Writer/Director Kate Beecroft: EAST OF WALL

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the show. Writer director Kate Beecroft. The film
is East of Wall. I'm hearing a lot about it.
Tell me a little bit about the distribution deal for
East of Wall, because I'm a movie reviewer in town,
and it's like it popped up just yesterday. Showing got
a bunch of theaters this weekend. But it just popped

(00:24):
up yesterday, like as of Tuesday, it was not anywhere
around you know, Connecticut this weekend. Tell me what's going
on with the distribution for the film.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Oh, that's interesting, good to know that. Well, yeah, we
were bought by Sony Picture's Classics out of sun Dance. Yeah,
you know, I think. Yeah. I mean, honestly, this is
my first film, so some of that stuff I don't
even know about. But I'm glad that it's popping up
at least.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah. Great, Yeah, I'm glad I found out. But I
found out kind of the in the you know, the
final stretch I put together my weekend at the movie
segment today in fact, so it came in just under
the wire. I was just curious about that because that's
not ordinarily the case. Maybe it's you know, the noises
beginning I knew about the sundance of the audience award,

(01:12):
and congratulations on that. I'm a movie geek and it's
it's what I do in general. It seems to me
like with East of Wall, you've kind of created your
own genre here, right, I mean it's kind of like
a docu fiction? Is it like kind of part documentary
if I'm understanding.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, So, yeah, I found this story. I was driving
around the US and took a wrong turn and found
a woman in South Dakota and she said, hey, if
you want a really amazing story, had East of Wall
and find a woman named Tavsa. So that's what I did.
I spent three years living with them and with this
family that I that I met there and kind of
shaped a film of them acting as themselves with some

(01:53):
fiction through it. Yeah. So it is docu fiction, and
it's an exciting genre because every director who does it
had kind of have their own definition of the genre.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
So some woman just told you on the road, you know,
I have a daughter. This is the kind of stuff
that worries me. I mean, my daughter's twenty two years old.
She studied film as well. Like I would tell her
if anyone ever tells you in the road, drive in
that direction and ask for Tabitha like, don't do that.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
My words to my daughter would be not to do that.
For you.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
You made a great film out of it, but what
did she give you more to go on?

Speaker 2 (02:31):
No, it was so mysterious, and it was you know,
I'm a filmmaker. I'm gonna go for the mystery. I'm
gonna go for Okay, what's down that road.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
That's such such an interesting way to go about your
first film. So you were just driving like until you
ran out of money, like I'm going to find my story,
and you found a story of female resilience in the
new way.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
Tell me about the New West too, What you mean
by that?

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, you know, I just feel like, you know, there's
so many cowboy films out right now, right, and yeah,
kind of Western culture is really becoming alive again. But
I've just been noticing that none of those narratives and
none of like anything depicted in Hollywood, none of us
told through the voices of women, and especially women that
you wouldn't necessarily think is like, you know, your stereotypical,

(03:20):
romanticized like ranchers. So to me, they were So there's
something about this family that's so modern and that really
surprised me against such like a classic Western backdrop like
the plains of South Dakota.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
And yeah, I'm intrigued.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
They really felt like the new West.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Me. Yeah, I'm intrigued. I'm looking at a photo of
her right now too. She looks like an intimidating character.
What was your first encounter with her? Like, she's got
ferociousness in her eyes, Tabitha, what was it like when
you first met her?

Speaker 2 (03:52):
You know what she absolutely does, and then you meet
her and she is a heart of gold. I mean,
this woman has gone through so much in her life.
But then she also she runs a ranch, and then
she also has a bunch of teenagers from neighboring areas
when they need a place to live, they need food,
they need just a kind of a sanctuary. They're allowed

(04:13):
to stay at that ranch with her as in exchange
for hey, you know, wake up in the morning and
you know, let's move some cattle. So yeah, and it's
me that was interesting as a character for to be
a lead in a film, because she's not what you think.
You know, when you hear the story, you think of
maybe like kind of mother Teresa vibes and she's she's

(04:34):
she's not, she's complicated, but also so incredible.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
I'm looking at all the names above. It's a beautiful
post or two for East of Wall and it's out
this weekend. None of them are actual actors or people
who were pursuing acting. These are all people who were
living in the bad lands of South Dakota who you
were able to coerce into, like, this is what we'll do.
I wrote a few pages last night. Let's go for this.

(04:59):
That's how went very unique. I'm intrigued.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, there's there's you know, it's ninety eight percent like
you know, actors playing themselves. But then you know, we
have also actors like Scut mcneery and Jennifer Ee who
are kind of ve's for Hollywood, and so that's you know,
it's them, it's them kind of mashing up together.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
I can't wait to watch it again.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
It's East of Wall Kate Becroft written directed by what's
your next project?

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Are you hitting the road? Like? Are you hitting the
road again? I've got a story for you.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Go to New Haven and look, it's a radio guy
named Vinnie and there's a.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Hell of a story there that's all I'm good to
say to you.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
I think i't familiar with his work.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
Oh it's a hell of a movie. Find it is
that what you're going to do again? Are you going
to go about it the same way? I'm intrigued by.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
You, you know, I'm not. I don't think I'm going
to you know, it's so funny. I never planned I
was going to do some Western and live on a
ranch for three years. I'm a fantasy nerd like Lord
of the Rings is my favorite film, so I n
maybe going in the fantasy sci fi realm.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Yeah, which is hot right now too. Just like you
said about westerns, Well, I wish you continued success. You're
quite a character and I can't wait to watch the movie.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Thanks, Vinnie, appreciate you.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
Take care of