September 8, 2025 • 22 mins
Geoffrey welcomes writer and filmmaker Kristy Leigh Lussier back for a brand-new hangoute episode. They dive into a horror binge of The Conjuring films, swap takes on wild fairy-tale reimaginings like The Ugly Stepsister, and share some of the worst (and most damaging) screenwriting advice floating around online. Plus, they break down the state of today’s industry and how Kristy rallied a 30-person crew to shoot a vertical micro-drama in Idaho.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Kristy Leigh Lussier is a screenwriter and filmmaker based in Boise. A horror fan with credits that include The Death of Snow White, she creates character-driven genre stories and recently directed a vertical micro-drama with a local crew.
About the Host
With films on network television, streaming platforms, and in theaters, Geoffrey D. Calhoun is a screenwriter, author of The Guide for Every Screenwriter, and a passionate mentor in the industry. He hosts The Successful Screenwriter podcast to empower writers and filmmakers at every level.
Resources Mentioned in the Episode
Enjoyed this format? Leave a comment with your favorite Conjuring-style watch order or a fairy-tale twist you’d love to see on screen. Don’t forget to subscribe and share this episode with a writer friend.
#screenwriting #podcast #horror #Conjuring #filmmaking #indiefilm #writingadvice #storytelling #publicdomainhorror
🎬 Get Free Script Leads — be the first to know which producers are requesting scripts and accepting submissions.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. Share it with a fellow screenwriter who’d find it valuable!
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- A simple Conjuring watch order to start your binge
- Why the first Conjuring still holds up as one of the best modern horror films
- How bold fairy-tale twists like The Ugly Stepsister can inspire fresh writing
- Why “don’t write from your life” is terrible advice
- How to find (or build) your own creative film community
- 00:00 Welcome and new format with Kristy
- 01:27 Why The Conjuring inspires and how it builds tension with heart
- 03:20 The Warrens and casting that anchors the franchise
- 03:56 Where to start with the Conjuring watch order
- 07:10 Geoffrey’s take on The Ugly Stepsister (and a quick content warning)
- 09:20 Public-domain horror trend: Pooh, Bambi, Popeye, Steamboat Willie
- 12:21 Bad advice of the week: “Do not write from your life”
- 16:05 State of the industry and why self-starting matters
- 18:55 Kristy’s vertical micro-drama and how a 30-person crew came together
- 22:33 Final encouragement and plans to continue the series
Kristy Leigh Lussier is a screenwriter and filmmaker based in Boise. A horror fan with credits that include The Death of Snow White, she creates character-driven genre stories and recently directed a vertical micro-drama with a local crew.
About the Host
With films on network television, streaming platforms, and in theaters, Geoffrey D. Calhoun is a screenwriter, author of The Guide for Every Screenwriter, and a passionate mentor in the industry. He hosts The Successful Screenwriter podcast to empower writers and filmmakers at every level.
Resources Mentioned in the Episode
- The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2
- Insidious, Saw
- Jaws 50th anniversary IMAX release
- The Ugly Stepsister (Amazon Prime)
- Public-domain horror examples: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Bambi reimagining, Steamboat Willie horror
- Vertical micro-dramas and short-form series
- Website: TheSuccessfulScreenwriter.com
- Instagram: @screenwriterpod
- YouTube: The Successful Screenwriter
Enjoyed this format? Leave a comment with your favorite Conjuring-style watch order or a fairy-tale twist you’d love to see on screen. Don’t forget to subscribe and share this episode with a writer friend.
#screenwriting #podcast #horror #Conjuring #filmmaking #indiefilm #writingadvice #storytelling #publicdomainhorror
🎬 Get Free Script Leads — be the first to know which producers are requesting scripts and accepting submissions.
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. Share it with a fellow screenwriter who’d find it valuable!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stuck in Act two, not sure if that twist actually works,
or maybe your characters are just fine. That's where Virtual
Jeffrey comes in. He's a screenwriting assistant we've trained to
help you workshop scenes, fixed pacing, punch up dialogue, or
just get on stuck. If you're a member of the
Successful screen Arder, you've already got access. If not, it
(00:21):
might be time to level up. All right, welcome to
the podcast. I've got Christy Lee Lucier. So nice to
have you back on this show.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Very excited to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, man, I mean you've been one of my favorite guests,
and so now we're going to kind of talk about,
you know, films that we've enjoyed or movies we've liked
or didn't like, and we'll talk some industry stuff and
some really bad screenwriting secrets and just kind of cover
all of that today. What have you watched recently that
made you feel inspired or kind of like?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Man, Well, interestingly enough, in the last few weeks, we've
kind of been on a binge and we went and
saw a bunch of re releases that had come out
so okay. For example, like the Conjuring Last Writes film
came out this weekend, and we saw the film on
Friday night, but we went back and watched in the
theater all the Conjuring films.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
How funny is Oh.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Gosh, Well, we didn't watch all of them, but there's
probably like eight or nine in the universe.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Really, I didn't realize it was that many in that.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Franchise because there's like the four Conjurings and then there's
the spinoff, so the Annabel and the Men.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
And that kind of stuff, and oh okay.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So we yeah, we just went back and watched a
number of them ones that inspired us because you know,
I'm a big horror fan and we're horror writers, and
the first Conjuring film for me is always, as you
can tell, the poster back is always a huge.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Inspiration in terms of just how to.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Really like create and build great tension and just tell
a really good horror story that does have heart at
the center of it. And I think The Conjuring is
probably one of the it's my favorite fo horror movie,
but I think it's one of the best horror movies
that's ever kind of come out.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Can I ask you? Because I haven't seen any of them,
but my, yeah, my impression of these films is like
the Fast and the Furious of Haunted Dolls. So you
know what I mean, Like, that's my impression of it.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
You're not wrong, but it's it's kind of like, you know,
when the first Fast and Furious came out, So let's
talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
When the first Fast and Furious came.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Out, at the time, we really hadn't seen anything like right,
it was new, it was very new, and all the
all the kind of like teenage films at the time
were the you know, along the WB lines, so Dawson's
Creek and Buffy and those kinds of like films. And
then so when Fast and Furious came out, it was
just such a different whist that we hadn't seen anything
like that with an ensemble cast like that in kind
(02:48):
of a different realm. And so for me, when The
Conjuring came out and we saw it in the theater
when it first came out, it was pretty.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Groundbreaking in a way. It really did.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It was the film that launched kind of everything we've
seen in the last ten years since that. So it
probably feels like it's just another one of those horror movies.
But when you go back and you watch it, you
realize this kind of was one of the first ones
that set the tone for this new wave of horror.
And I that's James wand he's the director, and he
did Insidious and he did Saw, but the Conjuring is
(03:18):
kind of his big his big thing in terms of horrors.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
You know, it's a visionary director, any kind of he.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Kind of pushes the envelope like I saw Malignant and
I was like, oh, okay, that's an interesting take on horrors.
I can understand that. It cast wise, though, are you
following the same kind of group of people through it
all of these different films?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah, I mean it's it's it's the story of the Warrens.
And so you're following the two lead actors, who's Patrick
Wilson and Barrif from Menda, and they play Ed and
the Rain Warren. And so I think audiences really loved
the first film, but they really loved at the heart
of it was those two.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Characters and their story.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And so they kind of carried through the wave of
through these films and there what's made what's made the
film's probably as successful as they've been.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So if I want to do a Conjuring Binge, What
am I starting with? This is just like Star Wars.
Do I need to start with episode four before I
go to episode one?
Speaker 3 (04:14):
First one, the first one, okay, the conjuring and then
the Conjuring two. Watch those two and then and then
let me know, and then I'll tell you like.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And then when do I go to the dolls? Right?
When do I start switching to dolls and nuns? Is
there a clown in one of these?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I'm sure the second movie has kind of like a
clown character. Who knows, I don't know, cricking man.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
If you can't forget clown, that's great, all right.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I'll start with one that's been my thing in the
last few weeks other than I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
If you see the poster behind me, the Jaws fiftieth
release came out and we saw in Imax last.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Week, and that's my favorite movie of all time, and
I still think to this day is probably the closest
to a perfect film that you can never be.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That's my and that's a hill I'll die on.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Do you remember the Back in the Future Part two
when he's in the future and he sees Aws and
it's like Jaws exactly. They actually did, like a trailer
for that fake movie is absolutely hilarious.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, you can find it.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
It's just it's it's just a narrator going, you know,
like Jo We've then we had Jaws in space, you know,
and so it's like going through all of the sequels.
And it was actually pretty funny. So you can find
that online. It's super cute. Well, I actually I actually
watched a pretty good film that's been on my queue
and Amazon Prime. It's called The Ugly step Sister and
(05:38):
it's a European film, so it's it's about the Cinderella
story but from the perspective of the Ugly Stepsister. And
I thought that was really fascinating because it's been sitting
in my queue and I'm like, you know what, I'm
just gonna watch this thing, not realizing that this isn't
a this is an adult movie, this is European and
the fact that like full frontal all of this stuff
I was not I was not expecting. So like it,
(06:00):
if you're gonna watch this, don't watch it with your kids.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It was shot.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I was like, we went there, Okay, that was a choice.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You know, you kind of have to expect it, I guess, right.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, for sure, Yeah, there's there's no subtlety hear so.
But what I what I what I did like about
the film is it's a body horror film. It's about
the ugly stepsister who is in love with the prince
and she, you know, she's a virgin and he wants
a virgin and so she's like a normal girl, but
mom calls her fat and so now she has to
(06:35):
try and lose weight and she has to go to
like an all girls school for a prep school, which
is like so abusive. So I mean she just goes
down this rabbit hole I means spoiglers here, guys. But
she she eats a a tapeworm egg to lose weight.
She has like this awful surgery you know, uh where
(06:57):
they're doing like a nose job on her using a
hammer and chisel. Like I mean, it is it is intense,
but following her journey, and the really interesting thing is
is Cinderella is the antagonist because she's not a virgin, right,
So so she's lying to the prince because she was
sleeping with the local farm boy. And so that's what
(07:18):
I thought was interesting is taking the classic twist and
instead of having her be this you know, perfect flower.
You know she's this free world spirit. Yes she is,
you know, living not the best life, but not as
abusive as the mom is to the stepsister. So I
thought that was really fascinating. And it talks about you know,
the social pressures of women to feel pretty or even
(07:39):
from you know, the family, of making you like try
and be perfect when you were perfect in the first place.
So really really good. So if you can get past
all of that stuff, is actually the the The Aly
steps is actually really good. It's not Amazon Prime and
I recommend it if you get a chance to check
it out. But yeah, it is. It is intense, it
is graphic. It is body horror.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
It's body horror.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I had to I had to get up and walk
out for a minute. When they decided to get rid
of the tape for him, I was like, oh my god,
I gotta take a break. Yeah, you gotta take a break.
But that's what I like. You know, this is something
you can do. You can take a classic you know
fantasy that we all are familiar with. You know, you
had snow White and the Huntsman. Who would think of
doing something like this? So you know, for people out there,
(08:24):
writers out there, like, oh, I can't find any inspiration,
look at the classics and look at it from a
different perspective. No one has No one thought about making
the ugly stepsister the central character or even the protagonists
in a film really really worked anyway.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You can take like a twist like that.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Like I did work on a film last year that
came out this year called The Death of snow White,
and it was an independent horror film, but it.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Was the same vein so it was kind of.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Like a body horror twist where the evil queen is
like kidnapping the girls and like taking their bodys and
like putting herself back together to keep herself young.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
That's interesting, Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It was the same thing, kind of same concept of
this unique twist on an original kind of fairy tale ip,
but then this interesting body horror element, kind of commentary
on like what women will do to how far they'll
go to stay and look young, talking about like thematically.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, well I think there's a lot of that going
on right now. I mean, you had the whole Winnie
the Pooh slasher film. Yeah, then yeah, they've got knockoffs
of that and now there's a piglet version.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
And Bamby Babby's coming out and Bambi's like a window.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Bamby poor thing kind of yeah, so I mean that
was inevitable. But you've got Popeye now.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah, and we saw earlier this year Steamboat, which is
like the Mickey Mouse like on a yeah, going on
like and it was.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So funny, it was great, it was so clever.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So so I mean I think Blood and Honey was
first to the first of the.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Line there, right, one of the big ones. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, So now it's it's kind of like, is it
getting cheesy? Is it getting I mean, it's its own
genre now, I would even say, but yeah, is it?
Is it getting cheesy? Are people just putting these you know,
grabbing these ip's as fast as they can and then
whipping through like a like a fast script just to
get Popeye, just to get something and they're killing people
with a pipe you know. What I mean is yeah,
(10:20):
are people actually making these things and trying to put
in a good script or are they just rushing it
out the door.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I think there's there's kind of probably two pools with
two contingents. There's one that's probably doing that that's seeing
that there's kind of this wave if we if we
ride the wave, and we'll get in on the on
the goods. But I do think that there's another swath
of people that know that there's there is an audience
for it, and there is a market for it.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
There's people that love this kind of independent horror.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And in the age of us being in like all
franchises and all sequels and all this, it's like, you're right,
the blend of both, like both worlds where you can
love horror and be into some weird stuff and then
it's like, but now you're taking like a franchise element,
you know.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
So I think it's kind of you know, it just depends.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yeah, I think you're right. You know, I've been to
horror conventions and they have such a strong fan base.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yeah, hands down, such a strong fan base.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So you can kind of whip these things out and
then and people will see if they will rent it,
they'll watch it. I mean you look at like, you know,
the Trouma movies, those are all low budget, Yeah, but
they're they have an absurdity to them which draws that
horror audience in there makes them keep coming back. You know,
like Newcomb High is ridiculous. Yeah, so you know what
(11:33):
I mean. So I'm wondering if that's what this is
kind of like the new genre, like the new version
of that where you've got the absurdity of you know,
Popeye killing people this pipe and people are like yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, I mean it's that, and I think that.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I mean it can be even just a third element
where it's like we really just want to stomp out
this whole idea of like bringing back old things, so
we're just going to make everybody a killer.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
It's almost like a commentary in it. I like that
idea a lot. Yeah, here's here's my version of your.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Popular right exactly exactly. I love that.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
That's great. Yeah, I do like that idea. This is
a segment I want to start with this is bad
screenwriting advice, because I've been seeing some wonderful bad screenwriting
advice and I was wondering if if you've seen any,
if you've run into any lately.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
I'm trying to think, because I see them all the time,
and I kind of make a note of them, and
then I forget that I ran into something until I'm
talking to somebody else and they mentioned something. I'm like, oh, yeah,
I did see that, and that's not well, let's talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
But I can't think of anything right off the top
of my head.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So no, I've got one.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I want to I want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I want to hear I'm ready to go. We're going
to do this. This segment's happening. Trash screenwriting advice. I'm
soft testing what to call this a seg change every episode?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Uh, because I was. I was going through and there
was a there was a thread on Reddit where they
were talking about the worst screening advice you got, and
one of them, myself, was great. It was they told
this new writer, don't write from your life experience. How
dare you try and do that? That's so arrogant? And
I was like what And this writer bought that advice
(13:16):
and did that for a long time, Like they're like, oh,
I can't write for my personal experience, that's exactly what
you should be doing. Please please write from your personal experience.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
That's the exact opposite. I do feel there's an element lacking.
There's there's a huge kind of conversation about it. I
know that screenwriters have had that conversation where we do
see a lot of things coming out of the industry,
or what we say, coming out of Hollywood, where we
feel like the writers are while they're writing and there's
some kind of strength in the writing technique, but it's
(13:48):
like the story just isn't there, and it's because the
life experience isn't there. There are these younger writers who
haven't had all these life kind of events happen that
can inspire them, and really kind of they pull from
what they've experienced every day, and you see it, you
see it on screen where you're just like, that feels
like you just live in a bubble and you're not
necessarily you haven't lived yet kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
You see it.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
I'm gonna give you an example.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yes, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
How do I do this without getting sued?
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, we'll play charades.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Now, my son did that did this thing that was
very innocent and he just didn't know any better, and
so someone called the cops and we had we had
to deal with it. Yeah, okay, we took care of it,
and I talked to the person about it and uh
and they they had no remorse. So I was like, Okay,
(14:36):
I'm gonna kill you in a movie.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yes, and that's how you do it.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I may or may not have wrote that scene. I
may or may not have put that in a movie,
and they may or may not have been killed on screen.
My point being is that you know, use what God
gives you. Sure, and maybe you might find a little
cathartic release out of it.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
But yeah, I would say absolutely, you your life experience. Please.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah, there's times that you probably have thought, or you've
said to yourself, or you've been in a situation where
you're like, this feels like a movie. And if you
have one of those moments, it probably is. It probably
is an inspiration for something.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Well.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, absolutely, There's there's so many times where I'm be like, well,
I'm going to have to put you in a.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Movie and Q.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, I love that. I love that approach. I'm not
going to beat you up.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Does not sound healthy when you say it out loud
now that I mention it.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
But I think that the opposite. I think that's exactly
what we need to do. That's so healthy. It's like,
right your feelings like do that?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Yeah? So crazy? I love that because like I dedicate
this one to you. What about what do you think
is going out with the industry right now so much.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's no secret that there's this
discussion about how, you know, studios and streaming services and
aren't necessarily pumping out content like they used to. You know,
they're not We're not seeing as many films being made,
We're not seeing as many productions.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, things are in contraction, and.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
It really is, and so you know, it's a unique time.
I actually was watching a YouTube video yesterday about a filmmaker.
He was a documentary filmmaker, but he was talking about
that there's never been a better time for us to
be able to as screenwriters and as independent filmmakers, for
us to be.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Able to kind of do our own thing.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
That we have the access and we have the technology,
but now we also have the ability to be able
to put our stuff out and not wait for a
approval of anything.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I mean, finances always is a thing. We always want
money to make the stuff that we want to make.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
But yeah, industry wise, I think that it's you know,
people are having a tough time finding work, whether it's
on the actual production side and people crewing on crews
or writing. I mean I'm hearing several in several places
and in several of my kind of groups and my networking,
you know, the studios and people just aren't.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
They're not picking up content like they were before. They're
not even looking for the way they were. They say
they are, but they're not.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And so a lot of people are just having a
hard time getting their stuff seen or read or picked up.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I think it's been like that for a long time
and they're just now finally starting to talk about it.
I think the old ways of breaking in, you know,
are gone. I think now it's you're interested in screenwriting,
you're interested in filmmaking, and you want to break in.
I mean, I've done two hundred and eighty six interviews
with professional screenwriters and filmmakers who got their stuff made.
(17:29):
Every single time they did it themselves, no one waited
for the phone to ring. I mean, I had a
writer director who was a fan of the show when
and made their own stuff, got Hollywood A listers on it,
and then came back on the show Awesome to talk
about it. So that's that's my point, Like, go out
there and do it. And if you can't go to
(17:51):
Hollywood and make that happen, that's okay. No one is
right now.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yeah, right, exactly. You're not alone. I mean you're not Yeah,
network of people out there that are kind of doing.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
The same thing. We're all in the hustle game. We're
all in that.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah, we all want to be the visionary, but we're
all just we're just hustling every day.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah. And so find in that local group you know
that you can you can kind of break into and
start making stuff with. And you know, if there is
no local community near you, which I don't believe, I
think they're everywhere, then create the community, like nothing is
stopping you from going out there to do it. You
were telling me that you made this film and then
all of a sudden you had like a thirty crew
(18:31):
on set.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yeah, and just one of those moments where it was
just an idea that I had that it's speaking of
the industry. It's kind of this new wave of things
coming out in the industry, you know, vertical dramas, micro
vertical shorts, and it's kind of a big thing right
now that actually is keeping a lot of people working
in la and in Atlanta and a few other places,
(18:53):
and it's you know, do some research on it.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
You know, writers and filmmakers out there. It's very interesting.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
I mean it's not necessarily than a take over Hollywood
and be like the next Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
It's its own thing.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
It's meant to be short form content that you consume
on the go on your phone, you know, in small bits,
which is why it's called microdrama. But I just had
this idea that I wanted to do one and reached
out to a couple of friends. Within a week, I mean,
I had thirty people on board, and then the following
week we were up shooting at a cabin in here
in Idaho where I live, and yeah, cast and crew,
(19:26):
I mean everybody came and worked for free and we
fed them and took care of them. But yeah, we're
in post production on that now. And there is a
community out there that really wants to probably in your
area and you probably don't know it, but like there's
a bunch of people that will just get together.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And they just want to make art, and they just want.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
To make fun stuff and just go out and kind
of network and try to find a group of people
around you that are like minded like you, and kind
of want to do the same thing and just support
each other and help each other and work with each other.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And when you set out to do this, did you
expect you're going to have like thirty people showing up
knocking out your door to like make this thing.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
No. No, I mean.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
I've been in this community where we are here in
Boise in the Treasure Valley for quite some time, and
we know a lot of filmmakers here, but a lot
of everybody just loved the idea of what I wanted
to try to do because it was so different and
new and unique and a little absurd. So it's these
microdramas and these verticals are a little they're.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Like little mini soap operas. They're like telenovella.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
So you have this ability to have some fun and
like go over the top. And when I pitched it
to a couple of the actresses that I was feeling like,
I think these girls could probably pull it off, they
were just in love.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
They loved it.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
They were like, this is so fun, this is so different.
And we were one of the first groups. We're the
first people ever in Idaho to try to do one
of these a vertical and yeah, so everybody was just like, no, man,
that's awesome, let's do it. And I'm really lucky, and
we are really lucky here where we are that there
are a lot of people that will just we've helped
people on their sets, they come and help on our sets.
(21:00):
We do, you know, networking groups together. And about a
year and a half ago, a friend of mine, one
of my best friends, she started a female filmmaking group
here in town called the Female Film Slayers, and her
purpose of doing that was, let me create a group
where there's a safe space for women to come together
and kind of create and do films together and storytelling together.
(21:20):
And since then that small group has made three films,
just as female filmmakers have gotten together and made three films.
And it's just because we just want to be able
to kind of support each other and give each other
the space and a good safe space for us to create.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
And so it's out there.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
People out there, you know, whether you're a writer or
a filmmaker, get online, see if there's any local groups
and just connect. And that's just the way to go.
That's kind of the first step.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, I mean, I mean, you say you're lucky, but
I don't think you're lucky. I think you put the
work in. I really think that's what luck is. I
think luck is making yourself vulnerable and putting the work in.
And that's what you've did. And you know you had
all these people show up to support you. So if
you're out there and you want to break in, this
is how you do it. Exactly what she said. Yeah,
(22:08):
absolutely incredible.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Or reach out to Jeffrey Kauson because if it was
for Jeffrey Kolmoon, I wouldn't be where I am today either.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Oh gosh, So is there anything before I let you go?
Anything else?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
No, not that I can think of.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Just keep writing, everybody, Just every day, if you've got
an idea, jot it down and just write.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
That's my best advice every day. I'll say it every day.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Do you want to do this again next week?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I do. Let's do it. Let's let's talk more next week.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Hey. If this episode helped you out, share it with
a writer who needs it, and if you haven't yet,
follow and leave a quick rating. It helps more screenwriters
like you find the show. Finally, you can also connect
with me on Instagram at screenwriter Pod. Thanks again for listening.
Keep writing,
Stuck in Act two, not sure if that twist actually works,
or maybe your characters are just fine. That's where Virtual
Jeffrey comes in. He's a screenwriting assistant we've trained to
help you workshop scenes, fixed pacing, punch up dialogue, or
just get on stuck. If you're a member of the
Successful screen Arder, you've already got access. If not, it
(00:21):
might be time to level up. All right, welcome to
the podcast. I've got Christy Lee Lucier. So nice to
have you back on this show.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Very excited to be back.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, man, I mean you've been one of my favorite guests,
and so now we're going to kind of talk about,
you know, films that we've enjoyed or movies we've liked
or didn't like, and we'll talk some industry stuff and
some really bad screenwriting secrets and just kind of cover
all of that today. What have you watched recently that
made you feel inspired or kind of like?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Man, Well, interestingly enough, in the last few weeks, we've
kind of been on a binge and we went and
saw a bunch of re releases that had come out
so okay. For example, like the Conjuring Last Writes film
came out this weekend, and we saw the film on
Friday night, but we went back and watched in the
theater all the Conjuring films.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
How funny is Oh.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Gosh, Well, we didn't watch all of them, but there's
probably like eight or nine in the universe.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Really, I didn't realize it was that many in that.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Franchise because there's like the four Conjurings and then there's
the spinoff, so the Annabel and the Men.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
And that kind of stuff, and oh okay.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So we yeah, we just went back and watched a
number of them ones that inspired us because you know,
I'm a big horror fan and we're horror writers, and
the first Conjuring film for me is always, as you
can tell, the poster back is always a huge.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Inspiration in terms of just how to.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Really like create and build great tension and just tell
a really good horror story that does have heart at
the center of it. And I think The Conjuring is
probably one of the it's my favorite fo horror movie,
but I think it's one of the best horror movies
that's ever kind of come out.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Can I ask you? Because I haven't seen any of them,
but my, yeah, my impression of these films is like
the Fast and the Furious of Haunted Dolls. So you
know what I mean, Like, that's my impression of it.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
You're not wrong, but it's it's kind of like, you know,
when the first Fast and Furious came out, So let's
talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
When the first Fast and Furious came.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Out, at the time, we really hadn't seen anything like right,
it was new, it was very new, and all the
all the kind of like teenage films at the time
were the you know, along the WB lines, so Dawson's
Creek and Buffy and those kinds of like films. And
then so when Fast and Furious came out, it was
just such a different whist that we hadn't seen anything
like that with an ensemble cast like that in kind
(02:48):
of a different realm. And so for me, when The
Conjuring came out and we saw it in the theater
when it first came out, it was pretty.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Groundbreaking in a way. It really did.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
It was the film that launched kind of everything we've
seen in the last ten years since that. So it
probably feels like it's just another one of those horror movies.
But when you go back and you watch it, you
realize this kind of was one of the first ones
that set the tone for this new wave of horror.
And I that's James wand he's the director, and he
did Insidious and he did Saw, but the Conjuring is
(03:18):
kind of his big his big thing in terms of horrors.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
You know, it's a visionary director, any kind of he.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Kind of pushes the envelope like I saw Malignant and
I was like, oh, okay, that's an interesting take on horrors.
I can understand that. It cast wise, though, are you
following the same kind of group of people through it
all of these different films?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah, I mean it's it's it's the story of the Warrens.
And so you're following the two lead actors, who's Patrick
Wilson and Barrif from Menda, and they play Ed and
the Rain Warren. And so I think audiences really loved
the first film, but they really loved at the heart
of it was those two.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Characters and their story.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
And so they kind of carried through the wave of
through these films and there what's made what's made the
film's probably as successful as they've been.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
So if I want to do a Conjuring Binge, What
am I starting with? This is just like Star Wars.
Do I need to start with episode four before I
go to episode one?
Speaker 3 (04:14):
First one, the first one, okay, the conjuring and then
the Conjuring two. Watch those two and then and then
let me know, and then I'll tell you like.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And then when do I go to the dolls? Right?
When do I start switching to dolls and nuns? Is
there a clown in one of these?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I'm sure the second movie has kind of like a
clown character. Who knows, I don't know, cricking man.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
If you can't forget clown, that's great, all right.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I'll start with one that's been my thing in the
last few weeks other than I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
If you see the poster behind me, the Jaws fiftieth
release came out and we saw in Imax last.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Week, and that's my favorite movie of all time, and
I still think to this day is probably the closest
to a perfect film that you can never be.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
That's my and that's a hill I'll die on.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Do you remember the Back in the Future Part two
when he's in the future and he sees Aws and
it's like Jaws exactly. They actually did, like a trailer
for that fake movie is absolutely hilarious.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, you can find it.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
It's just it's it's just a narrator going, you know,
like Jo We've then we had Jaws in space, you know,
and so it's like going through all of the sequels.
And it was actually pretty funny. So you can find
that online. It's super cute. Well, I actually I actually
watched a pretty good film that's been on my queue
and Amazon Prime. It's called The Ugly step Sister and
(05:38):
it's a European film, so it's it's about the Cinderella
story but from the perspective of the Ugly Stepsister. And
I thought that was really fascinating because it's been sitting
in my queue and I'm like, you know what, I'm
just gonna watch this thing, not realizing that this isn't
a this is an adult movie, this is European and
the fact that like full frontal all of this stuff
I was not I was not expecting. So like it,
(06:00):
if you're gonna watch this, don't watch it with your kids.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It was shot.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I was like, we went there, Okay, that was a choice.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
You know, you kind of have to expect it, I guess, right.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, for sure, Yeah, there's there's no subtlety hear so.
But what I what I what I did like about
the film is it's a body horror film. It's about
the ugly stepsister who is in love with the prince
and she, you know, she's a virgin and he wants
a virgin and so she's like a normal girl, but
mom calls her fat and so now she has to
(06:35):
try and lose weight and she has to go to
like an all girls school for a prep school, which
is like so abusive. So I mean she just goes
down this rabbit hole I means spoiglers here, guys. But
she she eats a a tapeworm egg to lose weight.
She has like this awful surgery you know, uh where
(06:57):
they're doing like a nose job on her using a
hammer and chisel. Like I mean, it is it is intense,
but following her journey, and the really interesting thing is
is Cinderella is the antagonist because she's not a virgin, right,
So so she's lying to the prince because she was
sleeping with the local farm boy. And so that's what
(07:18):
I thought was interesting is taking the classic twist and
instead of having her be this you know, perfect flower.
You know she's this free world spirit. Yes she is,
you know, living not the best life, but not as
abusive as the mom is to the stepsister. So I
thought that was really fascinating. And it talks about you know,
the social pressures of women to feel pretty or even
(07:39):
from you know, the family, of making you like try
and be perfect when you were perfect in the first place.
So really really good. So if you can get past
all of that stuff, is actually the the The Aly
steps is actually really good. It's not Amazon Prime and
I recommend it if you get a chance to check
it out. But yeah, it is. It is intense, it
is graphic. It is body horror.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
It's body horror.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I had to I had to get up and walk
out for a minute. When they decided to get rid
of the tape for him, I was like, oh my god,
I gotta take a break. Yeah, you gotta take a break.
But that's what I like. You know, this is something
you can do. You can take a classic you know
fantasy that we all are familiar with. You know, you
had snow White and the Huntsman. Who would think of
doing something like this? So you know, for people out there,
(08:24):
writers out there, like, oh, I can't find any inspiration,
look at the classics and look at it from a
different perspective. No one has No one thought about making
the ugly stepsister the central character or even the protagonists
in a film really really worked anyway.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You can take like a twist like that.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Like I did work on a film last year that
came out this year called The Death of snow White,
and it was an independent horror film, but it.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Was the same vein so it was kind of.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Like a body horror twist where the evil queen is
like kidnapping the girls and like taking their bodys and
like putting herself back together to keep herself young.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
That's interesting, Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
It was the same thing, kind of same concept of
this unique twist on an original kind of fairy tale ip,
but then this interesting body horror element, kind of commentary
on like what women will do to how far they'll
go to stay and look young, talking about like thematically.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, well I think there's a lot of that going
on right now. I mean, you had the whole Winnie
the Pooh slasher film. Yeah, then yeah, they've got knockoffs
of that and now there's a piglet version.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
And Bamby Babby's coming out and Bambi's like a window.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Bamby poor thing kind of yeah, so I mean that
was inevitable. But you've got Popeye now.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah, and we saw earlier this year Steamboat, which is
like the Mickey Mouse like on a yeah, going on
like and it was.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
So funny, it was great, it was so clever.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So so I mean I think Blood and Honey was
first to the first of the.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Line there, right, one of the big ones. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yeah, So now it's it's kind of like, is it
getting cheesy? Is it getting I mean, it's its own
genre now, I would even say, but yeah, is it?
Is it getting cheesy? Are people just putting these you know,
grabbing these ip's as fast as they can and then
whipping through like a like a fast script just to
get Popeye, just to get something and they're killing people
with a pipe you know. What I mean is yeah,
(10:20):
are people actually making these things and trying to put
in a good script or are they just rushing it
out the door.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
I think there's there's kind of probably two pools with
two contingents. There's one that's probably doing that that's seeing
that there's kind of this wave if we if we
ride the wave, and we'll get in on the on
the goods. But I do think that there's another swath
of people that know that there's there is an audience
for it, and there is a market for it.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
There's people that love this kind of independent horror.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
And in the age of us being in like all
franchises and all sequels and all this, it's like, you're right,
the blend of both, like both worlds where you can
love horror and be into some weird stuff and then
it's like, but now you're taking like a franchise element,
you know.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
So I think it's kind of you know, it just depends.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yeah, I think you're right. You know, I've been to
horror conventions and they have such a strong fan base.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yeah, hands down, such a strong fan base.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So you can kind of whip these things out and
then and people will see if they will rent it,
they'll watch it. I mean you look at like, you know,
the Trouma movies, those are all low budget, Yeah, but
they're they have an absurdity to them which draws that
horror audience in there makes them keep coming back. You know,
like Newcomb High is ridiculous. Yeah, so you know what
(11:33):
I mean. So I'm wondering if that's what this is
kind of like the new genre, like the new version
of that where you've got the absurdity of you know,
Popeye killing people this pipe and people are like yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Yeah, I mean it's that, and I think that.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I mean it can be even just a third element
where it's like we really just want to stomp out
this whole idea of like bringing back old things, so
we're just going to make everybody a killer.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
It's almost like a commentary in it. I like that
idea a lot. Yeah, here's here's my version of your.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Popular right exactly exactly. I love that.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
That's great. Yeah, I do like that idea. This is
a segment I want to start with this is bad
screenwriting advice, because I've been seeing some wonderful bad screenwriting
advice and I was wondering if if you've seen any,
if you've run into any lately.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
I'm trying to think, because I see them all the time,
and I kind of make a note of them, and
then I forget that I ran into something until I'm
talking to somebody else and they mentioned something. I'm like, oh, yeah,
I did see that, and that's not well, let's talk
about that.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
But I can't think of anything right off the top
of my head.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So no, I've got one.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I want to I want to hear it.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I want to hear I'm ready to go. We're going
to do this. This segment's happening. Trash screenwriting advice. I'm
soft testing what to call this a seg change every episode?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Uh, because I was. I was going through and there
was a there was a thread on Reddit where they
were talking about the worst screening advice you got, and
one of them, myself, was great. It was they told
this new writer, don't write from your life experience. How
dare you try and do that? That's so arrogant? And
I was like what And this writer bought that advice
(13:16):
and did that for a long time, Like they're like, oh,
I can't write for my personal experience, that's exactly what
you should be doing. Please please write from your personal experience.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
That's the exact opposite. I do feel there's an element lacking.
There's there's a huge kind of conversation about it. I
know that screenwriters have had that conversation where we do
see a lot of things coming out of the industry,
or what we say, coming out of Hollywood, where we
feel like the writers are while they're writing and there's
some kind of strength in the writing technique, but it's
(13:48):
like the story just isn't there, and it's because the
life experience isn't there. There are these younger writers who
haven't had all these life kind of events happen that
can inspire them, and really kind of they pull from
what they've experienced every day, and you see it, you
see it on screen where you're just like, that feels
like you just live in a bubble and you're not
necessarily you haven't lived yet kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
You see it.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
I'm gonna give you an example.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yes, let's do it.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
How do I do this without getting sued?
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Yeah, we'll play charades.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Now, my son did that did this thing that was
very innocent and he just didn't know any better, and
so someone called the cops and we had we had
to deal with it. Yeah, okay, we took care of it,
and I talked to the person about it and uh
and they they had no remorse. So I was like, Okay,
(14:36):
I'm gonna kill you in a movie.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yes, and that's how you do it.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I may or may not have wrote that scene. I
may or may not have put that in a movie,
and they may or may not have been killed on screen.
My point being is that you know, use what God
gives you. Sure, and maybe you might find a little
cathartic release out of it.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
But yeah, I would say absolutely, you your life experience. Please.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah, there's times that you probably have thought, or you've
said to yourself, or you've been in a situation where
you're like, this feels like a movie. And if you
have one of those moments, it probably is. It probably
is an inspiration for something.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Well.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, absolutely, There's there's so many times where I'm be like, well,
I'm going to have to put you in a.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Movie and Q.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, I love that. I love that approach. I'm not
going to beat you up.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Does not sound healthy when you say it out loud
now that I mention it.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
But I think that the opposite. I think that's exactly
what we need to do. That's so healthy. It's like,
right your feelings like do that?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Yeah? So crazy? I love that because like I dedicate
this one to you. What about what do you think
is going out with the industry right now so much.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it's no secret that there's this
discussion about how, you know, studios and streaming services and
aren't necessarily pumping out content like they used to. You know,
they're not We're not seeing as many films being made,
We're not seeing as many productions.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, things are in contraction, and.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
It really is, and so you know, it's a unique time.
I actually was watching a YouTube video yesterday about a filmmaker.
He was a documentary filmmaker, but he was talking about
that there's never been a better time for us to
be able to as screenwriters and as independent filmmakers, for
us to be.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Able to kind of do our own thing.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
That we have the access and we have the technology,
but now we also have the ability to be able
to put our stuff out and not wait for a
approval of anything.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I mean, finances always is a thing. We always want
money to make the stuff that we want to make.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
But yeah, industry wise, I think that it's you know,
people are having a tough time finding work, whether it's
on the actual production side and people crewing on crews
or writing. I mean I'm hearing several in several places
and in several of my kind of groups and my networking,
you know, the studios and people just aren't.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
They're not picking up content like they were before. They're
not even looking for the way they were. They say
they are, but they're not.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And so a lot of people are just having a
hard time getting their stuff seen or read or picked up.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I think it's been like that for a long time
and they're just now finally starting to talk about it.
I think the old ways of breaking in, you know,
are gone. I think now it's you're interested in screenwriting,
you're interested in filmmaking, and you want to break in.
I mean, I've done two hundred and eighty six interviews
with professional screenwriters and filmmakers who got their stuff made.
(17:29):
Every single time they did it themselves, no one waited
for the phone to ring. I mean, I had a
writer director who was a fan of the show when
and made their own stuff, got Hollywood A listers on it,
and then came back on the show Awesome to talk
about it. So that's that's my point, Like, go out
there and do it. And if you can't go to
(17:51):
Hollywood and make that happen, that's okay. No one is
right now.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yeah, right, exactly. You're not alone. I mean you're not Yeah,
network of people out there that are kind of doing.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
The same thing. We're all in the hustle game. We're
all in that.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah, we all want to be the visionary, but we're
all just we're just hustling every day.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yeah. And so find in that local group you know
that you can you can kind of break into and
start making stuff with. And you know, if there is
no local community near you, which I don't believe, I
think they're everywhere, then create the community, like nothing is
stopping you from going out there to do it. You
were telling me that you made this film and then
all of a sudden you had like a thirty crew
(18:31):
on set.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yeah, and just one of those moments where it was
just an idea that I had that it's speaking of
the industry. It's kind of this new wave of things
coming out in the industry, you know, vertical dramas, micro
vertical shorts, and it's kind of a big thing right
now that actually is keeping a lot of people working
in la and in Atlanta and a few other places,
(18:53):
and it's you know, do some research on it.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
You know, writers and filmmakers out there. It's very interesting.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
I mean it's not necessarily than a take over Hollywood
and be like the next Hollywood.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
It's its own thing.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
It's meant to be short form content that you consume
on the go on your phone, you know, in small bits,
which is why it's called microdrama. But I just had
this idea that I wanted to do one and reached
out to a couple of friends. Within a week, I mean,
I had thirty people on board, and then the following
week we were up shooting at a cabin in here
in Idaho where I live, and yeah, cast and crew,
(19:26):
I mean everybody came and worked for free and we
fed them and took care of them. But yeah, we're
in post production on that now. And there is a
community out there that really wants to probably in your
area and you probably don't know it, but like there's
a bunch of people that will just get together.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And they just want to make art, and they just want.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
To make fun stuff and just go out and kind
of network and try to find a group of people
around you that are like minded like you, and kind
of want to do the same thing and just support
each other and help each other and work with each other.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
And when you set out to do this, did you
expect you're going to have like thirty people showing up
knocking out your door to like make this thing.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
No. No, I mean.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
I've been in this community where we are here in
Boise in the Treasure Valley for quite some time, and
we know a lot of filmmakers here, but a lot
of everybody just loved the idea of what I wanted
to try to do because it was so different and
new and unique and a little absurd. So it's these
microdramas and these verticals are a little they're.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Like little mini soap operas. They're like telenovella.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
So you have this ability to have some fun and
like go over the top. And when I pitched it
to a couple of the actresses that I was feeling like,
I think these girls could probably pull it off, they
were just in love.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
They loved it.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
They were like, this is so fun, this is so different.
And we were one of the first groups. We're the
first people ever in Idaho to try to do one
of these a vertical and yeah, so everybody was just like, no, man,
that's awesome, let's do it. And I'm really lucky, and
we are really lucky here where we are that there
are a lot of people that will just we've helped
people on their sets, they come and help on our sets.
(21:00):
We do, you know, networking groups together. And about a
year and a half ago, a friend of mine, one
of my best friends, she started a female filmmaking group
here in town called the Female Film Slayers, and her
purpose of doing that was, let me create a group
where there's a safe space for women to come together
and kind of create and do films together and storytelling together.
(21:20):
And since then that small group has made three films,
just as female filmmakers have gotten together and made three films.
And it's just because we just want to be able
to kind of support each other and give each other
the space and a good safe space for us to create.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
And so it's out there.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
People out there, you know, whether you're a writer or
a filmmaker, get online, see if there's any local groups
and just connect. And that's just the way to go.
That's kind of the first step.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, I mean, I mean, you say you're lucky, but
I don't think you're lucky. I think you put the
work in. I really think that's what luck is. I
think luck is making yourself vulnerable and putting the work in.
And that's what you've did. And you know you had
all these people show up to support you. So if
you're out there and you want to break in, this
is how you do it. Exactly what she said. Yeah,
(22:08):
absolutely incredible.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Or reach out to Jeffrey Kauson because if it was
for Jeffrey Kolmoon, I wouldn't be where I am today either.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Oh gosh, So is there anything before I let you go?
Anything else?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
No, not that I can think of.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Just keep writing, everybody, Just every day, if you've got
an idea, jot it down and just write.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
That's my best advice every day. I'll say it every day.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Do you want to do this again next week?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
I do. Let's do it. Let's let's talk more next week.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Hey. If this episode helped you out, share it with
a writer who needs it, and if you haven't yet,
follow and leave a quick rating. It helps more screenwriters
like you find the show. Finally, you can also connect
with me on Instagram at screenwriter Pod. Thanks again for listening.
Keep writing,
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