July 1, 2025 • 43 mins
In this colorful and deeply personal episode, Staci Layne Wilson shares her remarkable journey from a childhood surrounded by Hollywood legends and horseback riding to becoming an award-winning filmmaker and bestselling author. Born and raised in Los Angeles to a famed musician father (Don Wilson of The Ventures) and a glamorous pin-up model mother, Staci’s life has always been steeped in creativity. Yet, her entrance into filmmaking wasn’t planned—it evolved naturally through her work as a horror novelist and entertainment journalist. With a passion for storytelling and a love for visual style, she eventually directed short films and features that showcase her unique blend of artistry, grit, and genre flair. Throughout the conversation, Staci Layne Wilson reflects on the confidence she gained through small, creative victories, her experiences navigating the film world as a woman, and her desire to tell authentic stories—whether through film or memoir. Her book So L.A. offers a humorous yet heartfelt look into her unconventional upbringing, filled with wild stories like meeting Malcolm McDowell weekly or being invited to the Playboy Mansion as a teenager. With future projects on the horizon, including a documentary on her father’s legendary band, she continues to blend past and present into meaningful art that captures the spirit of Hollywood’s golden oddities.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You are listening to the ifh podcast Network. For more
amazing filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, just go to ifhpodcastnetwork dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Indie Film Muscle Podcast, Episode number eighth nine,
Cinema Should Make You Forget. You're sitting in a theater,
Roman Polanski.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Broadcasting from the back alley in Hollywood. It's the Indie
Film Hustle Podcast, where we show you how to survive
and thrive as an indie filmmaker in the jungles of
the film biz.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
And here's your host, Alex Ferrari.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome, Welcome to another episode of the Indie Film Huscle Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I am your humble.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Host Alex Ferrari. Today's show is sponsored by Rise of
the Film Entrepreneur How to turn your independent film into
a profitable business. It's harder today than ever before for
independent filmmakers to make money with their films from predatory
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The distribution model of making money with your film is broken,
and there needs to be a change the future of
independent filmmaking is the entrepreneurial filmmaker or the film entrepreneur.
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With case studies examining successes and failures. This book shows
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(01:42):
want to order it, just head over to www dot
filmbiz book dot com. That's film bizbook dot com. Enjoy
today's episode with guest host Dave Bullis.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
On this week's edition of the podcast, I have a
really cool guest and award winning filmmaker, TV hosts and
Amazon number one best seller for her book So La,
a Hollywood Memoir, We're going to talk about all the
good stuff dead Central hosting shows of the BBC, How
she got all these really cool gigs growing up in La,
(02:15):
surrounded by celebrities, with two celebrity parents. All that and
much much more, with guests Stacy Lane Wilson. You have
a very interesting background and you have a very interesting
sort of way you've got into the film industry. You
were basically, you know, you were born into the end
of this industry because you have you wrote a book
(02:35):
so La, a Hollywood memoir, Uncensored Tales by the Rock
Star and Pinnut Model, and you talk about obviously and
like you say in your bio, you are a unicorn
because not only were you born and raised in La,
you're still in La. So so you know, being you know,
being born in La, do you feel that you were
just basically you had you felt compelled or maybe even
(02:59):
sort of sort of like driven to go into the
film industry, you.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Know, not necessarily, and it didn't happen until fairly late
in my life. But I feel like there is a
lot to the argument of nature versus nurture. But I
got on both counts, nature and nurture in the creative world.
So I'm just a creative person and that's how my
mind works. So I do feel I was predisposed to
(03:26):
doing something in not necessarily the industry quote unquote, but
just doing things that are more creative than technical fay
or mathematical that's just not my thing. And my parents
are both the same. So I feel like that I
just inherited sort of that predisposition to be a storyteller.
My dad is a storyteller through his music, my mother
(03:48):
through her writing. So I feel like that's just why
I am what I am.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
So, when you were sort of growing up, you know,
and I imagine you know obviously growing up in that area,
did you see like a lot did you go to
school or maybe even know like famous people, Like did
you go like hang around famous people or maybe were
they coming by the house. The reason I bring that
up Stacy's I actually had a guest on the show,
and he actually, when he was younger, he celebrities were
(04:19):
calling the house and they used to call him on
the landline phone and he he would answer and he'd go,
why is Moe from the Three Stooges calling me or
calling my dad? I mean, you know why you know, So,
did did you have anything like that?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Well?
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Apparently I don't remember it because I was quite young,
but my mother actually had an elicit affair with Bobby Kennedy,
and so he would call and come over, and you know,
apparently we had conversations, but I was only I was
like two when he died, so I don't remember much
about that. But apparently I could hold my own in
(04:53):
a conversation with Bobby Kennedy. And then my mom was
also friends with Alan Sherman, who was a singer songwriter,
kind of the novelty comedic songs. He put out albums,
you know, when that kind of thing was popular. One
of his songs was Hello Abada, Hello Fata, you know,
some kind of thing about the camp I don't know
(05:15):
the whole thing, but so he and I were apparently friends,
and I don't remember that either. But as I got
a little bit older, I did talk to some of
my dad's friends, Like I do remember that Glenn Campbell
was his neighbor up the street in Sherman Oaks, California.
So my father, being a musician, knew a lot of
the really great singer songwriters of the era, so I
(05:38):
remember talking to them to some degree. But when I
was a little kid, I was really really interested in
horses and horseback riding, so that was kind of horses
were my best friends.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Really, So so did you when when you were a
little kid and when we were on horses, Did you
actually want to like maybe go into the questionrine or
maybe become like an actual like the something to do
with horses more than anything else.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I did to some degree, But then I looked at
my bank account. I was like, oh, wait a minute,
this isn't a good idea. But no, when I was
a little kid, I was definitely really really into it.
I showed horses, and in fact, one of my main
competitors when I was showing ponies was Urve Villagez who
was Tattoo on the Fantasy Island TV show. He had
(06:25):
ponies being of diminutive stature. I suppose that's why. But
so so I used to show and really was into
training horses for a long time in my life. And
I actually did start out with that sort of as
a business goal, and I did it for quite a
few years, but it just really is a drain on
(06:46):
the old bank account. And as much as I love horses,
I eventually had to say goodbye to them. And I
still love horses, but I just don't own them anymore.
But it was a really great sort of the juxtaposition
for me as a young girl growing up in Los
Angeles with my parents being who they are, that I
was able to have that outdoor life and to really
(07:10):
be brought down to earth, so to speak, working with horses,
because they don't care who your parents are or who
you are. They just care that you're going to treat
them well and that you're going to, you know, be
a good person. And that's really important when it comes
to working with animals and training horses. And I feel
like that has filtered out into my everyday life and
(07:30):
talking to people and being in business and being a
writer and all those things really gave me a great
foundation as a kid.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So when you mentioned they don't care who your parents are,
did did any did you ever find out like when
growing up or even when you're in your teenage years,
you know, did anyone ever? You know, it's almost like, hey,
could I ever you know, get to do something with
your dad? Or hey can I ever get to do
somebod who's your mom? Did you ever experience that growing.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Up to a degree? I mean, my mom is not
you know, you say, is famous, but she was a
pin up model back in the day, and it was
kind of funny, you know, when you're growing up and
you're especially those awkward early teenage years where you really
don't want to stand out or be different, so, you know,
people looking at my mom's centerfolds or whatever. My friends,
(08:17):
it was kind of funny and awkward, but it was
also cool. And as far as my father goes, he
is Don Wilson, the guitarist for the Ventures, and that
is the number one selling instrumental band of all time.
They did songs like Hawaii I Voto and Pipeline and
vipe Out and whatnot. So, you know, back in the
(08:38):
early eighties, late seventies, early eighties, as I was a
teenage girl growing up, a lot of the guys in
school knew where the Ventures were because they were learning
how to play guitar and whatnot. But personally I was
very much into harder rock like led Zeppelin and the
Rolling Stones and groups like that, so to me, like
(09:00):
Ventures were not exactly uncool, but not exactly you know,
my cup of tea as far as music went. So
it was kind of funny to hear my friends say
how much you know, they really loved the Ventures, and
I was like, really, my dad's famous. I didn't really
see that.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah, it's one of those things, like I was saying
about the guy had on the podcast whose father was
was was an entertainment lawyer, and he would say, you know,
why are these people calling the house? And he was
kept saying, Dad, you know what is going on here?
And it's just stuff like that. It's just so interesting,
you know, always and growing up and your your your parents,
your parents are you know, in demand or or people
(09:38):
want to meet them, and it's you know, when you're younger,
you're like, why why do all these people want to
come meet my parents? What is going on here?
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Right? Yeah, I mean it's hard to have perspective on
your parents when you're that young. Of course, now I do,
and especially having written my book, it's given me a
lot of great you know, like I say, perspective of
yours and to really appreciate their talents.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor
and now back to the show.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
But you know, to me, they still are just my parents.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
So uh so, Stacy, when you when you were growing up,
you know, you mentioned that you got bit by the
sort of filmmaking bug a little later in life, so
we don't around you know, what age were you when
you finally decided that you wanted to to sort of
go into the to the film industry.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Well, I actually started off as an entertainment reporter, and
I fell into that more or less through writing horror novels.
I was approached by a couple of horror websites like
horror dot com and cine Fantasticeek magazine had also approached
me to see if I wanted to be an LA
correspondent to write movie reviews. And it really wasn't anything
(10:54):
that I had endeavored to do, although I always liked movies,
and I found out that I really had an aptitude
for it, and so here we are, like, you know,
sixteen years later. I got it started in two thousand
and one, and so I'm still doing that, still reviewing
films and still interviewing actors, while also pursuing my own
(11:16):
career as a filmmaker. And that actually started just through
being inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe poem in two
thousand and ten. I believe that was the first. Yeah,
that's my first foray into filmmaking was in twenty ten
with a short film, A trip Take of three short
films based on Annabelle Lee and I just knew actors
(11:41):
through my other career as a film journalist, and so
that's how that all just kind of came together pretty organically.
It wasn't something that one day I will come and said,
I'm going to be a filmmaker. So it just seemed
like a natural evolution from what I had been doing
(12:03):
and the fact that I did write fiction before in
the nineties. Those two things, the marrying of storytelling and
technology and then a basis of knowledge in film is
really what I feel led to led to it. And
so since then, I've made several short films and also
wrote and directed to feature films, and it's still a
(12:25):
part time thing for me, although I do enjoy it.
Writing is still my number one love.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So do you write your you know, your own scripts
that you go in to direct and maybe even produce.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Yes, I do. I actually though my two feature films
which were produced by Blanc Being Productions, which is Michael Bean,
the actor, and his wife Jennifer Blanc, and they're both actors,
but they both got and started a production company and
the two films that I wrote were based on ideas
(13:00):
from one of their partners who gave me sort of
the skeleton of an idea and I was predisposed already
to liking the subject matter of both films, so it
worked out really well because it almost feels like they're
my creations, but really they are based on stories by
a lonely Ruman who's one of their producing partners. And
(13:20):
then so I wrote the scripts to you know, specific
locations and a specific budget, and then was given the
wonderful opportunity to direct them. And it was really, you know,
a great experience. They are super you know, run and gun,
Roger Corman style, grind housey sort of movies. So we
(13:43):
actually shot both features at five days each, so you know,
basically five twelve hour days shooting about seventeen pages a day.
And I think it was really a great sort of
introduction into directing features for me because it was really challenging,
(14:03):
but in a fun way. So I think, now that
I've done this, I can do just about anything. So
it's really a great confidence builder too.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah, it's funny you actually bring them up. I actually helped.
I actually helped them with a kickstarter they were doing,
I think it was The Night Visitor.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that. Yeah, they've
actually done a couple of sequels to that now since.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Really because I actually that's it's a small world. I'll
tell you Stacey doing this podcast, it's a smaller and
smaller world.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
So so when you first started, you know, you know,
wanting to do movies, I and you mentioned you didn't
just wake up one day and want to become a filmmaker.
You know, it's it's it's kind of I feel that
most people who want to make a movie or or
you know, even go into this industry, they usually have
almost like this almost like a predisposition and it it's almost
(15:00):
like they have like this itch that they just need
to scratch. And you know, when they go to make
a movie, it's always one of two things that I
that I found. It's either that they do the running
gun style. It's where it's like no, no, I'm sorry,
let me take that back. They either do one of
two things. They do the they do like no planning
at all, or they plan this thing so much that
becomes analysis through paralysis and they don't do anyone and
(15:24):
they never get to film it. So it's one of
those two things. So, but once you start getting into
it more and more, you start building a team you
start building a whole like network. Now, I think your
story is different because I think you had a better
network going into it, because again, you're in LA, You're
doing you making all these connections, You're you're viewing movies,
(15:46):
you're a movie reporter. So when you went to make
your first movie, you know, do you feel that you
already had a better footing or a better understanding then
maybe the average filmmaker.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Well that is probably on a case by case basis.
Like you say, everyone brings their own measure of talent
and their own sort of life experience into creating something
as ephemeral really as a film. Even though a film
you know, does last forever, it's still when it's coming together,
it's kind of an alchemy. So each person brings their
(16:19):
own thing into it. So we're all unique. But I
do feel really fortunate that I know the great talented
people that I do know, and in Los Angeles there is,
you know, obviously a greater concentration of choices. You know,
people that you know, and also just through being an
entertainment reporter and knowing these people on a different level,
(16:43):
I really kind of already knew what their work ethic
would be and what your sensibilities are. And so when
bringing together, say, you know, my first cast for my
short film, the star of that, who's sort of our
Edgar Allen Poe character is Ogre from Skinny Puppy, and
I had met him through being an entertainment reporter when
(17:06):
I covered his feature musical film called Repo the Genetic Opera,
which is directed by Darren Bausman. So we already had
sort of a connection and a report, and I knew
the things that he liked and he knew the things
that I liked. So there is a good shorthand there,
which you really need when you're working on a low
budget or a no budget film, because you don't really
(17:26):
have time to get acquainted with someone. You kind of
have to dive in and already know what you're dealing with.
So having a pool of people like that already and
just being friends, I think really helps. So I would say, yes,
that's a long answer to your short question.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
No, No, I completely understand, Stacy. I tend to ask
very open ended questions, you know, just to sort of
get a good response to that, you know, a longer response,
And I always think that's a good thing. And I
just want to follow it up. I am when when
you've made your first film, what were some of the
biggest takeaways for you that you put into your next film.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Well, I actually, although I'm known in the horror and
genre world and Edgar Allen Poe certainly is horror, but
I also feel like it's an arty sensibility where you
can really stretch the imagination and interpret the subject matter
as you like. So my next film after that was
(18:32):
also very experimental, and having the basis of shooting The
Key to Annabelly, which is my first short film, I
really felt freed up to be even more artistic and experimental.
My next film was called The Night Plays Tricks, which
is based on a Bob Dylan song called Visions of Johannah,
(18:54):
and it's almost Maya Darren asked, if you've seen Meshes
of the Afternoon, you know it's kind of like that.
So I really felt confident that I could express myself
in a sort of slightly opaque artistic way and yet
still get a story across. And having a good editor
(19:16):
really helps with that. And my editor and DP on
that second film is justin Cruz and so it's really
nice having a DP who can also edit, which is
also the case with my very latest, most recent short film.
So I feel like the DP is kind of editing
in his mind as he's shooting, and having that artistic
(19:37):
sensibility like I have is really makes for a great collaboration.
So that is what sort of spurred me on to
continue making films, was to know that I could still
be artistic because to me, style in cinema speaks volumes,
and that is really what I wanted to be able
to do. So that really gave me the confidence to
(20:00):
move forward.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
So you mentioned your latest film, I mean, could you
can talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Absolutely. It is called Psychotherapy, and it stars Brooke Lewis
and Ricky Dean Logan, and it's sort of a two hander.
It's a very short film, it's just under ten minutes,
and Brooke had brought me on to write and direct
it as sort of a showcase for her because she
(20:37):
is known for doing sci fi and comedies and things
that are pretty light and this is more of a
psychological thriller. So she wanted me to write something to
her strengths. As a dramatic actor. And then she brought
on Ricky, who is also a very good actor, but
I haven't actually met him before we started shooting, so
(20:59):
that's another fun challenge that I enjoy too. On the
flip side of working with people that I know, is
also just sort of diving in and having fun with
people that I don't have experience with. So that's the
part of the excitement of making a film. And so
this short film is sort of Brooke and my we
(21:19):
would both love Brian de Palma's films, so it's kind
of our homage to Dress to Kill a little bit
with the psychiatrists and the patient having a verbal tet
a tet. And so far the film has won several
awards both for acting, directing, and writing, and it's only
been on the festival circuit for a few months, so
(21:41):
very encouraging. And our DP slash editor Stephan Colson is
really really super talented, and so all those elements together,
that's the fun thing, as opposed to say writing a
novel where it's very much just with you and it's
your you know, sort of everything thing is contained within
(22:01):
the writer. To see how a script that I wrote
evolves and sort of flowers with the different talents of
the other people. So it's just a different kind of satisfaction,
but it's they're both really interesting ways of expressing yourself artistically.
(22:22):
And so yeah, this latest short film is probably the
one of the least artistic shorts that I've done. It's
more linear and more like I said, it's a it's
a thriller, but I was able to add some visual
flourishes that I wanted to. So it's been really great.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
And and that's amazing because you know, it goes on
with what I was with I was trying to get
at before, was you know, always bring something that new
from your old project to your new project. And what
I mean by that is you bring the experience, you
bring confidence. I think I think a lot of filmmakers,
or even when I see a lot of read a
lot of books or or what have you a out filmmaking,
(23:00):
they don't really talk about confidence. And if you don't
really have any confidence, you know, in yourself or the
project or the script or anything else, you know, I
think that shows it almost becomes like you're like, oh, okay,
can you know what I mean it? Can you end
up getting maybe even a very passive sort of feel
for the whole thing, you know what I mean. And
I think confidence is something that a lot of people
(23:22):
don't talk about. And one of the ways that I
feel that that filmmakers can build confidence is is by
small victories. And what I mean by that is you
make a project, maybe even going out like Mark Duplace says,
going out with your friends on a weekend and making
a movie for one hundred bucks, or or or doing
something else, or maybe winning a local contest or something
(23:42):
like that, and then sort of being able to sort
of parlay that into something else, if you know what
I mean, Stacy, Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
I mean it's like when you're learning how to swim,
you don't dive into the deep end. You kind of
stand on the steps for a little while, and then
you wade into the shallow end and then and as
you see that you're not going to drown, you go
a little bit further and a little bit further. So, yeah,
I think that's definitely true. Sometimes, you know, I see
(24:11):
as an entertainment reporter, I don't really know what kind
of connections these people have, but sometimes you see a
film director who's given his very first project and it's
a blockbuster with say, you know Warner Brothers or Sony.
I'm like, wow, that must be really intimidating, you know.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
You know, Stacey, you and I have the same mentality
with that. I have seen other people who've gotten projects,
maybe not even blockbusters, but it's like their first time
film and they walk down they and they have like
one hundred thousand dollars or five hundred thousand or a
million and yeah, and I sit there and I go,
how did they get that money? Like where did they
(24:49):
get that from?
Speaker 4 (24:50):
You know?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I once knew a person who, basically his first time out,
he got a bunch of grants and stuff like that,
and I said, you know, you know, how do you
how did did you do that? And he basically said
he had a girlfriend who at the time, her mother
was very big into she did a lot of charity fundraising,
and she knew a ton of people and that's how
(25:12):
he got these grants. And basically they're just they're not
even grants that you like applied to so to speak.
They're grants that you know, if you pitch to him
at a you know, at certain intervals, they'll be like, okay,
you could have this money, you could have that money.
Well that's how we raise some of the money. But
just to go back to where we're talking about, you know, yeah,
some people are out of left field and suddenly they're
(25:32):
directing the next Godzilla film for like two hundred million dollars.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
You know, yeah, yeah. I mean I think for me personally,
just knowing my dairy autonomous freelance or personality, I would
be not as happy working with a huge budget like that,
where so much hinges on the success of the film
(25:56):
as opposed to the joy of making the film and
creating something that you like. I don't know that I
would really you know, I definitely know I wouldn't feel
comfortable having you know, producers breathing down my neck every
day about you know, how much money is being spent
and you know, look at all there's writing on this.
That's a lot of pressure to me for my part filmmaking.
(26:19):
Of course, I want to be able to make enough
money to pay my rent, and so far, so good,
but I don't really aspire to be a huge, you know,
a director making a blockbuster. However, having said that, I
am really proud of Patty Jenkins, who's directed Wonder Woman,
and she's done a great job with a huge blockbuster
(26:41):
like that. I had interviewed her several years ago when
she did Monster, and that was sort of like a
very you know, personal film that she was able to
put her own stamp on, and she's weathered the storms
and look at her now. So I think it's great.
It's really a good time actually to be a female
creator in the film world. And hopefully I'll be able
(27:03):
to glean a little bit of that good fortune myself
as I moved ahead in my career.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
You know, I was just talking about Patty with her
cinematographer from Monster, Stephen Bernstein, and he and I were
talking about Patty and and we were just talking about
you know, Wonder Woman and everything like that. So it's
just again you brought that up. It's just a small again,
I know, I keep repeating with Stacy, but it's a
very small world.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
It's good. I like it, yeah, but but it is.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yeah, it is a good time, you know, for female
directors and you know, female producers too, because even like
somebody like gailhard on The Walking Dead, you know, I
think she kind of sort of I don't know how
many interviews she does I don't know me. She's one
of those people that sort of gets in the background,
but you know, it's it's just, you know, it is
(27:53):
I can see more opportunities coming down the pike. And
it's also great things too, like I have to mention
Carol Dean who runs the Grandson of Hearts Productions. She's phenomenal.
And there's also great people out there like Jennifer Gersani, Lead,
Jessa Plura, Alessandra, all these great people out there working,
you know, without your neck of with Stacy in La Oh.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Absolutely. I just attended the Etherea Film Festival last weekend
which has been going on for about five years now.
Previous to that it was called gisco or it was
more focused on horror, and now it's more genre, you
know based with different elements of that. And that is
Heidi Honeycutt and Stacy Hammond who run that festival, which
(28:38):
is pretty much you know, focused on the female in
fact that they each film has to either be written, directed,
or produced by a woman. And this past weekend, Roger
Corman came out and presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to
Stephanie Rothman, who was his protege and she actually direct
(29:00):
did the first three New World Pictures, I think, and
this is back in the early seventies. So Roger has
always given people, regardless of gender or race, their big
breaks and early on, you know, before it was quote
unquote trendy. So it's really nice to see a woman
like Stephanie Rothman being recognized today for the work that
(29:23):
she did, which is really pretty pioneering in the early
nineteen seventies. But I mean, you could even go back
on this subject to the early era of talkies and
silent films when women like Mary Pickford were producing and
it was a lot less gender biased than for a
short period of time until real money started coming in
(29:45):
and then it was you know, taken over by males.
But I feel like, you know, we're definitely experiencing a
bit of a renaissance here. So it's a good time
to be a filmmaker period, but even better to be
a female filmmaker right now. So I'm feeling pretty good
about where I am.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Yeah, and you know, it's interesting to see where all
this is going to. I'm always interested to see too Stacy,
Where you know, Netflix is going, where Hulu's going, where
all these avenues are going. I mean, I've heard so
many different things that are rumbling down the pike, and
it's just also interesting right now and how everything's sort
of coming together.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Oh yeah, there are a lot more women working in
television and film. Film is sort of, you know, still
a bit more gender biased, but it's becoming less so
that I in television, I mean, if you just read
the credits, you'll see so many more female names below
the line than you do in film.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Yeah, very true, very true. Yeah, and you know that
that'd be interesting to sort of discuss, you know, why
that why that is? But but I we would be
because I don't have I don't know the answer, but.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yeah, I don't either.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
We're not going to talk about it was good to
say it's a good thing. I don't even have a theory.
But but I did want to talk about your book,
so La a Hollywood memoir. I didn't want to talk
about this, you know, you know, and I want to ask,
you know, sort of you know, what inspired you to
actually write the book. I know you were working as
a movie reporter, you know, you started doing you know
(31:25):
all this film work. You released a book in March
of this year, twenty seventeen. So what was sort of
the impetus to write this book.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
Well, I started writing it last year, just a couple
of weeks before my birthday. It was a milestone birthday,
and so that is really what made me think, you know,
I've I've lived long enough life to be able to
have an interesting story. But I hold on just a
second here, thank you, Sorry about that. That is something
(32:00):
you can edit out.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
I'm going to leave it in stacy. I think it's funny.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
How Yeah, I just got a special delivery. It's my
stack of cash for the next movie I'm directing. Oh nice, Okay.
So yeah, So the impetus to write the book was
last year and my birthday month, and it was a
milestone birthday. So I felt like it was time for
(32:24):
me to tell my story because I had an interesting
enough story with enough perspective to talk about it. But
I'm still young enough and quote unquote with it to
be able to tell the story to you know, in
an interesting manner. So that was part of it. And
then another part of it is that with the you know,
(32:45):
advent of social media, that people know who I am,
but they express a lot of interest in my parents,
my dad and my mom, and I'll post pictures and
I'll get so many great responses, but their stories really
haven't been told on a personal love. So for me,
that was one of the reasons that I wanted to
write too, was to kind of give my mom and
(33:06):
dad's stories and in a candid way, but definitely not
you know, a mommy dearest kind of thing at all.
But my mother when I was growing up, she was
an alcoholic and she went through some really tough times
and my parents divorced when I was very young, So
there are things to talk about in that regard where
it wasn't just you know, a whipped cream and fluffy
(33:30):
clouds childhood. So there's you know, things that I want
to talk about in that regard. And my parents did
read the book after it was published and they both approved,
so that's good. So that's really what the impetus was,
because I feel like I have some pretty interesting stories
to tell in a different perspective than probably most people.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yeah, and that's what goes back to what I was
mentioning too, was you know, just growing up in la
and still living there is an interesting perspective, and I
just want to ask Stacy, what is maybe just one,
just one story from the book, maybe your most favorite
or the most interesting from you from your perspective, just
something from the book. Maybe is there any just one
(34:14):
story you could tell from the book?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Well, there are so many stories because it covers many
different facets of my life. So I mean, we could
talk about the very irate alcoholic monkey that my mom
brought home one day when I was about seven years old,
and it has my new path, which was kind of fun.
Or we could talk about you know why, Malcolm McDowell
(34:39):
told me I could call him my boyfriend h later
in life, when I was interviewing him just about every
week for the Sci Fi Channel. We had sort of
this fun little relationship and he's a great guy. Or
we could talk about the days of nineteen eighties hair
metal on the sunset stripped. Oh, that was an odious time. So,
(35:00):
I mean, there's really a lot to talk about. So
I couldn't really pick one story, but there's a lot
of little little kernels, and you know, part of my
wanting to do this was to be able to tell
these stories in a humorous way. So a lot of
feedback that I'm getting is really gratifying and that people
are finding, even in the more difficult times in my life,
that there's always a temper of humor to it.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
You know, one story that I saw from the Amazon
homepage for your book was a party at the Playboy Mansion.
And I know this is I just every time we
hear about the Playboy Mansion, the first thing I think of,
and this just goes to show you where my head's at, Stacy,
is Paully Shore. Because there's a story that somebody was
(35:44):
told about Paully Shore where he every year, every year,
he would he be at a Playboy Mansion party and
he would go up and he would just tell everyone
he was thirty years old. Well finally someone said, you know, Paulie,
you've been thirty years old for the past twenty years,
so you know, and it's just and they actually made
liter of it in the TV show Entourage. They actually
(36:05):
brought that joke back, which I actually I thought was
pretty cool. But yeah, no, no, was just I just
always funny. But I mean, a parting at the Playwood
Mansion and it's heyday, I mean, yeah, exactly, that stuff.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
Like that back when it was exciting. Yeah, it was
really neat to be able to go to that part.
I believe I was nineteen years old, eighteen or nineteen
years old at the time, and HEP's girlfriend Carrie Lee,
who I believe she showed him for palimony later on,
but anyway, she was kind of out scouting the clubs
for girls to invite to the parties. And so we went,
(36:39):
and my friend Peg and I she was sort of
my bad influence, which every kid needs to have her
growing up, the bad influence friend. So we went and
it was really interesting to see it back then, especially
since there was still a mistique to it, whereas now
I did return for another party about three years ago
(37:00):
and things had really changed quite a bit. And also
just the public perspective of the Playboy match, and now
that it's been demystified, it's just not as exciting. It's
actually kind of cheesy. So it's kind of neat for
me to have that experience from the perspective of of
decades apart to see, you know, how it was in
(37:20):
the in the eighties to how it is now, And
so I do talk about that in the book. Yes,
And another thing about my book that maybe historians will
find interesting is that I am an architecture bop, so
I do go into all the places that I visited
and then talk a little bit about who built them
and what their history is and what they look like,
(37:41):
so those kind of things, you know, adding those details.
It was really a lot of fun for me when
I was writing the book too, to be able to
do research on the things that I really enjoy and
to be able to tell stories about them from a
different perspective, not just the salacious, you know, Playboy matched
and Grotto perspective.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
So let me ask you, Stacy, it was. Is the
Rainbow Born Grill as legendary as they say?
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Yes it is. There's been so much going on there
throughout the years. Yeah. In fact, I did an interesting
interview with the guys from La Meekly. We actually did
our interview there at the Rainbow so we could talk
about its history and it really has not changed its
staycore in many decades. And I don't know if you know,
(38:29):
but Motorheads front man Lemmy used to hang out there.
In fact, he practically lived there. He had rented an
apartment just within stumbling distance so he could hang out
there all the time, and when he passed away a
couple of years ago, he was such a fixture at
the Rainbow that they had actually commissioned a bronze statue
of him. And so he's still there at the bar.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
You know, I had a friend of mine out there
who went out there and he actually, you know, knew
a few people who used to talk about the rain
of bar and Grill and they called the Bow and
you know, and I know he and I always and
one of the guys of telling stories would always he
was one of those guys that if he would always
tell impellish stories. So I wanted to ask, you know
(39:14):
what to be like. I wanted to ask you straight,
you know, straight from U Stacy about it, just about
if it's actually as legendary as they say.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (39:21):
And I actually got to meet Jimmy Page there, Who's
my my hero growing up. I mean, I love Jimmy
Page and Led Zeppelin. That was my jam when I
was a kid and a teenager. So I actually had
gotten a fake ID out of the back of like
Hit Parada or Cream magazine, so I could go to
the Rainbow when I was underage, and I saw quite
a few really cool rock stars there. But my favorite
(39:43):
sighting was definitely Jimmy Page. And then it sort of
came full circle when as an entertainment reporter I got
to actually interview him for the documentary called It Might
Get Loud.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
So it was really fantastic to be able to have
my Jimmy Page moment on two totally different levels, and
one as a fangirl and one as a entertainment reporter.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
And see that. That's why, you know, I'm glad we
got to talk, Stacy, because you have those those sort
of dual perspectives of things, seeing petnam as fans and
then seeing them as an interviewer. I think that's really cool.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
Yeah, yeah, I do too, and I really appreciate it.
So I definitely talk about that in the book and
what it feels like to actually have those experiences. So
hopefully people will appreciate that aspect of it too, and I'll.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Make sure to link the book in the show notes
as well. And Stacy, I just want to ask, uh probable,
I just want to ask, also, you know, what what
what next? What do you have next? In the pipeline,
you know, are you what sort of movies are you
working on next?
Speaker 4 (40:59):
Well, I'm so immersed in the book right now and
Psychotherapy's festival run, but I don't have a lot ironed
out yet. But my next hopeful project is to write
and direct a documentary about the Ventures, because, believe it
or not, in spite of their incredible legacy and long
(41:21):
running career, there's never been a documentary made about them.
So if no one else is going to do it,
why not me?
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Exactly, you see an opportunity, or you see something that
you would buy that's not out in the market, and
you go out and you create it.
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Yep, exactly.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
So Stacey, just in closing, I know we've been talking
for about forty minutes now, is there anything that we
can get a chance to talk about that you maybe
want to talk about now, or anything you sort of
want to say to put a period at the end
of this whole conversation.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
I like to say thank you so much for having
me on the show and to talk about my various
different things. I know it's sometimes difficult to concentrate on
one specific line of questioning with someone who does so
many different things. But you know, I really do appreciate
having a forum like this to be able to talk
(42:13):
to you and to talk to your listeners, and just
looking forward to meeting everyone so they can certainly find
me online and I love to interact with folks who
also enjoy film and music. And thank you.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
And my pleasure, Stacey, and I thank you so much
for coming on. Where can people find you out online?
Speaker 4 (42:35):
Just about anywhere I can give you the rundown you.
So I'm on Twitter as Stacey Wilson. That's st A
c I W I L s O N and the
same on Facebook, and then on Instagram, I'm Stacy Lane,
which is my middle name, so that's st A c
I l A y n E. And my website is
(42:58):
Stacylanewilson dot com. So that's sort of the catch all
for if you forgot all those social media things, you
can go to my website and contact me there. In fact,
I encourage you to do. So.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
We thank you so much for coming on the podcast,
and I wish you the best so much time.
Speaker 4 (43:15):
Okay, cool, thank you.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
I want to thank Dave so much for doing such
a great job on this episode. If you want to
get links to anything, we spoke about in this episode.
Head over to the show notes at Indie film Hustle
dot com Forward slash eighth nine, and if you haven't already,
please head over to Filmmaking podcast dot com, subscribe and
leave a good review for the show. It really helps
us out a lot, guys.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Thank you again so much for listening to guys.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
As always, keep that hustle going, keep that dream alive,
Stay safe out there, and I'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Thanks for listening to the Indie Film Hustle Podcast at
Indie Film Hustle dot com. That's I N D I
E F I L M h U S T l
E dot com.
You are listening to the ifh podcast Network. For more
amazing filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, just go to ifhpodcastnetwork dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Indie Film Muscle Podcast, Episode number eighth nine,
Cinema Should Make You Forget. You're sitting in a theater,
Roman Polanski.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Broadcasting from the back alley in Hollywood. It's the Indie
Film Hustle Podcast, where we show you how to survive
and thrive as an indie filmmaker in the jungles of
the film biz.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
And here's your host, Alex Ferrari.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome, Welcome to another episode of the Indie Film Huscle Podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I am your humble.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Host Alex Ferrari. Today's show is sponsored by Rise of
the Film Entrepreneur How to turn your independent film into
a profitable business. It's harder today than ever before for
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want to order it, just head over to www dot
filmbiz book dot com. That's film bizbook dot com. Enjoy
today's episode with guest host Dave Bullis.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
On this week's edition of the podcast, I have a
really cool guest and award winning filmmaker, TV hosts and
Amazon number one best seller for her book So La,
a Hollywood Memoir, We're going to talk about all the
good stuff dead Central hosting shows of the BBC, How
she got all these really cool gigs growing up in La,
(02:15):
surrounded by celebrities, with two celebrity parents. All that and
much much more, with guests Stacy Lane Wilson. You have
a very interesting background and you have a very interesting
sort of way you've got into the film industry. You
were basically, you know, you were born into the end
of this industry because you have you wrote a book
(02:35):
so La, a Hollywood memoir, Uncensored Tales by the Rock
Star and Pinnut Model, and you talk about obviously and
like you say in your bio, you are a unicorn
because not only were you born and raised in La,
you're still in La. So so you know, being you know,
being born in La, do you feel that you were
just basically you had you felt compelled or maybe even
(02:59):
sort of sort of like driven to go into the
film industry, you.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Know, not necessarily, and it didn't happen until fairly late
in my life. But I feel like there is a
lot to the argument of nature versus nurture. But I
got on both counts, nature and nurture in the creative world.
So I'm just a creative person and that's how my
mind works. So I do feel I was predisposed to
(03:26):
doing something in not necessarily the industry quote unquote, but
just doing things that are more creative than technical fay
or mathematical that's just not my thing. And my parents
are both the same. So I feel like that I
just inherited sort of that predisposition to be a storyteller.
My dad is a storyteller through his music, my mother
(03:48):
through her writing. So I feel like that's just why
I am what I am.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
So, when you were sort of growing up, you know,
and I imagine you know obviously growing up in that area,
did you see like a lot did you go to
school or maybe even know like famous people, Like did
you go like hang around famous people or maybe were
they coming by the house. The reason I bring that
up Stacy's I actually had a guest on the show,
and he actually, when he was younger, he celebrities were
(04:19):
calling the house and they used to call him on
the landline phone and he he would answer and he'd go,
why is Moe from the Three Stooges calling me or
calling my dad? I mean, you know why you know, So,
did did you have anything like that?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Well?
Speaker 4 (04:32):
Apparently I don't remember it because I was quite young,
but my mother actually had an elicit affair with Bobby Kennedy,
and so he would call and come over, and you know,
apparently we had conversations, but I was only I was
like two when he died, so I don't remember much
about that. But apparently I could hold my own in
(04:53):
a conversation with Bobby Kennedy. And then my mom was
also friends with Alan Sherman, who was a singer songwriter,
kind of the novelty comedic songs. He put out albums,
you know, when that kind of thing was popular. One
of his songs was Hello Abada, Hello Fata, you know,
some kind of thing about the camp I don't know
(05:15):
the whole thing, but so he and I were apparently friends,
and I don't remember that either. But as I got
a little bit older, I did talk to some of
my dad's friends, Like I do remember that Glenn Campbell
was his neighbor up the street in Sherman Oaks, California.
So my father, being a musician, knew a lot of
the really great singer songwriters of the era, so I
(05:38):
remember talking to them to some degree. But when I
was a little kid, I was really really interested in
horses and horseback riding, so that was kind of horses
were my best friends.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Really, So so did you when when you were a
little kid and when we were on horses, Did you
actually want to like maybe go into the questionrine or
maybe become like an actual like the something to do
with horses more than anything else.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I did to some degree, But then I looked at
my bank account. I was like, oh, wait a minute,
this isn't a good idea. But no, when I was
a little kid, I was definitely really really into it.
I showed horses, and in fact, one of my main
competitors when I was showing ponies was Urve Villagez who
was Tattoo on the Fantasy Island TV show. He had
(06:25):
ponies being of diminutive stature. I suppose that's why. But
so so I used to show and really was into
training horses for a long time in my life. And
I actually did start out with that sort of as
a business goal, and I did it for quite a
few years, but it just really is a drain on
(06:46):
the old bank account. And as much as I love horses,
I eventually had to say goodbye to them. And I
still love horses, but I just don't own them anymore.
But it was a really great sort of the juxtaposition
for me as a young girl growing up in Los
Angeles with my parents being who they are, that I
was able to have that outdoor life and to really
(07:10):
be brought down to earth, so to speak, working with horses,
because they don't care who your parents are or who
you are. They just care that you're going to treat
them well and that you're going to, you know, be
a good person. And that's really important when it comes
to working with animals and training horses. And I feel
like that has filtered out into my everyday life and
(07:30):
talking to people and being in business and being a
writer and all those things really gave me a great
foundation as a kid.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
So when you mentioned they don't care who your parents are,
did did any did you ever find out like when
growing up or even when you're in your teenage years,
you know, did anyone ever? You know, it's almost like, hey,
could I ever you know, get to do something with
your dad? Or hey can I ever get to do
somebod who's your mom? Did you ever experience that growing.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Up to a degree? I mean, my mom is not
you know, you say, is famous, but she was a
pin up model back in the day, and it was
kind of funny, you know, when you're growing up and
you're especially those awkward early teenage years where you really
don't want to stand out or be different, so, you know,
people looking at my mom's centerfolds or whatever. My friends,
(08:17):
it was kind of funny and awkward, but it was
also cool. And as far as my father goes, he
is Don Wilson, the guitarist for the Ventures, and that
is the number one selling instrumental band of all time.
They did songs like Hawaii I Voto and Pipeline and
vipe Out and whatnot. So, you know, back in the
(08:38):
early eighties, late seventies, early eighties, as I was a
teenage girl growing up, a lot of the guys in
school knew where the Ventures were because they were learning
how to play guitar and whatnot. But personally I was
very much into harder rock like led Zeppelin and the
Rolling Stones and groups like that, so to me, like
(09:00):
Ventures were not exactly uncool, but not exactly you know,
my cup of tea as far as music went. So
it was kind of funny to hear my friends say
how much you know, they really loved the Ventures, and
I was like, really, my dad's famous. I didn't really
see that.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah, it's one of those things, like I was saying
about the guy had on the podcast whose father was
was was an entertainment lawyer, and he would say, you know,
why are these people calling the house? And he was
kept saying, Dad, you know what is going on here?
And it's just stuff like that. It's just so interesting,
you know, always and growing up and your your your parents,
your parents are you know, in demand or or people
(09:38):
want to meet them, and it's you know, when you're younger,
you're like, why why do all these people want to
come meet my parents? What is going on here?
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Right? Yeah, I mean it's hard to have perspective on
your parents when you're that young. Of course, now I do,
and especially having written my book, it's given me a
lot of great you know, like I say, perspective of
yours and to really appreciate their talents.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor
and now back to the show.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
But you know, to me, they still are just my parents.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
So uh so, Stacy, when you when you were growing up,
you know, you mentioned that you got bit by the
sort of filmmaking bug a little later in life, so
we don't around you know, what age were you when
you finally decided that you wanted to to sort of
go into the to the film industry.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Well, I actually started off as an entertainment reporter, and
I fell into that more or less through writing horror novels.
I was approached by a couple of horror websites like
horror dot com and cine Fantasticeek magazine had also approached
me to see if I wanted to be an LA
correspondent to write movie reviews. And it really wasn't anything
(10:54):
that I had endeavored to do, although I always liked movies,
and I found out that I really had an aptitude
for it, and so here we are, like, you know,
sixteen years later. I got it started in two thousand
and one, and so I'm still doing that, still reviewing
films and still interviewing actors, while also pursuing my own
(11:16):
career as a filmmaker. And that actually started just through
being inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe poem in two
thousand and ten. I believe that was the first. Yeah,
that's my first foray into filmmaking was in twenty ten
with a short film, A trip Take of three short
films based on Annabelle Lee and I just knew actors
(11:41):
through my other career as a film journalist, and so
that's how that all just kind of came together pretty organically.
It wasn't something that one day I will come and said,
I'm going to be a filmmaker. So it just seemed
like a natural evolution from what I had been doing
(12:03):
and the fact that I did write fiction before in
the nineties. Those two things, the marrying of storytelling and
technology and then a basis of knowledge in film is
really what I feel led to led to it. And
so since then, I've made several short films and also
wrote and directed to feature films, and it's still a
(12:25):
part time thing for me, although I do enjoy it.
Writing is still my number one love.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
So do you write your you know, your own scripts
that you go in to direct and maybe even produce.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Yes, I do. I actually though my two feature films
which were produced by Blanc Being Productions, which is Michael Bean,
the actor, and his wife Jennifer Blanc, and they're both actors,
but they both got and started a production company and
the two films that I wrote were based on ideas
(13:00):
from one of their partners who gave me sort of
the skeleton of an idea and I was predisposed already
to liking the subject matter of both films, so it
worked out really well because it almost feels like they're
my creations, but really they are based on stories by
a lonely Ruman who's one of their producing partners. And
(13:20):
then so I wrote the scripts to you know, specific
locations and a specific budget, and then was given the
wonderful opportunity to direct them. And it was really, you know,
a great experience. They are super you know, run and gun,
Roger Corman style, grind housey sort of movies. So we
(13:43):
actually shot both features at five days each, so you know,
basically five twelve hour days shooting about seventeen pages a day.
And I think it was really a great sort of
introduction into directing features for me because it was really challenging,
(14:03):
but in a fun way. So I think, now that
I've done this, I can do just about anything. So
it's really a great confidence builder too.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah, it's funny you actually bring them up. I actually helped.
I actually helped them with a kickstarter they were doing,
I think it was The Night Visitor.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that. Yeah, they've
actually done a couple of sequels to that now since.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Really because I actually that's it's a small world. I'll
tell you Stacey doing this podcast, it's a smaller and
smaller world.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's good.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
So so when you first started, you know, you know,
wanting to do movies, I and you mentioned you didn't
just wake up one day and want to become a filmmaker.
You know, it's it's it's kind of I feel that
most people who want to make a movie or or
you know, even go into this industry, they usually have
almost like this almost like a predisposition and it it's almost
(15:00):
like they have like this itch that they just need
to scratch. And you know, when they go to make
a movie, it's always one of two things that I
that I found. It's either that they do the running
gun style. It's where it's like no, no, I'm sorry,
let me take that back. They either do one of
two things. They do the they do like no planning
at all, or they plan this thing so much that
becomes analysis through paralysis and they don't do anyone and
(15:24):
they never get to film it. So it's one of
those two things. So, but once you start getting into
it more and more, you start building a team you
start building a whole like network. Now, I think your
story is different because I think you had a better
network going into it, because again, you're in LA, You're
doing you making all these connections, You're you're viewing movies,
(15:46):
you're a movie reporter. So when you went to make
your first movie, you know, do you feel that you
already had a better footing or a better understanding then
maybe the average filmmaker.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Well that is probably on a case by case basis.
Like you say, everyone brings their own measure of talent
and their own sort of life experience into creating something
as ephemeral really as a film. Even though a film
you know, does last forever, it's still when it's coming together,
it's kind of an alchemy. So each person brings their
(16:19):
own thing into it. So we're all unique. But I
do feel really fortunate that I know the great talented
people that I do know, and in Los Angeles there is,
you know, obviously a greater concentration of choices. You know,
people that you know, and also just through being an
entertainment reporter and knowing these people on a different level,
(16:43):
I really kind of already knew what their work ethic
would be and what your sensibilities are. And so when
bringing together, say, you know, my first cast for my
short film, the star of that, who's sort of our
Edgar Allen Poe character is Ogre from Skinny Puppy, and
I had met him through being an entertainment reporter when
(17:06):
I covered his feature musical film called Repo the Genetic Opera,
which is directed by Darren Bausman. So we already had
sort of a connection and a report, and I knew
the things that he liked and he knew the things
that I liked. So there is a good shorthand there,
which you really need when you're working on a low
budget or a no budget film, because you don't really
(17:26):
have time to get acquainted with someone. You kind of
have to dive in and already know what you're dealing with.
So having a pool of people like that already and
just being friends, I think really helps. So I would say, yes,
that's a long answer to your short question.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
No, No, I completely understand, Stacy. I tend to ask
very open ended questions, you know, just to sort of
get a good response to that, you know, a longer response,
And I always think that's a good thing. And I
just want to follow it up. I am when when
you've made your first film, what were some of the
biggest takeaways for you that you put into your next film.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Well, I actually, although I'm known in the horror and
genre world and Edgar Allen Poe certainly is horror, but
I also feel like it's an arty sensibility where you
can really stretch the imagination and interpret the subject matter
as you like. So my next film after that was
(18:32):
also very experimental, and having the basis of shooting The
Key to Annabelly, which is my first short film, I
really felt freed up to be even more artistic and experimental.
My next film was called The Night Plays Tricks, which
is based on a Bob Dylan song called Visions of Johannah,
(18:54):
and it's almost Maya Darren asked, if you've seen Meshes
of the Afternoon, you know it's kind of like that.
So I really felt confident that I could express myself
in a sort of slightly opaque artistic way and yet
still get a story across. And having a good editor
(19:16):
really helps with that. And my editor and DP on
that second film is justin Cruz and so it's really
nice having a DP who can also edit, which is
also the case with my very latest, most recent short film.
So I feel like the DP is kind of editing
in his mind as he's shooting, and having that artistic
(19:37):
sensibility like I have is really makes for a great collaboration.
So that is what sort of spurred me on to
continue making films, was to know that I could still
be artistic because to me, style in cinema speaks volumes,
and that is really what I wanted to be able
to do. So that really gave me the confidence to
(20:00):
move forward.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
So you mentioned your latest film, I mean, could you
can talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Absolutely. It is called Psychotherapy, and it stars Brooke Lewis
and Ricky Dean Logan, and it's sort of a two hander.
It's a very short film, it's just under ten minutes,
and Brooke had brought me on to write and direct
it as sort of a showcase for her because she
(20:37):
is known for doing sci fi and comedies and things
that are pretty light and this is more of a
psychological thriller. So she wanted me to write something to
her strengths. As a dramatic actor. And then she brought
on Ricky, who is also a very good actor, but
I haven't actually met him before we started shooting, so
(20:59):
that's another fun challenge that I enjoy too. On the
flip side of working with people that I know, is
also just sort of diving in and having fun with
people that I don't have experience with. So that's the
part of the excitement of making a film. And so
this short film is sort of Brooke and my we
(21:19):
would both love Brian de Palma's films, so it's kind
of our homage to Dress to Kill a little bit
with the psychiatrists and the patient having a verbal tet
a tet. And so far the film has won several
awards both for acting, directing, and writing, and it's only
been on the festival circuit for a few months, so
(21:41):
very encouraging. And our DP slash editor Stephan Colson is
really really super talented, and so all those elements together,
that's the fun thing, as opposed to say writing a
novel where it's very much just with you and it's
your you know, sort of everything thing is contained within
(22:01):
the writer. To see how a script that I wrote
evolves and sort of flowers with the different talents of
the other people. So it's just a different kind of satisfaction,
but it's they're both really interesting ways of expressing yourself artistically.
(22:22):
And so yeah, this latest short film is probably the
one of the least artistic shorts that I've done. It's
more linear and more like I said, it's a it's
a thriller, but I was able to add some visual
flourishes that I wanted to. So it's been really great.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
And and that's amazing because you know, it goes on
with what I was with I was trying to get
at before, was you know, always bring something that new
from your old project to your new project. And what
I mean by that is you bring the experience, you
bring confidence. I think I think a lot of filmmakers,
or even when I see a lot of read a
lot of books or or what have you a out filmmaking,
(23:00):
they don't really talk about confidence. And if you don't
really have any confidence, you know, in yourself or the
project or the script or anything else, you know, I
think that shows it almost becomes like you're like, oh, okay,
can you know what I mean it? Can you end
up getting maybe even a very passive sort of feel
for the whole thing, you know what I mean. And
I think confidence is something that a lot of people
(23:22):
don't talk about. And one of the ways that I
feel that that filmmakers can build confidence is is by
small victories. And what I mean by that is you
make a project, maybe even going out like Mark Duplace says,
going out with your friends on a weekend and making
a movie for one hundred bucks, or or or doing
something else, or maybe winning a local contest or something
(23:42):
like that, and then sort of being able to sort
of parlay that into something else, if you know what
I mean, Stacy, Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
I mean it's like when you're learning how to swim,
you don't dive into the deep end. You kind of
stand on the steps for a little while, and then
you wade into the shallow end and then and as
you see that you're not going to drown, you go
a little bit further and a little bit further. So, yeah,
I think that's definitely true. Sometimes, you know, I see
(24:11):
as an entertainment reporter, I don't really know what kind
of connections these people have, but sometimes you see a
film director who's given his very first project and it's
a blockbuster with say, you know Warner Brothers or Sony.
I'm like, wow, that must be really intimidating, you know.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
You know, Stacey, you and I have the same mentality
with that. I have seen other people who've gotten projects,
maybe not even blockbusters, but it's like their first time
film and they walk down they and they have like
one hundred thousand dollars or five hundred thousand or a
million and yeah, and I sit there and I go,
how did they get that money? Like where did they
(24:49):
get that from?
Speaker 4 (24:50):
You know?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
I once knew a person who, basically his first time out,
he got a bunch of grants and stuff like that,
and I said, you know, you know, how do you
how did did you do that? And he basically said
he had a girlfriend who at the time, her mother
was very big into she did a lot of charity fundraising,
and she knew a ton of people and that's how
(25:12):
he got these grants. And basically they're just they're not
even grants that you like applied to so to speak.
They're grants that you know, if you pitch to him
at a you know, at certain intervals, they'll be like, okay,
you could have this money, you could have that money.
Well that's how we raise some of the money. But
just to go back to where we're talking about, you know, yeah,
some people are out of left field and suddenly they're
(25:32):
directing the next Godzilla film for like two hundred million dollars.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
You know, yeah, yeah. I mean I think for me personally,
just knowing my dairy autonomous freelance or personality, I would
be not as happy working with a huge budget like that,
where so much hinges on the success of the film
(25:56):
as opposed to the joy of making the film and
creating something that you like. I don't know that I
would really you know, I definitely know I wouldn't feel
comfortable having you know, producers breathing down my neck every
day about you know, how much money is being spent
and you know, look at all there's writing on this.
That's a lot of pressure to me for my part filmmaking.
(26:19):
Of course, I want to be able to make enough
money to pay my rent, and so far, so good,
but I don't really aspire to be a huge, you know,
a director making a blockbuster. However, having said that, I
am really proud of Patty Jenkins, who's directed Wonder Woman,
and she's done a great job with a huge blockbuster
(26:41):
like that. I had interviewed her several years ago when
she did Monster, and that was sort of like a
very you know, personal film that she was able to
put her own stamp on, and she's weathered the storms
and look at her now. So I think it's great.
It's really a good time actually to be a female
creator in the film world. And hopefully I'll be able
(27:03):
to glean a little bit of that good fortune myself
as I moved ahead in my career.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
You know, I was just talking about Patty with her
cinematographer from Monster, Stephen Bernstein, and he and I were
talking about Patty and and we were just talking about
you know, Wonder Woman and everything like that. So it's
just again you brought that up. It's just a small again,
I know, I keep repeating with Stacy, but it's a
very small world.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
It's good. I like it, yeah, but but it is.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yeah, it is a good time, you know, for female
directors and you know, female producers too, because even like
somebody like gailhard on The Walking Dead, you know, I
think she kind of sort of I don't know how
many interviews she does I don't know me. She's one
of those people that sort of gets in the background,
but you know, it's it's just, you know, it is
(27:53):
I can see more opportunities coming down the pike. And
it's also great things too, like I have to mention
Carol Dean who runs the Grandson of Hearts Productions. She's phenomenal.
And there's also great people out there like Jennifer Gersani, Lead,
Jessa Plura, Alessandra, all these great people out there working,
you know, without your neck of with Stacy in La Oh.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
Absolutely. I just attended the Etherea Film Festival last weekend
which has been going on for about five years now.
Previous to that it was called gisco or it was
more focused on horror, and now it's more genre, you
know based with different elements of that. And that is
Heidi Honeycutt and Stacy Hammond who run that festival, which
(28:38):
is pretty much you know, focused on the female in
fact that they each film has to either be written, directed,
or produced by a woman. And this past weekend, Roger
Corman came out and presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to
Stephanie Rothman, who was his protege and she actually direct
(29:00):
did the first three New World Pictures, I think, and
this is back in the early seventies. So Roger has
always given people, regardless of gender or race, their big
breaks and early on, you know, before it was quote
unquote trendy. So it's really nice to see a woman
like Stephanie Rothman being recognized today for the work that
(29:23):
she did, which is really pretty pioneering in the early
nineteen seventies. But I mean, you could even go back
on this subject to the early era of talkies and
silent films when women like Mary Pickford were producing and
it was a lot less gender biased than for a
short period of time until real money started coming in
(29:45):
and then it was you know, taken over by males.
But I feel like, you know, we're definitely experiencing a
bit of a renaissance here. So it's a good time
to be a filmmaker period, but even better to be
a female filmmaker right now. So I'm feeling pretty good
about where I am.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Yeah, and you know, it's interesting to see where all
this is going to. I'm always interested to see too Stacy,
Where you know, Netflix is going, where Hulu's going, where
all these avenues are going. I mean, I've heard so
many different things that are rumbling down the pike, and
it's just also interesting right now and how everything's sort
of coming together.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Oh yeah, there are a lot more women working in
television and film. Film is sort of, you know, still
a bit more gender biased, but it's becoming less so
that I in television, I mean, if you just read
the credits, you'll see so many more female names below
the line than you do in film.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Yeah, very true, very true. Yeah, and you know that
that'd be interesting to sort of discuss, you know, why
that why that is? But but I we would be
because I don't have I don't know the answer, but.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yeah, I don't either.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
We're not going to talk about it was good to
say it's a good thing. I don't even have a theory.
But but I did want to talk about your book,
so La a Hollywood memoir. I didn't want to talk
about this, you know, you know, and I want to ask,
you know, sort of you know, what inspired you to
actually write the book. I know you were working as
a movie reporter, you know, you started doing you know
(31:25):
all this film work. You released a book in March
of this year, twenty seventeen. So what was sort of
the impetus to write this book.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
Well, I started writing it last year, just a couple
of weeks before my birthday. It was a milestone birthday,
and so that is really what made me think, you know,
I've I've lived long enough life to be able to
have an interesting story. But I hold on just a
second here, thank you, Sorry about that. That is something
(32:00):
you can edit out.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
I'm going to leave it in stacy. I think it's funny.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
How Yeah, I just got a special delivery. It's my
stack of cash for the next movie I'm directing. Oh nice, Okay.
So yeah, So the impetus to write the book was
last year and my birthday month, and it was a
milestone birthday. So I felt like it was time for
(32:24):
me to tell my story because I had an interesting
enough story with enough perspective to talk about it. But
I'm still young enough and quote unquote with it to
be able to tell the story to you know, in
an interesting manner. So that was part of it. And
then another part of it is that with the you know,
(32:45):
advent of social media, that people know who I am,
but they express a lot of interest in my parents,
my dad and my mom, and I'll post pictures and
I'll get so many great responses, but their stories really
haven't been told on a personal love. So for me,
that was one of the reasons that I wanted to
write too, was to kind of give my mom and
(33:06):
dad's stories and in a candid way, but definitely not
you know, a mommy dearest kind of thing at all.
But my mother when I was growing up, she was
an alcoholic and she went through some really tough times
and my parents divorced when I was very young, So
there are things to talk about in that regard where
it wasn't just you know, a whipped cream and fluffy
(33:30):
clouds childhood. So there's you know, things that I want
to talk about in that regard. And my parents did
read the book after it was published and they both approved,
so that's good. So that's really what the impetus was,
because I feel like I have some pretty interesting stories
to tell in a different perspective than probably most people.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yeah, and that's what goes back to what I was
mentioning too, was you know, just growing up in la
and still living there is an interesting perspective, and I
just want to ask Stacy, what is maybe just one,
just one story from the book, maybe your most favorite
or the most interesting from you from your perspective, just
something from the book. Maybe is there any just one
(34:14):
story you could tell from the book?
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Well, there are so many stories because it covers many
different facets of my life. So I mean, we could
talk about the very irate alcoholic monkey that my mom
brought home one day when I was about seven years old,
and it has my new path, which was kind of fun.
Or we could talk about you know why, Malcolm McDowell
(34:39):
told me I could call him my boyfriend h later
in life, when I was interviewing him just about every
week for the Sci Fi Channel. We had sort of
this fun little relationship and he's a great guy. Or
we could talk about the days of nineteen eighties hair
metal on the sunset stripped. Oh, that was an odious time. So,
(35:00):
I mean, there's really a lot to talk about. So
I couldn't really pick one story, but there's a lot
of little little kernels, and you know, part of my
wanting to do this was to be able to tell
these stories in a humorous way. So a lot of
feedback that I'm getting is really gratifying and that people
are finding, even in the more difficult times in my life,
that there's always a temper of humor to it.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
You know, one story that I saw from the Amazon
homepage for your book was a party at the Playboy Mansion.
And I know this is I just every time we
hear about the Playboy Mansion, the first thing I think of,
and this just goes to show you where my head's at, Stacy,
is Paully Shore. Because there's a story that somebody was
(35:44):
told about Paully Shore where he every year, every year,
he would he be at a Playboy Mansion party and
he would go up and he would just tell everyone
he was thirty years old. Well finally someone said, you know, Paulie,
you've been thirty years old for the past twenty years,
so you know, and it's just and they actually made
liter of it in the TV show Entourage. They actually
(36:05):
brought that joke back, which I actually I thought was
pretty cool. But yeah, no, no, was just I just
always funny. But I mean, a parting at the Playwood
Mansion and it's heyday, I mean, yeah, exactly, that stuff.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
Like that back when it was exciting. Yeah, it was
really neat to be able to go to that part.
I believe I was nineteen years old, eighteen or nineteen
years old at the time, and HEP's girlfriend Carrie Lee,
who I believe she showed him for palimony later on,
but anyway, she was kind of out scouting the clubs
for girls to invite to the parties. And so we went,
(36:39):
and my friend Peg and I she was sort of
my bad influence, which every kid needs to have her
growing up, the bad influence friend. So we went and
it was really interesting to see it back then, especially
since there was still a mistique to it, whereas now
I did return for another party about three years ago
(37:00):
and things had really changed quite a bit. And also
just the public perspective of the Playboy match, and now
that it's been demystified, it's just not as exciting. It's
actually kind of cheesy. So it's kind of neat for
me to have that experience from the perspective of of
decades apart to see, you know, how it was in
(37:20):
the in the eighties to how it is now, And
so I do talk about that in the book. Yes,
And another thing about my book that maybe historians will
find interesting is that I am an architecture bop, so
I do go into all the places that I visited
and then talk a little bit about who built them
and what their history is and what they look like,
(37:41):
so those kind of things, you know, adding those details.
It was really a lot of fun for me when
I was writing the book too, to be able to
do research on the things that I really enjoy and
to be able to tell stories about them from a
different perspective, not just the salacious, you know, Playboy matched
and Grotto perspective.
Speaker 3 (37:59):
So let me ask you, Stacy, it was. Is the
Rainbow Born Grill as legendary as they say?
Speaker 4 (38:06):
Yes it is. There's been so much going on there
throughout the years. Yeah. In fact, I did an interesting
interview with the guys from La Meekly. We actually did
our interview there at the Rainbow so we could talk
about its history and it really has not changed its
staycore in many decades. And I don't know if you know,
(38:29):
but Motorheads front man Lemmy used to hang out there.
In fact, he practically lived there. He had rented an
apartment just within stumbling distance so he could hang out
there all the time, and when he passed away a
couple of years ago, he was such a fixture at
the Rainbow that they had actually commissioned a bronze statue
of him. And so he's still there at the bar.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
You know, I had a friend of mine out there
who went out there and he actually, you know, knew
a few people who used to talk about the rain
of bar and Grill and they called the Bow and
you know, and I know he and I always and
one of the guys of telling stories would always he
was one of those guys that if he would always
tell impellish stories. So I wanted to ask, you know
(39:14):
what to be like. I wanted to ask you straight,
you know, straight from U Stacy about it, just about
if it's actually as legendary as they say.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (39:21):
And I actually got to meet Jimmy Page there, Who's
my my hero growing up. I mean, I love Jimmy
Page and Led Zeppelin. That was my jam when I
was a kid and a teenager. So I actually had
gotten a fake ID out of the back of like
Hit Parada or Cream magazine, so I could go to
the Rainbow when I was underage, and I saw quite
a few really cool rock stars there. But my favorite
(39:43):
sighting was definitely Jimmy Page. And then it sort of
came full circle when as an entertainment reporter I got
to actually interview him for the documentary called It Might
Get Loud.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
We'll be right back after a word from our sponsor,
and now back to the show.
Speaker 4 (40:05):
So it was really fantastic to be able to have
my Jimmy Page moment on two totally different levels, and
one as a fangirl and one as a entertainment reporter.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
And see that. That's why, you know, I'm glad we
got to talk, Stacy, because you have those those sort
of dual perspectives of things, seeing petnam as fans and
then seeing them as an interviewer. I think that's really cool.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
Yeah, yeah, I do too, and I really appreciate it.
So I definitely talk about that in the book and
what it feels like to actually have those experiences. So
hopefully people will appreciate that aspect of it too, and I'll.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Make sure to link the book in the show notes
as well. And Stacy, I just want to ask, uh probable,
I just want to ask, also, you know, what what
what next? What do you have next? In the pipeline,
you know, are you what sort of movies are you
working on next?
Speaker 4 (40:59):
Well, I'm so immersed in the book right now and
Psychotherapy's festival run, but I don't have a lot ironed
out yet. But my next hopeful project is to write
and direct a documentary about the Ventures, because, believe it
or not, in spite of their incredible legacy and long
(41:21):
running career, there's never been a documentary made about them.
So if no one else is going to do it,
why not me?
Speaker 3 (41:29):
Exactly, you see an opportunity, or you see something that
you would buy that's not out in the market, and
you go out and you create it.
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Yep, exactly.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
So Stacey, just in closing, I know we've been talking
for about forty minutes now, is there anything that we
can get a chance to talk about that you maybe
want to talk about now, or anything you sort of
want to say to put a period at the end
of this whole conversation.
Speaker 4 (41:53):
I like to say thank you so much for having
me on the show and to talk about my various
different things. I know it's sometimes difficult to concentrate on
one specific line of questioning with someone who does so
many different things. But you know, I really do appreciate
having a forum like this to be able to talk
(42:13):
to you and to talk to your listeners, and just
looking forward to meeting everyone so they can certainly find
me online and I love to interact with folks who
also enjoy film and music. And thank you.
Speaker 3 (42:29):
And my pleasure, Stacey, and I thank you so much
for coming on. Where can people find you out online?
Speaker 4 (42:35):
Just about anywhere I can give you the rundown you.
So I'm on Twitter as Stacey Wilson. That's st A
c I W I L s O N and the
same on Facebook, and then on Instagram, I'm Stacy Lane,
which is my middle name, so that's st A c
I l A y n E. And my website is
(42:58):
Stacylanewilson dot com. So that's sort of the catch all
for if you forgot all those social media things, you
can go to my website and contact me there. In fact,
I encourage you to do. So.
Speaker 3 (43:09):
We thank you so much for coming on the podcast,
and I wish you the best so much time.
Speaker 4 (43:15):
Okay, cool, thank you.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
I want to thank Dave so much for doing such
a great job on this episode. If you want to
get links to anything, we spoke about in this episode.
Head over to the show notes at Indie film Hustle
dot com Forward slash eighth nine, and if you haven't already,
please head over to Filmmaking podcast dot com, subscribe and
leave a good review for the show. It really helps
us out a lot, guys.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Thank you again so much for listening to guys.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
As always, keep that hustle going, keep that dream alive,
Stay safe out there, and I'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Thanks for listening to the Indie Film Hustle Podcast at
Indie Film Hustle dot com. That's I N D I
E F I L M h U S T l
E dot com.
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