August 25, 2025 • 41 mins
Jelena Woehr, Cameo Wood, and Connie Jo Sechrist from the short film "The Clock" talk about the origins of the story and working with Hollywood legends CCH Pounder & Wallace Shawn!
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You are listening to the I f H Podcast Network.
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Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, everybody, welcome back to the show. Got a lot
of I've just got to say. Maybe I've talked about
this previously the past few weeks, but there's just been
so many requests lately. You know, things are things are down.
This is like everybody's just struggling for work and everything,
and that's that has not obviously changed yet, but I
(01:02):
do feel like there's something going on where there's a
lot of requests for the show, where the past few
months I had zero, I mean just nobody, and now
all of a sudden, there's tons of people, which is
very exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I feel like there's something going on. So today is
one of those requests.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's a great film that I had the privilege of
seeing called The Clock, and we have a bunch of
people here from the film, So I'm gonna have them
introduce themselves.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
How are y'all doing?
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Fantastic?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And I guess I guess we'll start with Connie Joe,
because you're first in line here on my screen.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Who introduced yourselves? And what you did on the film.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Yeah, I'm Knye Jose Kris and I produced the film.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Okay, and cameo Hi, I'm Cameo Wood and I am
the director and executive producer of the film Great Angelina.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I am yelling actually looks it's it's a trick. It's
a trick. It's uh spelled that way, just to mess
with you. And I'm the writer.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Okay, No, I totally should have asked.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Sorry, good, it's it's when you have a name like
Chuck Thomas, it is the most boring name on the planet,
you know, like you, I should ask more.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
My website is it's I'll have to spell it because
this audio, but it's yell y E l L I
N A W A r dot com. And I love
watching people realize that that's a phonetic pronunciation guide for
my name.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh, very cool. I'm always jealous of people who have
interesting names.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Oh, I'm always jealous of people who have easy names.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, yeah, grass is greener. I guess that's funny.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Uh So, Yeah, the film's The Clock and I got
to see it, and I have to say, you know,
just off the top, you got you got to work
with I would say some Hollywood legends cch Pounder and
Wallace Sean.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That was just amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
But before we get started on the film, actually, let's
let's back up for a second and do an icebreaker.
What kind of cool stuff are you guys checking out
right now? Any films, shows, podcasts, whatever that you're brilliant?
Books maybe you're into right now that are really cool?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Cool? Nice question you can go first, Jelena, I do
I do have a book to recommend. I was an
assistant on suits La and Rip. Unfortunately we got canceled,
but are one of our executive producers, John Cowen just
wrote a legal thriller called Proof, so I just finished
reading that. It's great, it's the start in the series.
(03:50):
There's going to be another one. So do you have
a book recommendation? And then TV Live? Honestly, I am
just like ninety percent done with a complete Rewinduch of
all seven seasons is a good way, highly recommend.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
Oh nice, all right, funny, Due, do you have anything awesome?
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Yeah? I actually started reading this book called Fourth Wing.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
It was recommended to me because I like medieval stuff.
And then I've just been catching up on Black Mirror
because I didn't see the last sixth season, so okay.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
So I just finished a preprint of a book that's
coming out in November called There Is No Anti Memetics
Division by Quanto, and it's actually based on a series
of like Reddit posts and and things from the SCP
Foundation project. Right yeah, so it's pretty cool. I love
(04:52):
the s CP and I love that this person who
you know contributed a lot actually has a novel coming
out anyway, and then probably for TV. I'm actually rewatching
right now. I'm rewatching mister Robot too.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Uh yeah, yeah, how many? How many seasons did that get?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I remember watching the at least the first two. The
first one was amazing, I remember.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
Yeah, I'm on the second. I actually don't know how
many there are left. But I did read that I
had a conclusion because they knew that it was ending.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So yeah.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
It always thinks to watch something and you're on season
six or whatever, and it's like, what what will happen
next time?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Nothing?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Okay, Well, some great stuff. I just recently saw the
movie Together out in out in theaters right now, and
really good script, really good script. It's I know, the
previews make it seem like crazy gross and I'm used
to super gross stuff, but it wasn't. I mean, this
(05:55):
is me saying this, but it wasn't quite as gross
st if thought it was gonna be a lot. It
was very maybe maybe more funny, and I thought it
was going to be a really good, really really good time.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
At the theater. I thought, oh, yeah, well turn into
the clock.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Uh, let's just talk about how this came about, and
I'm really interested in and how again you got C
c h and Wallace on on the project. But first,
what what what is the origin of of this project?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Where did the story come from?
Speaker 6 (06:30):
Yeah, I saw you.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
I guess I guess I'm trying to let somebody else
jump in first, but I guess I kind of have
to because this question really is So this is this
is one of those that, like I'm my friend David Slack,
who's also writer, says, writers are people who have a
(06:52):
radio in their head that nobody else can hear h
And this is this is one of those radio in
your head that nobody else can hear ones where it
literally the origin story of it is literally just that
Elle started talking and I transcribed it. And that's that's
(07:13):
the weird thing about being a writer is that sometimes
there is no there is no conscious internal origin points.
It feels external where I'm sure that really what's happening
is like it's a hypnogogic state where you're somehow plucking
things out of your own subconscious and I'm sure that
I could spend a lot of time in psychoanalysis of
myself and figure out where it came from. But it
(07:35):
really feels like like Elle just wanted to tell me something,
and I wrote it down for her, and then I
spent several years figuring out how we were going to
bring it into the world. And that's where, of course
Canny has stepped in that it's because because this was
kind of something that I had for a long time
in my back pocket as a script a lot of
(07:57):
people had read. There were so some previous possibilities for
producing it that didn't end up panning out, you know,
over time it ended up meaning different things to me.
Where I think kind of when I first heard the
story coming from Alan wrote it down for her was
it was very simple. It was just like, if you
(08:19):
think it's too late for something, it might not be
too late for something. Was kind of the whole point
of the story. To me, and then over time it
got much more complicated because I started hearing what other
people were seeing in it, and like other people's theories
about it. I was like, oh, wait, that's actually better
than my theory about it. So I'm adding that now
to my conception of what the story is because I
(08:39):
like yours better.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
I know, as a screenwriter myself for twenty years or
so an author too, like I go through that same
thing where I've had people ask me, like, you know,
where do you get your ideas or whatever it is?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
It is hard to explain.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Where I've been thinking about it for you know, a
year or something, and then it just comes out one
day and then people just assume like, oh, you just sat.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Down and wrote it. Like no, I was.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
It was a pretty long process of me getting down
to the point of me sitting down and writing, you know,
like you like you said, the characters are talking to
moving around, and go oh this and that and the other,
and yeah, it's a little nebulous or something where it
comes from.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, it's hard to explain to people who don't And
I also know very successful writers who don't experience that
radio in their head thing and really, really it's like
the art versus craft questions. You know, there's people who
they very much. They sit down and they structure the
elements that they want to use, and they build it
into what's going to be a story according to the
(09:43):
type of story structure they want to tell. And I'm
sure that that kind of writing is much better for
like the structurally experimental film kind of thing and those
really really technical films where they're like doing nonlinear storytelling
and multiple parallels universes in the same film and things
like that, because you have to be so technical for that.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, yeah. Well so then cameo, how did you how
did you come along and what interested you in the story?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Well, Yeleena and I were hanging out on the on
the socials, and Yelena just said, you know, hey, I
have the script and I'd like to talk about it
with you, like I think that's something that we could
do together. And I read it and and I thought
it was really lovely and I really liked Yelena, and
(10:35):
so I was like, hey, let's just let's work on
this project. And then all right, I said, yeah, it
wasn't even it wasn't easy, yes, you know, and I
have my own production company, of which Connie Joe works
for me, and I said, Connie Joe, make it so.
(10:56):
And then Connie Joe, what did you do?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I made it so?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Well, it's really nice when something falls into place like
that that easily.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
Yeah for sure, Yeah for sure.
Speaker 7 (11:14):
Sent me the script and I was just like, yeah,
we should, we should definitely produce this, we should definitely
make this so and then everything you know, fall in
place from there.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
What what about like like lean yelling have said about
the themes of it? What did anything really strike that
you know from from maybe personal experience or something about
like it's never too late whatever it's someone in my
mid forties, I'm definitely definitely feeling that too, Like, you know,
I haven't accomplished a B and C that I wanted
to accomplish, and it's you know, there's a sense of
(11:47):
like time's kind of time's kinda take it away here,
but it's never it is never too late. You know,
you see people graduate from college or whatever in their
eighties or something, and you go, wh it is never
too late. So it was there anything about like that
that it struck you about the story.
Speaker 6 (12:03):
I think that you know, there's a couple of things
that I really liked about the story, and they're definitely contentious,
and they're my own personal views, I think. For me,
it also it reminded me like L's story and the
perception of the clock. So in the movie, there are
two people who sort of or probably more in my
(12:26):
in my universe, there are many people throughout the galaxy
that are seeing some kind of countdown to a moment,
and whatever that moment means, it's unclear. You just know
there's some moment in the future and you can see it,
and as far as you know, everyone else thinks you're crazy.
And and so there's a couple of things there. One
(12:46):
is about, you know, the interesting thing about how some
people have an interior narrative and some people don't, like
they can hear their thoughts as words, and some people don't.
I am not a narrative monologue person. I never actually
think in words. My partner does, and so we're always
kind of marveling at one another's brains, going how do
(13:08):
you live like that? So there's that I'm actually curious
yelling and Connie, are you monologue people or not?
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Oh my god, I cannot shut up my interior monologue.
I have done so many things trying to shut it
the hell up, and nothing fully works. I mean, there
are things that get it a little quieter, and there
are things that like get it less my voice and
more like the outside creativity voices and less of like
(13:43):
like I would love to live without the me voice
that's like, hey, you didn't take the trash out yet,
you should probably check the mail. Your garden needs to
be watered. You're a jerk. There's I would love to
see an MRI of you, cameo if you are not
(14:04):
in a monologue person, because I want to see what
the default mode network in your brain is doing, because
that is where the interior monologue comes from. And I
I would I would love to see what yours is.
Yours like way more connected to like visual centers, like
it makes sense for a director. But like if we're
(14:24):
if we're ever at NYU and we could get my
uncle to prescribe you an unnecessary MRI, we're looking at
your FRA.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Honestly, So I have that same thing where my brain
doesn't stop. And I've been recently diagnosed with ADHD, which
which might explain it might explain a lot of what's
going on in my brain, and I've it was this
is a recent thing. So I'm having like this whole
like almost like midlife crisis that we're like, oh my god,
it's like reshaping my entire life about how I approach
(14:58):
literally everything.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Welcome, Welcome to the club.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Yeah you too, Okay, cool, Oh yeah, I've been I was.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
An adult diagnosis too, and I didn't want to believe
it for a while because I was like, oh, that's
just like that's an excuse that people make. Come on,
I can't really. I've now been diagnosed three times by
three different professionals that I respect very but like, okay,
yes I have it. I'm I'm medicaid. It does not
shut up the interior monologue, but it does make it
easier to accomplish life.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Nice right, yeah yeah, but but it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, it's it's just how how people approach things and whatever.
And and like you said, different people, different wired brains.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
So and that's and that's why I think maybe filmmakers.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Filmmaking is so great because you have all these different
types of brains come and saying well, we should approach
you like this, we should approach like this. And then
when everybody's in sync and work together. You make this
great piece of art.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
It's Connie, Joe. I need to know the answer. What's
your brain doing?
Speaker 7 (15:56):
I know, are always I always have an inner monologue
going on. Whoa, oh, yeah, it's it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
I even talk to myself sometimes too, but too just
how it is.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
Yes, Uh, I don't know how else to elaborate that,
but yeah, it's always an inner struggle with your with
your inner mind and battling with that.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So well, that really goes along with the theme of
the film, too, battling with you in her mind, because
that's literally what's happening here. Like, uh, Mel has this
this this idea that she at midnight like it's all
going to end, right, So, and she's had this since
I think childhood or whatever, and nothing's going to change
(16:44):
your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Uh, And then it's it's easy.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
It's easy to do that, right, Like, so I feel
like that that definitely goes along with the themes of
the movie.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Yeah, and I think, you know, I sort of brought
up this thing where these are two people that are
having similar SPERI answers and they have completely different interpretations
of what's going on. And I found that really compelling
when I read when I read the story, and I
like to think in terms of wide, broad, expansive ideas,
(17:18):
and so, you know, one thing that Connie and I
worked on, and you know, we didn't always agree. We
had to find a waight around it was in the
original script that Yellen wrote, there was like an actual
like numbered clock on the screen, and when we were
working on it with our editor, the editor was like,
all right, so where's it going to be? And also
(17:41):
the idea was that anyone that sees this clock, it's
going to be a different color, but it's all going
to be counting down at the same amount of time.
But I guess, you know, I had to struggle of
I think this is not a unique thing to these
two people. I think it's much more like osmic and
wide and galactic. And so there's probably some you know,
(18:05):
tiny little silicon based life form that eats arsenic for
dinner that's also having this experience and also wondering what
it means. And maybe I had just finished reading Hail Mary,
which of course is the movie with my my favorite guy,
Ryan Gosling, Just Ken who's also in that movie, and
he's also dealing with a life form that is incredibly
(18:25):
different in every way spoiler alert. And yeah, so I
was just very influenced by that idea. So we were
struggling for a long time to come up with a
non literal clock, something that is universal.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I think that was a great call too, because when
I was watching it, it it did seem, you know,
otherworldly or something. I was like, oh, what, you know,
I immediately, oh, what is what is this?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
What is happening?
Speaker 4 (18:52):
You know?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
If it I think if it had been an actual clock,
like yeah, I don't know, I don't know. I feel
like that it would have changed a lot. Like the
it almost like counting down the sands or something. And
I was like, oh, man, the you get the visual
metaphor of like, these are moments going losing to time
or whatever.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Yeah, that was really that was really good.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
I'm glad you got it.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Uh So, talk about talk about filming, especially getting Ceciation
Wallace on the on the on the film, how did
that go about?
Speaker 6 (19:24):
So I'm gonna have Connie jump in in a second,
because she was a major part of how it all
went down, like the actual like methodology of of how
you do this as a short film team. Uh, but
I think we were you know, I I like to
sort of shoot for the stars. And the funny thing
(19:47):
about actors that I think everyone needs to understand. Everyone
in the film industry, this is true. We love movies.
That is the secret, right, And I think you know,
everyone loves to work. I mean, actors aren't sitting around
except for Harrison Ford, He's an exception, but like, for
the most part, people aren't sitting around going like I
(20:07):
hate acting and I don't like to do it right.
Most actors love acting and they really want to do it.
And so we had a couple of cool things going on,
well not cool, actually they were terrible. But there was
this a strike happening. There was the sag strike, and
so we were you know, we had wanted to make
(20:30):
it before the strike, and then the strike happened, and
we were trying to get an exception and that just
took a long time, and then finally we were able
to cast and Connie, I would love for you to
speak about the casting director that we're working with, but
we basically just made a list of I was like,
(20:52):
who would be the coolest people to like hang out
with and make a fun movie with and what would
delay Yelena the most right and what would be like
the best time? And then again for Shawnnie, I'm like, Connie,
here's my list of a list actors, go make it happen.
And then Connie, what did you do?
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I made it happen. Yeah, so yeah, we did have.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
You know, the strikes, of course, are always terrible to
go through, and they're they're there for a reason, and
I'm glad that you know, it eventually got resolved and
everybody's happy. But it did present this opportunity for us
to reach out to a list actors that just you know,
(21:42):
are struggling to do any kind of work during that time,
and short films was the easiest thing to do. So
I worked with our casting director Tina, and we yeah,
we got Cameo's list and we just simply just started
reaching out to these acts agents. And eventually we wanted
(22:04):
to cast Ella first because we wanted to make sure
that we had the Wallace character paired nicely with that character,
so we wanted to cast that role first, and c. C. H. Pounder,
we reached out to her and she essentially was like, yes,
(22:28):
I love this, I'm on board. She had a lot
of questions about the script, which we you know, we
set up a zoom meeting with me and her and
Cameo and we went over kind of our goals for
the film and what we feel like the film is
portraying in the story behind it. And then after that
it was kind of like, okay, so who do we
(22:49):
cast for this Wallace character?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
And we did.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
We did reach out to a few people, but then
we were on a call with her casting director and
we all kind of like jokingly was like, we need
like a sweet old man.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
Uh, I'm sorry, I'm saying the wrong character.
Speaker 7 (23:15):
Wallace Sean is of course the actor that we cast,
but it's but yeah, we we just kind of jokingly
was like, we need like a sweet old man like
wall As Sean, and our casting director was like, well,
we can reach out.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
And I'm like, might as well. I mean, you know,
you never know what you can get when you just ask.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
And we reached out and he just recently saw a
film with c. C. H.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Pounder in it and he loved her.
Speaker 7 (23:47):
Automatically was like, yes, I want to work on this
project because I don't want to work with.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Her, and we locked.
Speaker 7 (23:54):
We locked our two characters in and it was and
it was great, and their chemistry on set was just
so nice to see they were they were so engaging
with each other and supportive and sweet and kind, and
it was just it was great to work with them.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
That's great when there's already chemistry, because that's a hard
thing to fake, right.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
Indeed, Yeah, yeah, he had seen her just recently in
rust In and yeah, and so it was lovely when
our so when we had them both on set, they
were both saying like, Wow, we've both been in this
industry so long, and it's great to finally work together.
(24:41):
And our cinematographer Sarah was the one that discovered that
they actually had been in a movie together. They hadn't
been on set at the same time, they didn't share
a scene, but they were both in the movie All
that jazz m okay. This was their second film together,
which was really adorable.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
That's awesome.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
And I always I always also like to point out
that they actually are both in The Good Fight, which
is the sequel to You The Good Wife, and that
they're Robert and Michelle King series, but they never share
a scene, but they are both in that universe. So
they have lived in the same universe before.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Well, yell, and I don't know if if you're the same.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
But you know, you have a script and everything, and
you get it complete and you're like, yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
This is great.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
But then when actors get a hold of it, even
even at a read through or something, or they're just
going over it with details and stuff, and all of
a sudden, you think, man, I'm really smart.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
These people are making me sound really smart because they start.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Pulling all this crazy stuff out of here, and you're like,
some of it are like yeah, I meant that, and
the other stuff You're like, I don't think I meant that,
but I'm going to go with it because you make
me sound like a genius.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Yeah, I mean absolutely, I mean that's kind of that's
the whole point of this form for me, Like that,
that's what I'm going for, is like I could just
I could just write novels, and honestly, like at this point,
that would probably be a higher chance of success, even
though that's a very low chance of success. This industry
has gotten so difficult that like, my life would probably
(26:18):
be easier if I just sat in my bedroom and
wrote novels. Or really on my balcony because I don't
like to be inside. But the whole point of choosing
this particular form of writing is that I think you
get such when it works, You get such a better
story when there's that collaborative elopment with not just the actors,
(26:39):
but also the director, also the DP also, I mean
like like the art department, hair and makeup. Everybody is
reinterpreting the story through their own experiences. And I feel
like when you have that reinterpretation of a story through
all of these people who are ideally you know, which
is what I I don't know if I'll ever experience
(27:02):
again to this level, even if I have a very
successful career in this industry, of just everybody really really
truly being somebody who is exceptional at the craft and
is bringing to the table some kind of their own
interpretation of the script very genuinely is like this is
something that they want to contribute to the art, not
(27:24):
just this as a job. And it was really really
on this particular set, Cameo just put together such a
great crew. Knnie Joe put together such a great crew.
The cast was so great that like literally like everybody
who came up to me, had some interpretation of the
script themselves, even if they were in a role that
isn't traditionally considered like the most creative role. They had
(27:46):
all read the script, it all had like their own
theories about it. And when everybody kind of translates something
through the lens of their own life and their own experiences,
I think you end up getting a story that is
much more like the human experience, because that is like,
that's kind of what the script is about. The human
experience is about. Like, even if we are experiencing the
(28:07):
exact same thing, we may not be experiencing it the
same way, interpreting it the same way. It may not
affect our lives the same way. Like there's such a
filter that things go through through your own perception. And
I think that reflects back into how when it works
well a film appears on screen because you can see
that it's it may represent one person's vision through the script,
(28:30):
but it also represents everybody's vision through how it actually
shows up on screen.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Definitely, And how was filming too with that in mind,
Was it a smooth process? Everybody you know, you're everybody's
prepared and boom, knock it out? Or was there anything
surprising that came up during production.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
I think one thing that we had trouble with was
the original plan was to shoot the entire film by candlelight,
and so we did a whole bunch of like pre
light work, and we did film tests because you shot
them thirty five millimeter, so we did a whole bunch
of work. And then you might remember there's like a
dog in the in the movie. And then so we
(29:15):
spent a whole day, like twelve hour day pre lighting
getting everything ready. And on the day we realized a
little late that the fog machine that was, you know,
part of our whole pre light was not compatible with
the dog. So we had to Yeah, so we had
to like dump everything, get rid of the candlelight, and
figure out a way to light this that would be
(29:38):
compatible with the humane uh society in order to support
the dog.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Oh, poor puppy, he just did.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
They're just they were just freaking out with the there's
too much smoke and they're panicking or something.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Couldn't breathe.
Speaker 6 (29:52):
No, you just not allowed to use any smoke at all.
Our fog that isn't just water vapor on the set.
We had no interesting and I think that we had
just like you know, hadn't put all that together as
part of our part of our pre plan. So I
was like, oh no. But on the other hand, you know,
I hadn't worked with a dog like at a really
(30:13):
high level before, and we actually got this like super
dog that Connie found, and so I had to go
and like give a whole bunch of like this is
what the dog needs to do, and like be very
very specific about the actions so that the dog could
be exactly trained, and the dog needed to know like,
all right, so it's going to be a bullet on
(30:34):
a table. The table's going to be this high, so
we need a ramp that's like this for the dog,
and like everything had to be like really laid out
so they could do it, you know, beforehand in practice,
and so on the day this is like my setup
is like this dog can't do anything that we haven't
already practiced. So on the day I was like, you
(30:54):
know what, it would be really cool if the bullet
gets nudged off by the dog and then the dog
aims it under the chair the armchair and then chases
after it, and they're like, that is not a thing.
We're ever going to be able to do like this
is going to take training, this is like we did
not practice this. I'm like, well, what if we just
ran the cameras and you just asked and so she
(31:14):
did and the dog nailed it the first time and
it was over. I think this dog had like two
takes for everything. It was not even a thing. And
I'm like, all right, next movie, only dogs. It's going
to be so easy.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
That's amazing to take puppy.
Speaker 6 (31:29):
Let me tell you. Yeah, ask Connie Joe Seacrest how
to get hooked up with the best dog actor. She's
now an expert.
Speaker 4 (31:36):
I don't know.
Speaker 7 (31:37):
Yes, that was the first time I've ever worked with
an animal on set as well. Besides like a like
a lizard, I've worked with the lizard, but that's you know,
they don't really do much.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
But yeah, it was an.
Speaker 7 (31:49):
Interesting experience working with an animal on set. And there's
there are a lot of rules and regulations that I
you know, I thought I looked into, but the actual
fog juice wasn't the right fog juice, so unfortunately we
couldn't we couldn't proceed with that.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Well, how did you how did you find the dog.
He's found the right person, found the right puppy.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Yeah, I just kind.
Speaker 7 (32:15):
Of, you know, researched a lot of animal wranglers for
for film related stuff in the Bay Area, and I
think I found I think it was bow Wow Productions.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
It's the company and they have a.
Speaker 7 (32:30):
Whole bunch of trained different animals and animal wranglers and trainers.
So yeah, I reached out to them kind of just
told them about the project and what we need, and
they assured me that they had the right the right dog.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
So and they did.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Those uh yeah, those animals. I got to tour a
place and interview the the I guess the animal wrangler.
He's been working in the industry for a while, and
he had all these animals just just I mean fox
and I think ostriches and all this other stuff. And
the main dog, I can't remember his name, but like
(33:06):
he's been in like a million things, and he had
his the dog had his own Hummer vehicle like it
was his It was his Hummer.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
That was what he drove.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
He obviously didn't drive, but I guess if he had
with automated like driving, now maybe you could.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Anyway, that was just crazy.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
And then and then I got the pets, some cats
that each were worth like fifty thousand dollars. I was like,
are you sure it's supposed to be touching these? That
was terrifying that. Oh man, it was so it was crazy.
That was a crazy tour. But it's yeah, it's interesting
the things that you that they can do. It's just amazing,
very cool. So where has the how's the film been doing?
(33:47):
Is out in festivals and how's it been doing?
Speaker 6 (33:52):
Honey? Why don't you answer? Sure?
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Yeah, we're currently in festivals.
Speaker 7 (33:56):
We had our world premiere at the Los Angeles Shorts
International Film Festival in July, and.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 7 (34:06):
And then we went to Indie Shorts International Festival right
after that.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
And I think I can announce the.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
Other two, but I don't think you can yet.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Actually, okay, I.
Speaker 5 (34:19):
Wasn't going to. But we have another two. We have
another two festivals coming up, so we're getting ready for
that and we're excited.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
This is this is new to me, this is now
I know there's two more. Okay, this is the first
time learning about this.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
Dropped out of Hot Sauce.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Well, that's great, that's great that it's doing so well.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Actually, speaking of festival strategy, is someone who's you know,
submitted to festivals and a lot of our listeners have
like what what what what was your strategy? What types
of festivals did you did you after? When you know,
you have to kind of think of that thing ahead
of time, like where could this go? Where who might
be interested in this? Was that a lot of like
(35:07):
maybe like sci fi stuff because it's got the sci
fi kind of elements, or you know, what was your
strategy for that?
Speaker 7 (35:14):
Yeah, So we definitely targeted, you know, Academy qualifying film festivals,
and then we are targeting like Graenre based film festivals
as well. And we are an alumni at a lot
of film festivals just because we have, you know, we
have a production company and so a lot of our
films have played at various festivals around the world. So
(35:36):
it's a matter of you know, recontacting those festivals as
an alumni and submitting your work. But I would say,
you know, the festival circuit is different every year. You
just don't know what the festival is receiving and how
many films that they're actually getting submitted to them, so
(35:57):
it can be very competitive. We can we thought we
would get into certain film festivals and then we didn't,
and that's just that's just how the cycle works. But yeah,
it's it's very competitive, and I think the best thing
to do is just try to strategize as much as.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
You can, but you also just don't know what they're
going to want.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And also, like we we had a film festival pre
COVID called the Covin Film Festival, And one thing that
we also discovered is that sometimes, like for whatever reason,
in a particular year, we'll have two or three films
that were that shared a theme, that were very similar,
and so sometimes you just be like, well, we can't
(36:47):
just have like three different awesome films about someone, you know,
going to a cemetery and seeing their dead family member.
Like that's just too many and it's just too specific.
And somehow three people independent you made a film about
that this year. So sometimes that happens too. But the
other thing too, is a while ago, like eight years
(37:09):
ago or so, we had a film called Real Artists,
and we I don't even know, we did over one
hundred maybe two hundred film festivals with it, and so
a lot of the time too, it was also looking
back at those festivals and seeing which ones, you know,
are people that we stay in touch with and that
(37:32):
we made friendships with and we're just great for filmmakers
and so you know, reapplying to those ones was an easy,
an easy thing to do. Like for example, Indie Shorts
was something, you know, that's an amazing crew of people
that really prioritize filmmakers and make sure filmmakers have a
great time with that. Who's your hospitality and so you know,
(37:55):
that was a film festival that was it's just super
lovely for filmmakers, and that was an easy one to
decide to go do. So sometimes that's you know, what
it is sometimes is oh, I want to go to
one that has a market or has past opportunities. So
every single film festival like brings something to the table.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah, it's the experience, you know, that's definitely the festival
experience and not just watching movies but meeting people and
all that kind of stuff. Like you said, yeah, it
can be it can be. Uh, it can be very
I don't know, liberating in a way because you don't
have to worry about too much. You just go and
enjoy being around other filmmakers, which is always nice.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Because we can.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
We tend to be sometimes isolated, especially writers and stuff, so.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
It's cool to meet other people.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
So where do we find information about the film websites
or social media profiles and anything like that.
Speaker 7 (38:55):
Yeah, we have our production website which is Charming Strangers,
and you can find all of our films, including The
Clock on there. And we also have Instagram, Blue Sky,
and I think Facebook as.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Well, nice and any websites and social media stuff you
want to throw out, like personal stuff, Jolanna, If you.
Speaker 5 (39:21):
Want to throw out your personal.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
I'm either I'm either just yelling a war spelled the
way it's spelled, which is not how it sounds, or
yell in a war spelled the way it sounds like
you're going outside in the middle of an armed conflict
and yelling on everything. So if if you try both
of those and you don't find me, then I'm not
on it. I am on I'm on Instagram, I'm on
(39:45):
Blue Sky, my personal website. It works either way. If
you do my actual name or if you do the
phonetic spelling, it'll redirect.
Speaker 6 (39:54):
Go ahead, sorry with racing, and then I'm just canning.
That's what I've got, Okay, So I'm just cameo with
on everything. There's only one of me, probably a lot
like yellenough, so we're pretty easy to find on the internet.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Thanks Connie, Connie Jersey christ On the internet, you can
find me Instagram, Facebook.
Speaker 5 (40:23):
I'm mainly on Instagram, so very cool.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Well, I really appreciate you all coming on the show.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Uh, it was great to watch the film and hopefully
it does very continues to do well in the festival circuit.
Sounds like it's blowing up, which is great, and good
luck with this and all your future projects.
Speaker 6 (40:41):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 8 (40:51):
Thanks for listening to Atlanta Film Share. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you find your podcast. The show is produced
by Trankle Aggression Productions and Zombie Cat Productions. Your host
is Chuck Thomas. Editing is by Josh mcgold key. The
soundtrack is by Michael Breezy Keys Jones. I am your
(41:13):
humble announcer, Rob Scheimer. Remember you are your own biggest fans,
so go out make your projects and don't let anyone
stop you.
You are listening to the I f H Podcast Network.
For more amazing filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, just go to
I f H Podcastnetwork dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Hey, everybody, welcome back to the show. Got a lot
of I've just got to say. Maybe I've talked about
this previously the past few weeks, but there's just been
so many requests lately. You know, things are things are down.
This is like everybody's just struggling for work and everything,
and that's that has not obviously changed yet, but I
(01:02):
do feel like there's something going on where there's a
lot of requests for the show, where the past few
months I had zero, I mean just nobody, and now
all of a sudden, there's tons of people, which is
very exciting.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
I feel like there's something going on. So today is
one of those requests.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It's a great film that I had the privilege of
seeing called The Clock, and we have a bunch of
people here from the film, So I'm gonna have them
introduce themselves.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
How are y'all doing?
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Fantastic?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
And I guess I guess we'll start with Connie Joe,
because you're first in line here on my screen.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Who introduced yourselves? And what you did on the film.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Yeah, I'm Knye Jose Kris and I produced the film.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Okay, and cameo Hi, I'm Cameo Wood and I am
the director and executive producer of the film Great Angelina.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I am yelling actually looks it's it's a trick. It's
a trick. It's uh spelled that way, just to mess
with you. And I'm the writer.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Okay, No, I totally should have asked.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Sorry, good, it's it's when you have a name like
Chuck Thomas, it is the most boring name on the planet,
you know, like you, I should ask more.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
My website is it's I'll have to spell it because
this audio, but it's yell y E l L I
N A W A r dot com. And I love
watching people realize that that's a phonetic pronunciation guide for
my name.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh, very cool. I'm always jealous of people who have
interesting names.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Oh, I'm always jealous of people who have easy names.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well, yeah, grass is greener. I guess that's funny.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Uh So, Yeah, the film's The Clock and I got
to see it, and I have to say, you know,
just off the top, you got you got to work
with I would say some Hollywood legends cch Pounder and
Wallace Sean.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That was just amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
But before we get started on the film, actually, let's
let's back up for a second and do an icebreaker.
What kind of cool stuff are you guys checking out
right now? Any films, shows, podcasts, whatever that you're brilliant?
Books maybe you're into right now that are really cool?
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Cool? Nice question you can go first, Jelena, I do
I do have a book to recommend. I was an
assistant on suits La and Rip. Unfortunately we got canceled,
but are one of our executive producers, John Cowen just
wrote a legal thriller called Proof, so I just finished
reading that. It's great, it's the start in the series.
(03:50):
There's going to be another one. So do you have
a book recommendation? And then TV Live? Honestly, I am
just like ninety percent done with a complete Rewinduch of
all seven seasons is a good way, highly recommend.
Speaker 6 (04:03):
Oh nice, all right, funny, Due, do you have anything awesome?
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Yeah? I actually started reading this book called Fourth Wing.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
It was recommended to me because I like medieval stuff.
And then I've just been catching up on Black Mirror
because I didn't see the last sixth season, so okay.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
So I just finished a preprint of a book that's
coming out in November called There Is No Anti Memetics
Division by Quanto, and it's actually based on a series
of like Reddit posts and and things from the SCP
Foundation project. Right yeah, so it's pretty cool. I love
(04:52):
the s CP and I love that this person who
you know contributed a lot actually has a novel coming
out anyway, and then probably for TV. I'm actually rewatching
right now. I'm rewatching mister Robot too.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Uh yeah, yeah, how many? How many seasons did that get?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I remember watching the at least the first two. The
first one was amazing, I remember.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
Yeah, I'm on the second. I actually don't know how
many there are left. But I did read that I
had a conclusion because they knew that it was ending.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So yeah.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
It always thinks to watch something and you're on season
six or whatever, and it's like, what what will happen
next time?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Nothing?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Okay, Well, some great stuff. I just recently saw the
movie Together out in out in theaters right now, and
really good script, really good script. It's I know, the
previews make it seem like crazy gross and I'm used
to super gross stuff, but it wasn't. I mean, this
(05:55):
is me saying this, but it wasn't quite as gross
st if thought it was gonna be a lot. It
was very maybe maybe more funny, and I thought it
was going to be a really good, really really good time.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
At the theater. I thought, oh, yeah, well turn into
the clock.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Uh, let's just talk about how this came about, and
I'm really interested in and how again you got C
c h and Wallace on on the project. But first,
what what what is the origin of of this project?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Where did the story come from?
Speaker 6 (06:30):
Yeah, I saw you.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
I guess I guess I'm trying to let somebody else
jump in first, but I guess I kind of have
to because this question really is So this is this
is one of those that, like I'm my friend David Slack,
who's also writer, says, writers are people who have a
(06:52):
radio in their head that nobody else can hear h
And this is this is one of those radio in
your head that nobody else can hear ones where it
literally the origin story of it is literally just that
Elle started talking and I transcribed it. And that's that's
(07:13):
the weird thing about being a writer is that sometimes
there is no there is no conscious internal origin points.
It feels external where I'm sure that really what's happening
is like it's a hypnogogic state where you're somehow plucking
things out of your own subconscious and I'm sure that
I could spend a lot of time in psychoanalysis of
myself and figure out where it came from. But it
(07:35):
really feels like like Elle just wanted to tell me something,
and I wrote it down for her, and then I
spent several years figuring out how we were going to
bring it into the world. And that's where, of course
Canny has stepped in that it's because because this was
kind of something that I had for a long time
in my back pocket as a script a lot of
(07:57):
people had read. There were so some previous possibilities for
producing it that didn't end up panning out, you know,
over time it ended up meaning different things to me.
Where I think kind of when I first heard the
story coming from Alan wrote it down for her was
it was very simple. It was just like, if you
(08:19):
think it's too late for something, it might not be
too late for something. Was kind of the whole point
of the story. To me, and then over time it
got much more complicated because I started hearing what other
people were seeing in it, and like other people's theories
about it. I was like, oh, wait, that's actually better
than my theory about it. So I'm adding that now
to my conception of what the story is because I
(08:39):
like yours better.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
I know, as a screenwriter myself for twenty years or
so an author too, like I go through that same
thing where I've had people ask me, like, you know,
where do you get your ideas or whatever it is?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
It is hard to explain.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Where I've been thinking about it for you know, a
year or something, and then it just comes out one
day and then people just assume like, oh, you just sat.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Down and wrote it. Like no, I was.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
It was a pretty long process of me getting down
to the point of me sitting down and writing, you know,
like you like you said, the characters are talking to
moving around, and go oh this and that and the other,
and yeah, it's a little nebulous or something where it
comes from.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Yeah, it's hard to explain to people who don't And
I also know very successful writers who don't experience that
radio in their head thing and really, really it's like
the art versus craft questions. You know, there's people who
they very much. They sit down and they structure the
elements that they want to use, and they build it
into what's going to be a story according to the
(09:43):
type of story structure they want to tell. And I'm
sure that that kind of writing is much better for
like the structurally experimental film kind of thing and those
really really technical films where they're like doing nonlinear storytelling
and multiple parallels universes in the same film and things
like that, because you have to be so technical for that.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, yeah. Well so then cameo, how did you how
did you come along and what interested you in the story?
Speaker 6 (10:13):
Well, Yeleena and I were hanging out on the on
the socials, and Yelena just said, you know, hey, I
have the script and I'd like to talk about it
with you, like I think that's something that we could
do together. And I read it and and I thought
it was really lovely and I really liked Yelena, and
(10:35):
so I was like, hey, let's just let's work on
this project. And then all right, I said, yeah, it
wasn't even it wasn't easy, yes, you know, and I
have my own production company, of which Connie Joe works
for me, and I said, Connie Joe, make it so.
(10:56):
And then Connie Joe, what did you do?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I made it so?
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Well, it's really nice when something falls into place like
that that easily.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
Yeah for sure, Yeah for sure.
Speaker 7 (11:14):
Sent me the script and I was just like, yeah,
we should, we should definitely produce this, we should definitely
make this so and then everything you know, fall in
place from there.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
What what about like like lean yelling have said about
the themes of it? What did anything really strike that
you know from from maybe personal experience or something about
like it's never too late whatever it's someone in my
mid forties, I'm definitely definitely feeling that too, Like, you know,
I haven't accomplished a B and C that I wanted
to accomplish, and it's you know, there's a sense of
(11:47):
like time's kind of time's kinda take it away here,
but it's never it is never too late. You know,
you see people graduate from college or whatever in their
eighties or something, and you go, wh it is never
too late. So it was there anything about like that
that it struck you about the story.
Speaker 6 (12:03):
I think that you know, there's a couple of things
that I really liked about the story, and they're definitely contentious,
and they're my own personal views, I think. For me,
it also it reminded me like L's story and the
perception of the clock. So in the movie, there are
two people who sort of or probably more in my
(12:26):
in my universe, there are many people throughout the galaxy
that are seeing some kind of countdown to a moment,
and whatever that moment means, it's unclear. You just know
there's some moment in the future and you can see it,
and as far as you know, everyone else thinks you're crazy.
And and so there's a couple of things there. One
(12:46):
is about, you know, the interesting thing about how some
people have an interior narrative and some people don't, like
they can hear their thoughts as words, and some people don't.
I am not a narrative monologue person. I never actually
think in words. My partner does, and so we're always
kind of marveling at one another's brains, going how do
(13:08):
you live like that? So there's that I'm actually curious
yelling and Connie, are you monologue people or not?
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Oh my god, I cannot shut up my interior monologue.
I have done so many things trying to shut it
the hell up, and nothing fully works. I mean, there
are things that get it a little quieter, and there
are things that like get it less my voice and
more like the outside creativity voices and less of like
(13:43):
like I would love to live without the me voice
that's like, hey, you didn't take the trash out yet,
you should probably check the mail. Your garden needs to
be watered. You're a jerk. There's I would love to
see an MRI of you, cameo if you are not
(14:04):
in a monologue person, because I want to see what
the default mode network in your brain is doing, because
that is where the interior monologue comes from. And I
I would I would love to see what yours is.
Yours like way more connected to like visual centers, like
it makes sense for a director. But like if we're
(14:24):
if we're ever at NYU and we could get my
uncle to prescribe you an unnecessary MRI, we're looking at
your FRA.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Honestly, So I have that same thing where my brain
doesn't stop. And I've been recently diagnosed with ADHD, which
which might explain it might explain a lot of what's
going on in my brain, and I've it was this
is a recent thing. So I'm having like this whole
like almost like midlife crisis that we're like, oh my god,
it's like reshaping my entire life about how I approach
(14:58):
literally everything.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Welcome, Welcome to the club.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Yeah you too, Okay, cool, Oh yeah, I've been I was.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
An adult diagnosis too, and I didn't want to believe
it for a while because I was like, oh, that's
just like that's an excuse that people make. Come on,
I can't really. I've now been diagnosed three times by
three different professionals that I respect very but like, okay,
yes I have it. I'm I'm medicaid. It does not
shut up the interior monologue, but it does make it
easier to accomplish life.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Nice right, yeah yeah, but but it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, it's it's just how how people approach things and whatever.
And and like you said, different people, different wired brains.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
So and that's and that's why I think maybe filmmakers.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Filmmaking is so great because you have all these different
types of brains come and saying well, we should approach
you like this, we should approach like this. And then
when everybody's in sync and work together. You make this
great piece of art.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
It's Connie, Joe. I need to know the answer. What's
your brain doing?
Speaker 7 (15:56):
I know, are always I always have an inner monologue
going on. Whoa, oh, yeah, it's it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
I even talk to myself sometimes too, but too just
how it is.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
Yes, Uh, I don't know how else to elaborate that,
but yeah, it's always an inner struggle with your with
your inner mind and battling with that.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
So well, that really goes along with the theme of
the film, too, battling with you in her mind, because
that's literally what's happening here. Like, uh, Mel has this
this this idea that she at midnight like it's all
going to end, right, So, and she's had this since
I think childhood or whatever, and nothing's going to change
(16:44):
your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Uh, And then it's it's easy.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
It's easy to do that, right, Like, so I feel
like that that definitely goes along with the themes of
the movie.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Yeah, and I think, you know, I sort of brought
up this thing where these are two people that are
having similar SPERI answers and they have completely different interpretations
of what's going on. And I found that really compelling
when I read when I read the story, and I
like to think in terms of wide, broad, expansive ideas,
(17:18):
and so, you know, one thing that Connie and I
worked on, and you know, we didn't always agree. We
had to find a waight around it was in the
original script that Yellen wrote, there was like an actual
like numbered clock on the screen, and when we were
working on it with our editor, the editor was like,
all right, so where's it going to be? And also
(17:41):
the idea was that anyone that sees this clock, it's
going to be a different color, but it's all going
to be counting down at the same amount of time.
But I guess, you know, I had to struggle of
I think this is not a unique thing to these
two people. I think it's much more like osmic and
wide and galactic. And so there's probably some you know,
(18:05):
tiny little silicon based life form that eats arsenic for
dinner that's also having this experience and also wondering what
it means. And maybe I had just finished reading Hail Mary,
which of course is the movie with my my favorite guy,
Ryan Gosling, Just Ken who's also in that movie, and
he's also dealing with a life form that is incredibly
(18:25):
different in every way spoiler alert. And yeah, so I
was just very influenced by that idea. So we were
struggling for a long time to come up with a
non literal clock, something that is universal.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I think that was a great call too, because when
I was watching it, it it did seem, you know,
otherworldly or something. I was like, oh, what, you know,
I immediately, oh, what is what is this?
Speaker 3 (18:52):
What is happening?
Speaker 4 (18:52):
You know?
Speaker 2 (18:53):
If it I think if it had been an actual clock,
like yeah, I don't know, I don't know. I feel
like that it would have changed a lot. Like the
it almost like counting down the sands or something. And
I was like, oh, man, the you get the visual
metaphor of like, these are moments going losing to time
or whatever.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Yeah, that was really that was really good.
Speaker 6 (19:12):
I'm glad you got it.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Uh So, talk about talk about filming, especially getting Ceciation
Wallace on the on the on the film, how did
that go about?
Speaker 6 (19:24):
So I'm gonna have Connie jump in in a second,
because she was a major part of how it all
went down, like the actual like methodology of of how
you do this as a short film team. Uh, but
I think we were you know, I I like to
sort of shoot for the stars. And the funny thing
(19:47):
about actors that I think everyone needs to understand. Everyone
in the film industry, this is true. We love movies.
That is the secret, right, And I think you know,
everyone loves to work. I mean, actors aren't sitting around
except for Harrison Ford, He's an exception, but like, for
the most part, people aren't sitting around going like I
(20:07):
hate acting and I don't like to do it right.
Most actors love acting and they really want to do it.
And so we had a couple of cool things going on,
well not cool, actually they were terrible. But there was
this a strike happening. There was the sag strike, and
so we were you know, we had wanted to make
(20:30):
it before the strike, and then the strike happened, and
we were trying to get an exception and that just
took a long time, and then finally we were able
to cast and Connie, I would love for you to
speak about the casting director that we're working with, but
we basically just made a list of I was like,
(20:52):
who would be the coolest people to like hang out
with and make a fun movie with and what would
delay Yelena the most right and what would be like
the best time? And then again for Shawnnie, I'm like, Connie,
here's my list of a list actors, go make it happen.
And then Connie, what did you do?
Speaker 5 (21:13):
I made it happen. Yeah, so yeah, we did have.
Speaker 7 (21:20):
You know, the strikes, of course, are always terrible to
go through, and they're they're there for a reason, and
I'm glad that you know, it eventually got resolved and
everybody's happy. But it did present this opportunity for us
to reach out to a list actors that just you know,
(21:42):
are struggling to do any kind of work during that time,
and short films was the easiest thing to do. So
I worked with our casting director Tina, and we yeah,
we got Cameo's list and we just simply just started
reaching out to these acts agents. And eventually we wanted
(22:04):
to cast Ella first because we wanted to make sure
that we had the Wallace character paired nicely with that character,
so we wanted to cast that role first, and c. C. H. Pounder,
we reached out to her and she essentially was like, yes,
(22:28):
I love this, I'm on board. She had a lot
of questions about the script, which we you know, we
set up a zoom meeting with me and her and
Cameo and we went over kind of our goals for
the film and what we feel like the film is
portraying in the story behind it. And then after that
it was kind of like, okay, so who do we
(22:49):
cast for this Wallace character?
Speaker 5 (22:54):
And we did.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
We did reach out to a few people, but then
we were on a call with her casting director and
we all kind of like jokingly was like, we need
like a sweet old man.
Speaker 5 (23:10):
Uh, I'm sorry, I'm saying the wrong character.
Speaker 7 (23:15):
Wallace Sean is of course the actor that we cast,
but it's but yeah, we we just kind of jokingly
was like, we need like a sweet old man like
wall As Sean, and our casting director was like, well,
we can reach out.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
And I'm like, might as well. I mean, you know,
you never know what you can get when you just ask.
Speaker 7 (23:38):
And we reached out and he just recently saw a
film with c. C. H.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Pounder in it and he loved her.
Speaker 7 (23:47):
Automatically was like, yes, I want to work on this
project because I don't want to work with.
Speaker 5 (23:51):
Her, and we locked.
Speaker 7 (23:54):
We locked our two characters in and it was and
it was great, and their chemistry on set was just
so nice to see they were they were so engaging
with each other and supportive and sweet and kind, and
it was just it was great to work with them.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
That's great when there's already chemistry, because that's a hard
thing to fake, right.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
Indeed, Yeah, yeah, he had seen her just recently in
rust In and yeah, and so it was lovely when
our so when we had them both on set, they
were both saying like, Wow, we've both been in this
industry so long, and it's great to finally work together.
(24:41):
And our cinematographer Sarah was the one that discovered that
they actually had been in a movie together. They hadn't
been on set at the same time, they didn't share
a scene, but they were both in the movie All
that jazz m okay. This was their second film together,
which was really adorable.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
That's awesome.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
And I always I always also like to point out
that they actually are both in The Good Fight, which
is the sequel to You The Good Wife, and that
they're Robert and Michelle King series, but they never share
a scene, but they are both in that universe. So
they have lived in the same universe before.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Well, yell, and I don't know if if you're the same.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
But you know, you have a script and everything, and
you get it complete and you're like, yeah, all right.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
This is great.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
But then when actors get a hold of it, even
even at a read through or something, or they're just
going over it with details and stuff, and all of
a sudden, you think, man, I'm really smart.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
These people are making me sound really smart because they start.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Pulling all this crazy stuff out of here, and you're like,
some of it are like yeah, I meant that, and
the other stuff You're like, I don't think I meant that,
but I'm going to go with it because you make
me sound like a genius.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Yeah, I mean absolutely, I mean that's kind of that's
the whole point of this form for me, Like that,
that's what I'm going for, is like I could just
I could just write novels, and honestly, like at this point,
that would probably be a higher chance of success, even
though that's a very low chance of success. This industry
has gotten so difficult that like, my life would probably
(26:18):
be easier if I just sat in my bedroom and
wrote novels. Or really on my balcony because I don't
like to be inside. But the whole point of choosing
this particular form of writing is that I think you
get such when it works, You get such a better
story when there's that collaborative elopment with not just the actors,
(26:39):
but also the director, also the DP also, I mean
like like the art department, hair and makeup. Everybody is
reinterpreting the story through their own experiences. And I feel
like when you have that reinterpretation of a story through
all of these people who are ideally you know, which
is what I I don't know if I'll ever experience
(27:02):
again to this level, even if I have a very
successful career in this industry, of just everybody really really
truly being somebody who is exceptional at the craft and
is bringing to the table some kind of their own
interpretation of the script very genuinely is like this is
something that they want to contribute to the art, not
(27:24):
just this as a job. And it was really really
on this particular set, Cameo just put together such a
great crew. Knnie Joe put together such a great crew.
The cast was so great that like literally like everybody
who came up to me, had some interpretation of the
script themselves, even if they were in a role that
isn't traditionally considered like the most creative role. They had
(27:46):
all read the script, it all had like their own
theories about it. And when everybody kind of translates something
through the lens of their own life and their own experiences,
I think you end up getting a story that is
much more like the human experience, because that is like,
that's kind of what the script is about. The human
experience is about. Like, even if we are experiencing the
(28:07):
exact same thing, we may not be experiencing it the
same way, interpreting it the same way. It may not
affect our lives the same way. Like there's such a
filter that things go through through your own perception. And
I think that reflects back into how when it works
well a film appears on screen because you can see
that it's it may represent one person's vision through the script,
(28:30):
but it also represents everybody's vision through how it actually
shows up on screen.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Definitely, And how was filming too with that in mind,
Was it a smooth process? Everybody you know, you're everybody's
prepared and boom, knock it out? Or was there anything
surprising that came up during production.
Speaker 6 (28:52):
I think one thing that we had trouble with was
the original plan was to shoot the entire film by candlelight,
and so we did a whole bunch of like pre
light work, and we did film tests because you shot
them thirty five millimeter, so we did a whole bunch
of work. And then you might remember there's like a
dog in the in the movie. And then so we
(29:15):
spent a whole day, like twelve hour day pre lighting
getting everything ready. And on the day we realized a
little late that the fog machine that was, you know,
part of our whole pre light was not compatible with
the dog. So we had to Yeah, so we had
to like dump everything, get rid of the candlelight, and
figure out a way to light this that would be
(29:38):
compatible with the humane uh society in order to support
the dog.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Oh, poor puppy, he just did.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
They're just they were just freaking out with the there's
too much smoke and they're panicking or something.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Couldn't breathe.
Speaker 6 (29:52):
No, you just not allowed to use any smoke at all.
Our fog that isn't just water vapor on the set.
We had no interesting and I think that we had
just like you know, hadn't put all that together as
part of our part of our pre plan. So I
was like, oh no. But on the other hand, you know,
I hadn't worked with a dog like at a really
(30:13):
high level before, and we actually got this like super
dog that Connie found, and so I had to go
and like give a whole bunch of like this is
what the dog needs to do, and like be very
very specific about the actions so that the dog could
be exactly trained, and the dog needed to know like,
all right, so it's going to be a bullet on
(30:34):
a table. The table's going to be this high, so
we need a ramp that's like this for the dog,
and like everything had to be like really laid out
so they could do it, you know, beforehand in practice,
and so on the day this is like my setup
is like this dog can't do anything that we haven't
already practiced. So on the day I was like, you
(30:54):
know what, it would be really cool if the bullet
gets nudged off by the dog and then the dog
aims it under the chair the armchair and then chases
after it, and they're like, that is not a thing.
We're ever going to be able to do like this
is going to take training, this is like we did
not practice this. I'm like, well, what if we just
ran the cameras and you just asked and so she
(31:14):
did and the dog nailed it the first time and
it was over. I think this dog had like two
takes for everything. It was not even a thing. And
I'm like, all right, next movie, only dogs. It's going
to be so easy.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
That's amazing to take puppy.
Speaker 6 (31:29):
Let me tell you. Yeah, ask Connie Joe Seacrest how
to get hooked up with the best dog actor. She's
now an expert.
Speaker 4 (31:36):
I don't know.
Speaker 7 (31:37):
Yes, that was the first time I've ever worked with
an animal on set as well. Besides like a like
a lizard, I've worked with the lizard, but that's you know,
they don't really do much.
Speaker 5 (31:48):
But yeah, it was an.
Speaker 7 (31:49):
Interesting experience working with an animal on set. And there's
there are a lot of rules and regulations that I
you know, I thought I looked into, but the actual
fog juice wasn't the right fog juice, so unfortunately we
couldn't we couldn't proceed with that.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Well, how did you how did you find the dog.
He's found the right person, found the right puppy.
Speaker 5 (32:14):
Yeah, I just kind.
Speaker 7 (32:15):
Of, you know, researched a lot of animal wranglers for
for film related stuff in the Bay Area, and I
think I found I think it was bow Wow Productions.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
It's the company and they have a.
Speaker 7 (32:30):
Whole bunch of trained different animals and animal wranglers and trainers.
So yeah, I reached out to them kind of just
told them about the project and what we need, and
they assured me that they had the right the right dog.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
So and they did.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Those uh yeah, those animals. I got to tour a
place and interview the the I guess the animal wrangler.
He's been working in the industry for a while, and
he had all these animals just just I mean fox
and I think ostriches and all this other stuff. And
the main dog, I can't remember his name, but like
(33:06):
he's been in like a million things, and he had
his the dog had his own Hummer vehicle like it
was his It was his Hummer.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
That was what he drove.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
He obviously didn't drive, but I guess if he had
with automated like driving, now maybe you could.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Anyway, that was just crazy.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
And then and then I got the pets, some cats
that each were worth like fifty thousand dollars. I was like,
are you sure it's supposed to be touching these? That
was terrifying that. Oh man, it was so it was crazy.
That was a crazy tour. But it's yeah, it's interesting
the things that you that they can do. It's just amazing,
very cool. So where has the how's the film been doing?
(33:47):
Is out in festivals and how's it been doing?
Speaker 6 (33:52):
Honey? Why don't you answer? Sure?
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Yeah, we're currently in festivals.
Speaker 7 (33:56):
We had our world premiere at the Los Angeles Shorts
International Film Festival in July, and.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Yeah, that was great.
Speaker 7 (34:06):
And then we went to Indie Shorts International Festival right
after that.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
And I think I can announce the.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
Other two, but I don't think you can yet.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Actually, okay, I.
Speaker 5 (34:19):
Wasn't going to. But we have another two. We have
another two festivals coming up, so we're getting ready for
that and we're excited.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
This is this is new to me, this is now
I know there's two more. Okay, this is the first
time learning about this.
Speaker 6 (34:37):
Dropped out of Hot Sauce.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Well, that's great, that's great that it's doing so well.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Actually, speaking of festival strategy, is someone who's you know,
submitted to festivals and a lot of our listeners have
like what what what what was your strategy? What types
of festivals did you did you after? When you know,
you have to kind of think of that thing ahead
of time, like where could this go? Where who might
be interested in this? Was that a lot of like
(35:07):
maybe like sci fi stuff because it's got the sci
fi kind of elements, or you know, what was your
strategy for that?
Speaker 7 (35:14):
Yeah, So we definitely targeted, you know, Academy qualifying film festivals,
and then we are targeting like Graenre based film festivals
as well. And we are an alumni at a lot
of film festivals just because we have, you know, we
have a production company and so a lot of our
films have played at various festivals around the world. So
(35:36):
it's a matter of you know, recontacting those festivals as
an alumni and submitting your work. But I would say,
you know, the festival circuit is different every year. You
just don't know what the festival is receiving and how
many films that they're actually getting submitted to them, so
(35:57):
it can be very competitive. We can we thought we
would get into certain film festivals and then we didn't,
and that's just that's just how the cycle works. But yeah,
it's it's very competitive, and I think the best thing
to do is just try to strategize as much as.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
You can, but you also just don't know what they're
going to want.
Speaker 6 (36:25):
And also, like we we had a film festival pre
COVID called the Covin Film Festival, And one thing that
we also discovered is that sometimes, like for whatever reason,
in a particular year, we'll have two or three films
that were that shared a theme, that were very similar,
and so sometimes you just be like, well, we can't
(36:47):
just have like three different awesome films about someone, you know,
going to a cemetery and seeing their dead family member.
Like that's just too many and it's just too specific.
And somehow three people independent you made a film about
that this year. So sometimes that happens too. But the
other thing too, is a while ago, like eight years
(37:09):
ago or so, we had a film called Real Artists,
and we I don't even know, we did over one
hundred maybe two hundred film festivals with it, and so
a lot of the time too, it was also looking
back at those festivals and seeing which ones, you know,
are people that we stay in touch with and that
(37:32):
we made friendships with and we're just great for filmmakers
and so you know, reapplying to those ones was an easy,
an easy thing to do. Like for example, Indie Shorts
was something, you know, that's an amazing crew of people
that really prioritize filmmakers and make sure filmmakers have a
great time with that. Who's your hospitality and so you know,
(37:55):
that was a film festival that was it's just super
lovely for filmmakers, and that was an easy one to
decide to go do. So sometimes that's you know, what
it is sometimes is oh, I want to go to
one that has a market or has past opportunities. So
every single film festival like brings something to the table.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah, it's the experience, you know, that's definitely the festival
experience and not just watching movies but meeting people and
all that kind of stuff. Like you said, yeah, it
can be it can be. Uh, it can be very
I don't know, liberating in a way because you don't
have to worry about too much. You just go and
enjoy being around other filmmakers, which is always nice.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Because we can.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
We tend to be sometimes isolated, especially writers and stuff, so.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
It's cool to meet other people.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
So where do we find information about the film websites
or social media profiles and anything like that.
Speaker 7 (38:55):
Yeah, we have our production website which is Charming Strangers,
and you can find all of our films, including The
Clock on there. And we also have Instagram, Blue Sky,
and I think Facebook as.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Well, nice and any websites and social media stuff you
want to throw out, like personal stuff, Jolanna, If you.
Speaker 5 (39:21):
Want to throw out your personal.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
I'm either I'm either just yelling a war spelled the
way it's spelled, which is not how it sounds, or
yell in a war spelled the way it sounds like
you're going outside in the middle of an armed conflict
and yelling on everything. So if if you try both
of those and you don't find me, then I'm not
on it. I am on I'm on Instagram, I'm on
(39:45):
Blue Sky, my personal website. It works either way. If
you do my actual name or if you do the
phonetic spelling, it'll redirect.
Speaker 6 (39:54):
Go ahead, sorry with racing, and then I'm just canning.
That's what I've got, Okay, So I'm just cameo with
on everything. There's only one of me, probably a lot
like yellenough, so we're pretty easy to find on the internet.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
Thanks Connie, Connie Jersey christ On the internet, you can
find me Instagram, Facebook.
Speaker 5 (40:23):
I'm mainly on Instagram, so very cool.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Well, I really appreciate you all coming on the show.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Uh, it was great to watch the film and hopefully
it does very continues to do well in the festival circuit.
Sounds like it's blowing up, which is great, and good
luck with this and all your future projects.
Speaker 6 (40:41):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 8 (40:51):
Thanks for listening to Atlanta Film Share. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you find your podcast. The show is produced
by Trankle Aggression Productions and Zombie Cat Productions. Your host
is Chuck Thomas. Editing is by Josh mcgold key. The
soundtrack is by Michael Breezy Keys Jones. I am your
(41:13):
humble announcer, Rob Scheimer. Remember you are your own biggest fans,
so go out make your projects and don't let anyone
stop you.
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