion and that sense ofplace and how sensory it is even
in terms of just like, the smellof the ocean. And of course of
all the fish. Do you want totalk about, like how you found
that location? Because, youknow, as I understood, like, the
(04:27):
story was kind of set and carry,which is in the, I guess, for
the listeners, like thesouthwest part of Ireland, and
you ended up shooting in adifferent area than Northwest.
Saela Davis (04:39):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
You know, so the story comesfrom our producer, Lola Cronin,
O'Reilly and our screenwriterShane Crowley, and they are from
Cary. And so they really kind ofhad drafted the screenplay,
shared it with us. We fell inlove with it and kind of
continued to develop it forabout two and a half years with
them and We would travel tocarry while we were developing
(05:01):
the script and Anna and I, youknow, love to just like immerse
ourselves in a place and get atrue understanding of the
environment, the people, thetextures of the world. And so it
was important for us to livethere and spend some time there.
As we were like thinking aboutthis film, and I think one of
our primary focuses was thisfish processing warehouse, which
(05:24):
is where Aileen works and, youknow, kind of the second home
for her. And we really thought alot about kind of that location
and its relationship to theother parts of the world. So the
pier, the Ohara family home, andwe really want it to be kind of
this like central point. And soI think we were just kind of,
(05:48):
like, Where where is this fishprocessing warehouse like very
early on. And there are so manyalong the coast in Ireland. And
so while we were in Cary, wewould kind of like, right, and
then go and do the scouts andlook at different fish
processing warehouses, and neverfound the right one. And so that
just kind of became this, like,you know, goal, like, let's walk
(06:09):
in this location. And so, Annaand I were back in Brooklyn, in
our office, and we were justthinking about this location,
and I ended up going on GoogleEarth. And I was like, Okay,
we're gonna
Anna Rose Holmer (06:23):
look at the entire coast of Ireland, and
just kind of like, scroll scrolluntil we, because we have this
such a precise image in ourmind, of the, like, Sylvia said,
this relationship betweenplaces. And so,
Saela Davis (06:39):
you know, I'm like, particular shots, right? We were
like that want to see from thepier, we want to be able to see
the fish factory, and like theinverse of that. And so,
Anna Rose Holmer (06:47):
yeah, and so we were silly, he was doing
this. And I was saying, This isinsane. There's no way from
Brooklyn, we're going to do it.
And then suddenly, like, foundthis bit of land. And she was
like this, this and we looked,and we were looking at the shape
of things. And we're like,there's a building on it. And
it's like, you know, it's a fishprocessing warehouse. So we call
(07:08):
up Shane and fola. Or in Cary,it's like a six hour drive. And
we're like, you gotta go toSenegal, you got to define this
as I think this is it. And Iremember they, they sent some
videos and some photos of theapproach. And I was like, this
is our this is our movie, like Iwas, you know, getting chills
and then they they went and thewarehouse is completely empty.
(07:32):
It's it's not a functioning fishprocessing warehouse perfect.
And that that family that ownsit became just an integral part
of it. They were incrediblygenerous. So, you know, we were
able to build and design thefish processing warehouse to be
exactly how we wanted it to bebecause it was empty, you know,
and paint everything and designand we built that office up.
(07:52):
That was that was completely abuild, you know, so it became a
set but, but that communityreally became our home base. And
it is a little confusing. But itis set in carry. So yeah, it's
Donegall for carry, you know,everybody is speaking. You know,
it's a Western accent but it isspecifically carry accent Are
(08:14):
there
Jon Dieringer (08:16):
different dialects and it's okay.
Anna Rose Holmer (08:19):
So for Irish audiences, it's a little bit of
a, you know, trick because it'sbecause it's done it all but it
is it is carry.
Saela Davis (08:27):
But I think we also did a you know, we intentionally
we're trying to have kind ofcontaining like the image in
order to know that's therenecessarily, like obscure that
it's done in Gaul, but I thinkwe weren't you know, there are a
lot of iconic really, yeah, wellknown landmarks in that area
like these like beautiful hikes.
These beautiful points. Andyeah, I don't think we were
(08:49):
like,
Anna Rose Holmer (08:51):
Yeah, we were trying to kind of simultaneously
a little bit out of place alittle bit out of time. Yeah.
Jon Dieringer (08:57):
I mean, have have Irish audiences. Notice that
like, for instance, I'm fromOhio, and sometimes there's a
movie shot in like Los Angelesthat said, and I quote unquote,
Ohio when I can tell thedifference, but you know,
watching this of course, I hadno idea whatsoever, you
Saela Davis (09:13):
had a probably like a strong knowledge of the
geography because there is alike, mountain that is
recognizable. So and yeah, Ithink maybe,
Anna Rose Holmer (09:24):
I don't know.
Yeah, I mean, we haven't had arelease in Ireland yet. We're
really like, excited for thatfuture point. I did see some
chatter just on the trailerabout accent. You know, it's
like, I think Irish audienceswill be excited. I hope. I hope
they Yeah, really are for thisfilm.
Jon Dieringer (09:40):
Yeah. And also, I mean, I think another important
thing, in fact, maybe like acentral thing in the film is
social dynamics of the smallcommunity, from reading the
press notes, you know,understood, and I think you just
mentioned that follow on chainor both from from there. You
know, how did the communityreact to the filming Like, did
(10:00):
they? You know, obviously, thisis a different part of Ireland.
But did they recognize their owncommunity in the script? Or were
they not maybe fully aware ofwhat the story was about?
Anna Rose Holmer (10:14):
I can't answer part of that question. Like, I
can't speak for the localcommunity in their own
experience of shooting it. But Iknow that it was very important
to us, you know, you have youbring on location team, you
know, and they are kind of yourambassadors when you when you
start, like, they're the oneswho are going out and having
(10:36):
those early conversations. It'snot just about like, is this
house the right house, but youknow, you start small, you build
your team on location, it's afew people, and then it's a
dozen people. And then, youknow, before, you know, it's 100
people, and you have to be veryhonest, because that it's
important that when people sayyes, they they truly are saying
(10:58):
yes to your film. Yeah. And so,you know, we actually did have
early conversations with fola,our producer, and with Gordon,
our head of our locations team,about what those conversations
would be and how explicit wewould be about this film. And we
all decided, you know, that wasour philosophy to be very honest
(11:19):
and very open so that when yousaid, yes, it wasn't the movie
comes out, and all of a sudden,feels like you didn't know what
you're participating in. And theother element of working, we
were in Donegal, and we wantedessays that had very specific
skill sets. So all of ourbackground cast, you know, they
work in fish processingwarehouses, they are oyster
(11:41):
farmers, and that firsthandknowledge, you know, was really
important to us, and to treatall of that cast as experts in
this field. And so we hadactually, like, you know,
teaching days where the womenwould come in and filet with our
cast. And, you know, it was asit was an exchange and exchange
of ideas. And that authenticityand specificity of place was
(12:06):
something that we needed othersto bring, you know, to to the
process. And we were very awareof that. So,
Jon Dieringer (12:12):
yeah, did Emily or Paul get any feedback on
their respective skills and fishprocessing and fishing?
Saela Davis (12:20):
Yeah, as well. You know, both of them were like, I
need to know how to do thiswork. And so, one for Paul
Fuller's brother is an oysterfarmer in Cary. And so he
actually went to carry for abouta week to farm alongside his
brother. And so he learned thework was almost a year before we
(12:42):
started filming the year beforewe started, the first time he
said yet Yeah, and so and I wastalking about like, the
community, and we actually didshoot on oyster farms, like real
working oyster farms, and one ofthe farmers there, again, kind
of teached Paul, but then someof our other actors how to
properly like shake those bags,there's like, actually a
technique, you know, you have tohold it vertically, and you need
(13:05):
to have like a rhythm to it. Andso yeah, they learned through
the help of Patti, our oysterfarmer, and then Emily. Yeah,
was in the fish processingwarehouse. And as Anna said,
these essays are kind oftraining her to properly fillet
a fish and like, pull out theguts and do that work. And so
yeah, like spend a lot of timelearning the process.
Anna Rose Holmer (13:25):
Yeah, we worked with, you know, in
addition to our cast, we had ourincredible art department was
also involved in this kind oflike, absorbing knowledge
learning techniques, but also,like we said, we designed this
fish processing warehouse. Soits function. First and
foremost, was to serve ourcinematic vision more than the
(13:47):
mackerel is not going out intothe world. And so we actually we
said we wanted it tosimultaneously be authentic, but
then also have a, you know, theshot that we love is when the
fungus is discovered, and, andwe got to, you know, place
things around designing thatvery, very long wonder, but our
(14:08):
art department needed to knowthis firsthand. And so, we just
had this incredible artdepartment who just like, you
know, they just fell in love andeach flaying knife, you know,
there was there were differencesand how long you had worked been
working in the factory, whatyour filleting knife would
Saela Davis (14:24):
get them had, yeah, family that were fishermen, you
know, they came from that lineand I don't think that's
uncommon for people in Irelandto come from a family of
fishermen. And so yeah, I thinkone person in particular was
like, this is you know, minethis knife is mine This way, you
know, like, it has to be thissharp in order to get through
this macro and but you know,also to this like authenticity,
(14:47):
we we wanted to capture like therhythms of work and so it was
important to us that they weredoing it the way that people
would do it in real life. Andthen, you know, like, really
thought like when we were kindof doing our research and I'm
hearing the the rhythm of theoyster shells, like shaking
through in those bags. You know,we're like, oh, this is music
and we're going to incorporatethat into the film. And so yeah,
(15:10):
we needed Emily and Paul to kindof do those actions as we had
experienced them.
Anna Rose Holmer (15:15):
And yeah, I think that, you know, this
movies about a lot of things,and but it is important that our
movie is about working people,you know, yeah. And the way that
work changes the body issomething that we talked a lot
about with our cast. And so therhythms of that work, were not
(15:35):
just practical, right? It's alsoquite emotional. You know, like,
when Aileen comes home, she hasjust done a huge day at the
factory, she still is bendingdown to pick up Ryan's clothes.
But when she bends down to pickup rands clothes, she's bringing
her labor with her, you know, soher labor outside the home and
inside the home. And so thesekind of like this muscle memory
(15:56):
was something that we talkedabout a lot about, you know,
like, where are you carrying theday in your body? You know, that
type of thing?
Jon Dieringer (16:03):
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I guess that relationship
to movement to like, reminds meof the fits. And I mean, maybe
that's, do you feel like that'sa way in which the film's kind
of relate or have a continuitywith each other?
Saela Davis (16:18):
Yeah, definitely.
You know, Anna and I have workeda lot. And like, before the
fits, we were working with theNew York City Ballet, and we're
thinking a lot about movement.
And I think we always are, we'rejust like, life is a ballet,
right? Kind of like the way wemove to through the world. There
is this rhythm there is thischoreography. And so yeah, when
(16:39):
we started working on the fence,I think that was just kind of
like in the forefront of ourminds is like, how do we capture
body and movement and tell thesepeople stories through more than
just words?
Anna Rose Holmer (16:51):
Yeah, we yeah, we talk a lot about there's a
few sequences in our film, inthis film, Gods creatures that
we refer silly, and I refer tothose as a dance. And one of
them is like the openingestablishing of the fish
processing warehouse. And it's aslight, it's not an aerial full
Top Shot, but it's a higherangle of the factory. And we're
(17:12):
kind of like slowly zooming inon Aileen moving through these
women. And it's like, there'sthis harmony of doing this every
single day together. And this,you know, it's, it's kind of
like the women at their best.
And there's this joy and kind oflike ease in which they
anticipate each other'smovements and are able to, like,
be there with the bucket. Andit's just like, it's this
intimate, kind of communal dancethat they each have a part in.
(17:34):
And there's something reallybeautiful and mesmerizing about
that. But then I think it alsogoes to what you can do with a
face, you know, and maybe that'sa much more abstract way of
thinking about dance. But it'slike, putting story into the
body is something we're alwaysthinking about and asking. And,
Saela Davis (17:56):
and I think the relationship, like the
choreography on screen, and the,you know, obviously the way in
which the cameras capturing thatchoreography, you know, and I
was referring like to the fungusscene. And so we were like, oh,
there's a rhythm to this, weknow that there will eventually
be music and how, yeah, how dowe capture this so that it feels
kind of like this fluid? Motion?
I don't even remember how manytimes we shot that. Just to get
(18:17):
that choreography right, youknow, so that in the end, it did
feel kind of like a dance piece.
Yeah.
Jon Dieringer (18:27):
And then in terms of working out the choreography,
is there one or the otherreview? Who's more involved in
that? I guess what I'm trying toget at is what is like the
nature of your collaboration onset? And do you feel like you're
working in lockstep? Are you doyou tend to kind of divide up
certain things? lockstep?
Anna Rose Holmer (18:48):
Yeah, definitely not a divide and
conquer philosophy.
Saela Davis (18:52):
You know, we, we've been writing together for a very
long time and collaboratingtogether in various forms. And,
you know, through that kind ofrelationship, I think we
recognize that we have the samevery similar instincts. And
that's, that's kind of what ledto us deciding to, you know,
(19:13):
join forces and become adirecting team. And so when
we're on set, you know, we were,we're just like, we know, we've
spent so much time with thisscript, and we like made a lot
of decisions in advance andthought a lot about the visuals
and you know, kind of justtalked about what this film
(19:34):
would be, and obviously, that isconstantly changing. And when
you're on set, you have to beflexible, and you have to make
new decisions and new choicesthat you hadn't anticipated,
right? But we always say, youknow, we're we're working toward
the same kind of like beaconlike we have the same goal in
mind. And so we each stepforward with our own instincts,
(19:57):
but we trust each other and Ithink that like trust just is
kind of like the foundation ofour partnership.
Anna Rose Holmer (20:02):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's like we both come
to directing from differentcrafts, you know, cilia is
incredible editor and, you know,I came up in camera. And so like
our relationship to servingother people's vision is
something that we're, we're veryaware of, but we also like are
(20:24):
coming at, like, theconstruction of what a shot is,
and how it will be used, likeit's used on the day, for
example, like, sometimes you doneed, like, the cast may need
the shot to do something elsethat you, you know, may not be
the end construction, but thereare elements of process that get
(20:45):
you there, you know, and so it'slike this, this, I don't know,
we have this kind of, like,Great Alchemy, where it is very
much about the some of us as ateam, like, I think that I know,
for a depth without a doubt thatlike, every idea that I have
gets stronger when it's filteredthrough cilia, and I think vice
versa, you know, because it'slike, we are each other's first
(21:07):
audience, you know, and then itjust it strengthens it hones, it
sharpens. And, yeah, when ciliawhen I start to see that cilia
is like, that thing in her eye,when I see like, she sees it, I
trust it, I like and I'm excitedto see what she sees, you know,
and like, that's how we move andwe move side by side so that we
(21:29):
can like, you know, spot eachother.
Saela Davis (21:31):
Yeah, and that's, you know, not to say we don't
disagree, we definitely havedisagreements. But we know like,
the end goal is always to kindof make the best idea of like
the best idea will evolve fromthe disagreements that we have,
or will emerge, sorry, from thedisagreements that we have. And
so like there's never withinkind of like that tension of
(21:54):
disagreeing. I don't thinkanyone's trying to win. It's
like, We're doing this for thecollective good. And so yeah,
and then we eventually reachedthe idea. And we're like, oh,
yeah, that's it. Great. Let's doit. So I don't know. That's like
an exciting electric space.
Jon Dieringer (22:08):
Yeah. Oh, I was gonna ask, like, what was it
like working with otherfilmmakers? Because as I
understand, like, they fold, andShane had written this script.
And they were thinking about,like, you know, what filmmakers?
Could we approach about this?
And they saw the FITS andbrought you on? What was the
nature of that collaboration?
And like, how did how does yourhistory interface with working
(22:31):
with other people.
Anna Rose Holmer (22:33):
I mean, it felt that core team of four,
fola, Shane cilia and myself,like, that feels like the heart
of this film, they had beendeveloping the script for some
time before we became involved,but we came on in 2018. And so
we have this like, two, two anda half year development process
(22:57):
as directors working with uswith the screenwriter and our
creative producer. And so itwas, I mean, it felt very much
like any I mean, it felt in linewith all of our collaborations.
And part of you know, we werevery moved by the screen, the
initial draft of the screenplaythat we saw, but more than
anything, it was like, thesefilmmakers, these are our
(23:17):
people, you know, like, this isour like, we connected with them
as artists and saying yes, wasas much about the screenplay, as
it was about just the energycoming back from them. And fola
in particular, my my friends andfamily who are not filmmakers
are always are like, what is aproducer? Or, you know, what did
how does this work but folate isa is a filmmaker, you know, and
(23:39):
she is like, the creativefoundational block of this film,
and like having a producer whohas that creative instinct,
muscle, artistic desire toprotect, not only protect, like,
the thing we're making, but theway we make, like that felt like
(24:00):
incredible to, to meet her andfind her. And we knew that we
could create in the way that weneeded. And we we tried to
question this process and makethis process, you know, a safe
space for us. So it's like weneeded we needed all of that.
And Fuller was just like thisincredible friend and producer
throughout this entire process.
Yeah. And I
Saela Davis (24:23):
think that that friendship was kind of like the
key element when we met fola, Ithink we were just like, oh,
this person will know for therest of our lives. And same with
Shane, and like, we're weird andgoofy in the same way as like
they are and I think it was justlike it clicked, you know, when
we all work together. And we'rekind of brainstorming on the
(24:44):
script together and just hadvery similar sensibilities and
sense of humor. Right. And Ithink that friendship, it was
like, oh, okay, we're bringingthem into or like we're forming
a family together a creativefamily. And so that I think is
just as important as like, youknow, all of these other Yeah,
intellectual concepts.
Jon Dieringer (25:04):
And when they first approached you did you?
Did you immediately feel likethis is the project for us? Or
did you need convincing? Did youhave any feelings of like, well,
this feels very, you know,specific to, like, carry Ireland
point of view.
Saela Davis (25:22):
I think that it felt very specific, but then
also, for us very personal, youknow, we connected really deeply
to a lot of the, I mean, youknow, what, what the, what the
script is kind of havingconversations about, but
immediately it was the writing,change, just kind of very poetic
(25:45):
and beautiful style of writing,you just, you just get so
engrossed in the script, like,we literally could not put it
down until the last page. Andso, we loved Yeah, we loved the
writing. And, overall, I thinkit's just, the script was asking
questions that we were asking atthe time, and kind of the work
that we were considering and,and writing together.
Anna Rose Holmer (26:09):
I mean, it's also just that we knew that
Shane and fola, were going to bepart of this process. I mean,
it's, it's like we weren'ttaking their screenplay away
from to make it without them. Imean, what we were joining
forces with them. So it feltlike, you know, that sense of
(26:32):
authenticity and specificity wasgoing to work hand in hand with
us at You know, every singlestage of the way, you know, it's
like, Shane, we, we bring Shanein for our rehearsals, with our
actors, you know, so he's sohe's there, we have dialogue
questions. It's like, you know,it's like, we're very
collaborative. You know, ShaneChang is also on our set, you
know, full is, you know, incoming into our edits at time.
(26:53):
So it's like, there was neverthis feeling that like, saying,
yes, was then taking it awayfrom the filmmaker. Sure. Yeah.
So it just felt like an additiveprocess. Right. Like,
Jon Dieringer (27:04):
yeah, I just wondered, you know, sometimes,
like, someone may approach onefor something. And there's that
sense of doubt, like, am I theright person for this? Like, do
I connect with the story, youknow, but like, it is obviously,
like a very, you know, in manyways, like universal story is
very good. As it is. Yeah. Sothat community,
Saela Davis (27:22):
I mean, I think whatever, you know, as directors
like, whenever a script comesfrom you, you have a choice. And
like in that choice, you're kindof evaluating many things. And
kind of what we were sayingearlier was like meeting fola
was part of kind of making thatchoice more, you know, just as
much as were we connecting tothe material? And so it was
like, what is the kind ofpartnership we're entering into?
(27:44):
That needs to work for us tomake that make this tell the
story? Yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (27:50):
Yeah. I mean, that's not to say that we don't
move through the world without,like, the anxieties and self
doubt. You know, kind of like,Yes, always that I don't. I
mean, I haven't met someone whodoesn't have that one. They
weren't sure. Yeah. But itwasn't my central doubt on this
film. You know, it's like, Ithink one of the things that the
(28:13):
scariest thing, I guess, sayingyes to this was, you know, we,
we call this film, it's like, ifit's a very heavy coat to wear.
And I think that that was thehardest is just like staying
emotionally in this content.
Your now for years. It's noteasy to, it's necessary. It's
not easy. And I think that, youknow, Sylvia was saying, like,
(28:37):
we're like, that core groupbefore, you know, like, I have
wept for so many reasons, likein front of them. And some of
that is from laughter. You know,it's like, it's just like,
because I love, you know,getting to that point. And, and
Shane in particular, has, like,the best sense of humor, you
know, and it's like, okay, like,we can do this, like, because we
(28:59):
can, like, you know, take careof each other, like, we can take
care of our time.
Saela Davis (29:05):
Exactly. But yeah, we were also just very
passionate about telling thestory. Yeah. When we read it,
you know, so.
Jon Dieringer (29:14):
Yeah. And I guess, I mean, in terms of like,
the core themes, what is itabout the story that appealed to
you? And also, I'm reallyinterested in that core idea of
like, what lengths a parent willgo to to protect their child,
maybe denying the reality of whotheir child is. Things like
(29:37):
that. I guess, you know, that'sgets to the heaviness. Yeah.
Yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (29:43):
I think it's like, it's really hard to see
people, a people you love to seethem, see them who they are in
front of you, because your loveis this. Oftentimes, you're
seeing your love. You're seeingyour vision of someone else. So
you're seeing your hope ordesire, sometimes you're just
(30:04):
seeing yourself, you know, and Ithink that that complication was
something that was like reallyfascinating about Aileen, from
the beginning is that she hasbuilt this vision of Brian, out
of love out of deep love, youknow? And that's who she sees
walking around in the world,this this this hope, and how
(30:27):
does that image come crashing upagainst who Brian really is? And
how do you cinematically givelife to both those versions of
Brian, the vision of Brian thethe charisma, the charm, the
that, like, hug that you want tobe part of? Yeah. And how do you
make that true and thisinstinctual like repulsion, you
(30:50):
know, desire to like, shake himoff your shoulder, like, you
know, like, how do you hold bothof those truths in nightside?
The same film like that wasfascinating for us right away.
Jon Dieringer (31:01):
Was it important to both of you that people you
know, in some fundamental way,or maybe it's not fundamental,
maybe it's a superficial way?
Like Brian or find him charmingor appealing or like, because
also, I think if you if you gointo the film, knowing very
little you, I mean, maybe I'mspeaking as a male viewer, but
you just tend to immediatelylike, identify with him like,
Oh, hey, it's the sky like hismom's really happy to see them.
(31:24):
Yeah, he's farming oysters thatschool.
Saela Davis (31:28):
Yeah. You know, you say maybe because your guy but
like, honestly, when we weredeveloping the script, and we're
getting feedback, there were somany men who were like, Oh, I
really liked Ryan, I thought Iwanted him to succeed. I really
wanted it to work out. And yeah,that was kind of the point. You
know, we wanted to set up thischaracter that you fall in love
(31:52):
with, just as Aileen does,because then you're going to
feel that heartbreak when whathappens when you know, he's
accused of sexual assault. Andso we spend a lot of time kind
of forcing the audience to be asinvested in his success as a
lien is in order to kind of makethat turn and make it feel
really jarring.
Jon Dieringer (32:14):
And you're also asking the audience to trust in
Sarah's story because you don'tportray the assault. Yes. And
can you talk about thatdecision?
Anna Rose Holmer (32:25):
Yeah, that was like fundamental groundwork
decision of, you know, thatscene is never in the
screenplay. That's not That'snot you know, this film is not a
procedural. It's reallyimportant. Like, this is not a
who done it. You know, we takeSara at her word. An even
Aileen, like, that is not herstruggle. It's not about
(32:48):
gathering evidence to figure outthe the night of the crime,
because she knows right away isgrappling with the truth, you
know. And, yeah, we felt, youknow, to render that violent act
on screen, or any informationfrom that scene would have been
(33:12):
posing the question to ouraudience, like, what is the
truth of this event? And for us,you know, Sarah's truth is
enough, you know, and so youcould build a film around other
tensions, other other tensions.
But,
Saela Davis (33:30):
you know, we we always say, we're interested in
the reverberations of trauma.
And so that is not the kind ofwhat happens that night is not
what our focus is, or focuseswhat happens to Sarah, like,
what physical state whatpsychological state? Is she in
the morning after, you know, andthen how does that kind of
vibrate out toward a lean towardthe community, you know, toward
(33:54):
everyone? And what are thereverberations of that?
Anna Rose Holmer (34:01):
It was also something that was, like we
talked a lot about with Shane,and fola, when we were
developing it, it was veryimportant to cilia and I that
the the night of the assault isnot the inciting incident of the
film show so that it actuallylike you were talking about kind
(34:22):
of that that whiplash orheartbreak that happens on the
accusation is as much about kindof the bind to Brian, as it is
that like, his actions, thatnight disrupts a story in in
motion. So it's not like that'swhen the story begins. It's
actually like, that's when thestory is completely like, you
(34:43):
know, T boned and it becomes atotally different film and, and
then how do you how do you like,take that propulsion, that
propulsion of his actions andthen, you know, you move you
were moving now in a completelydifferent direction than we were
Yeah, yeah. It should feel likethat, you know, that's that is
(35:05):
that felt the, like the truestway to tell the story about how
an act of sexual violence like,disrupts lives in motion?
Jon Dieringer (35:15):
Sure. Could you also talk about passing Paul in
his relationship to thatcharacter? And that story is
something that he seemed like,really invested in? Sorry,
that's a dumb way of putting it.
But yeah, that makes sense. Imean, did he has reservations
about playing a bad person.
Saela Davis (35:38):
I mean, he recognized how how heavy it was,
you know, but as an actor, hewanted to approach the character
without judgment. And so,because I think for a lot of
actors, if you judge your, yourcharacter, then it's really hard
to portray them authentically.
And so we had a lot of difficultconversations around just
(35:59):
understanding Brian psychology.
But also to really, we, we did,we built kind of this extensive
backstory for all of our actorsand their characters. And in
Brian's we had to understand,okay, like, what, what violence
existed within the household,you know, what violence is kind
(36:22):
of being passed on through thegenerations? And what, what
compelled him to leave, and goto Australia for 10 years? What
happened in Australia. And so Ithink we all just wanted to have
a really solid understanding ofBrian's life before we meet him.
And then, you know, togetherkind of talk through what
(36:45):
happened that night, how doesit? How did it affects Sara and
Sarah's body as well as Brian'sbody? And? Yeah, it was like a
very delicate, difficult thingto explore. But I don't think he
had reservations necessarily,but it was it was a challenge
for all of us to kind of talkthrough.
Anna Rose Holmer (37:07):
Yeah, I mean, that one of the reasons why we
cast Paul is that we, we knew,for us, as filmmakers, we needed
someone that we felt safe goinginto this territory with and
that we could converse with, notas Brian but as Paul, like, you
know, so like, we needed weneeded someone that was going to
(37:29):
be considerate and generous,and, and have these
conversations with us first aspeople, you know, not out like,
not outside of characterbuilding. And so I think, I
think he knew how we wanted toapproach it, like with that
sensitivity, but I would say,Brian, you know, Brian is, is
(37:49):
really hard body to get into,and I think, you know, more than
maybe anyone else in the filmkind of like, shedding Brian was
very, was necessary for Paul sointeresting. You know, he
couldn't he, you know, he, ashis process, it was, you know,
(38:09):
he really needed to get out,when, when we were done doing
certain takes and things likethat really shed, and that that
like creating space for him tostay safe during this process,
like in the way that he neededemotionally mentally, like, was
something that was likeparamount for us.
Saela Davis (38:26):
Yeah, I think that was probably more challenging
than the prep. Right. Where, Idon't know, if he hadn't had
anticipated how it would feel tocarry Brian within him. And so
yeah, as Anna said, Ithink like, after a take it
would, it would require somekind of like, shaking it off.
Because, yeah, it's it's kind ofscary. I think so.
Jon Dieringer (38:50):
Yeah. Yeah. And I was working with Emily and what
was her process? Like?
Anna Rose Holmer (38:57):
Emily is incredible. You know, she, one
of the best things about thisentire process, you know, was
the prep time we had with all ofour cast. And, you know, we it
was during COVID And so it waslocked locked down in Ireland.
(39:18):
And so we had access to thisentire hotel that there was no
one in it, you know, and so wehad this kind of, like big space
to play and, and she was veryshe, she was a constant reminder
that like what we're doing isplaying, you know, and like
making sure there's room forexperimentation and joy. And,
(39:39):
you know, it was her desire toreally focus that the first week
of our rehearsal on the joy andthe love and like that, so that
like that was the foundation andso we just focused on that and
built that and that kind of likecapsule of that vibrancy of that
(40:00):
was something like that was sonecessary to build this so that
their entire relationship thatwas the foundation of it, and
that was the foundation of themworking together. I'm just I'm
speaking about Aileen and Brian,Emily and Paul. Yeah. And she's,
I mean, she's incrediblestoryteller. And yeah, it was.
Jon Dieringer (40:20):
I mean, it also seems very, very, like shrewd
given, you know what you'resaying about it being like a
heavy coat to wear to like,establish a sense of joy upfront
and like, you know, maybeprevent things from being like
fully heavy throughout. And Iwonder if maybe that's something
(40:40):
that just comes from experienceof being, you know, such an
accomplished actress? Yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (40:48):
I think and also, having gone through, yes,
her her experience as afilmmaker having gone through,
like having worn other heavycoats, right, like, at different
stages and knowing, I think shewas, yeah, she was a resource
for all of us. But she's alsolike, so collaborative and open.
(41:12):
Like, she really does becomelike an open book. For, you
know, to kind of like, or alike, she, she was so open to
tuning herself to the frequencythat we were
Saela Davis (41:30):
setting. Yeah, yeah. I mean, she, like, trusted
us. And, you know, we weredefinitely intimidated. We know
her body of work, and we've beenlong admirers. And so stepping
in to that space with her. We'relike, Okay, we're gonna tell
Emily Watson, what to do. That'sinsane. But she was like, yeah,
(41:51):
like, you're, you know, you'rethe directors, and I trust your
instincts. I trust your ideas.
And I may have some ideas, butthis is a collaboration. And I
think with all of our partnerson this project, I think the
spirit of collaboration reallykind of guided it. So
Jon Dieringer (42:08):
yeah. And so as of I guess, the time this will
be published, the film hasn't,you know, been released yet. But
I wonder, so far, in thescreenings you've had, is there
anything? Are there anyresponses that stand out to you
anything that's been unexpected,or joyful or not so joyful?
Anna Rose Holmer (42:31):
We have watched the film only two times
with the audience. We watched itin can, which I wouldn't even
call watching. I don't know whatit was. But I wasn't like,
Jon Dieringer (42:40):
everybody experienced.
Saela Davis (42:43):
Black blacked out.
I definitely was like, whatwe're watching movie right now a
movie is, oh, it's ours. It wasintense. And, you know, we like
flew out from New York, and thenhad a tech check. The day we
landed at 145 in the morning, amand we were told, we can't
complain, because people weredoing it, like texty, 30 years.
(43:07):
But um, and then the next day,it was, you know, press
screening in the morning andthen premiere at night. And so
it was just kind of nonstop. AndI don't think we had time to
process it until we left. But Imean, yeah, it's the most
wonderful experience, you know,like, I'm a, I'm a French cinema
fanatic. And so it was just adream to have a film premiere, I
(43:32):
can,
Anna Rose Holmer (43:35):
can was the first time we had seen it with
an audience couldn't absorbeverything. Then we saw it two
days, with an audience, advancedaudience at Walter Reed. And it
was really special. It felt likethe first time the movie felt
like, alive, you know, and therewere a few things that, you
(43:55):
know, full audience gasp islike, a such a rewarding
experience to just like feelthat? Well,
Saela Davis (44:05):
because it's strange, because you know, every
single thing that's going tohappen, you know, every edit,
right? And so when you putyourselves in their perspective,
and you're those guys are like,Oh, right. Work, they can do
that. And so that's always sofun to Yeah, yeah.
Anna Rose Holmer (44:21):
And that's one of our favorite theaters. You
know, so to watch your own workin a space where you like,
you've sat and studied and beenmoved. And yeah, it's just, it's
a real sense of, like, gratitudefor the privilege of being able
to do this every day. I don'tknow. It was very meaningful to
(44:46):
play the film there. Yeah.
Jon Dieringer (44:47):
Do you have a sense of what's next? I mean, I
know you're, like deep in theprocess of promoting and
releasing this film, but I thinkit seems fair to assume that
you'll continue to collaborateand
Anna Rose Holmer (44:59):
you Yeah, we're in it for the long haul.
We have a body of work tocreate.
Jon Dieringer (45:04):
Do you have like, like an outline of like your
next steps or career arc?
Saela Davis (45:09):
Well, we were adapt. We've been adapting
something for the past couple ofyears. So that's kind of on the
horizon and then
Anna Rose Holmer (45:18):
have some ideas. Yeah, but as a team, as a
team, yeah. As a writing team asa directing team. Yeah, that's
that's how we move
Jon Dieringer (45:42):
You have been listening to the Screen Slate
Podcast. We've been jumping thegun on our intended bi weekly
schedule lately, and will infact be back yet again next week
with Clyde Foley, curator of thecriteria and channels highly
anticipated 80s horror series,along with fan favorite co
hosts, Caroline Golum, and JohnKlacsmann, it's going to be a
(46:03):
return to the glorious chaosmode of earlier Screen Slate pod
episodes, so that is most likelysomething to look forward to.
Once again, I'd like to thankour guests and a rose Homer and
Sylvia Davis and to ClaireColetti for May 24 for setting
it up. This episode was editedby Spencer Yang and made
possible by our Patreon members.
If you are a daily Screen Slatereader or enjoy the podcast or
(46:27):
just want to help us out visitpatreon.com/screen Slate, you
can throw us a couple bucks amonth and that is our number one
most essential form of support.
And once again, thanks so muchto everyone who is already
supporting us. Thanks forlistening and catch you next
time.
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