Up-and-coming director Stan talks about her first short, Sara
In 2005 Stan moved to NYC to make films, and a year later she found herself working on Warner Brother’s I Am Legend. She was the on-set creature co-ordinator for 10 months, and while she was there she learned some of the ins and outs of filmmaking.
Sara is Stan’s first short film. Instead of going the festival route, she’s premiering her film online: on YouTube, on the film’s official site, on Autostraddle — and now Sara is looking for a little Canuck love right here.
QueeriesMag managed to coax Stan (she’s a behind-the-scenes kind of woman) to tell us a bit about this thought-provoking film. We chatted about the challenges of casting Sara, authentic dialogue and why she chose to screen her film online.
QueeriesMag: There aren’t many films where we meet queer sex workers or get to see how HIV affects queer women. Did you set out to write a film about these often overlooked experiences in particular, or did they just come out as part of the story while you wrote it?
Stan: All the different elements you find in the film were just part of the story. So in that sense, the impetus to write Sara wasn’t from a social-awareness motive. At the same time, I do believe that HIV awareness is very important, so I do hope that anyone who watches Sara will reflect on the issues brought up. I strongly advocate that we should get tested, know your status.
I also want to say that Sara isn’t someone who identifies herself by who she has sex with or loves. You see more of her backstory in the longer 28-minute cut. In writing the character Sara, I saw her as someone who just is. She loves whom she loves, she does what she does, and she doesn’t think about what society thinks or care about labels. She had fallen in love with a guy when she was 16, and Lexus is the second person she falls in love with.
Lexus, on the other hand, is someone who identifies as gay.
QM: The scene where Lexus asks for advice from Jae and Marcus was a highlight and featured some really thought-provoking and honest conversation. How did you go about writing that dialogue?
Stan: Marcus and Jae are based on two people I know. A friend of mine, Mike Ralph, who’s a professor at NYU is the source for Marcus. I met his wife only once, briefly, before I wrote the scene, but I had a real sense of them as a couple — in this loving, strong marriage. And so I just took a stab at writing this scene. It really just flowed out from my instinct of Mike and his wife.
Later, when I showed them the scene, they were like, “Yeah, this is how we think.” So that was pretty cool, and I think it helped give a real grounding to the story and a realness to the characters. In fact, as part of the prep for the role, Harvey met Mike, and both Harvey and Jessica sat in on one of Mike’s graduate classes.
QM: How did you cast Sara? How did you get Jessica and Julissa on board?
Stan: Casting Sara took a while. I started writing the story back in March 2009. I reached out to a few actors that I had in mind, and for one reason or another it didn’t work out.
It was July 2009; I was working on another draft of the script when I thought of Jessica because of a blog she was doing. I really had an interest in her mind, in how she processed things, absorbed life and her life experiences. We met end of July for an informal audition. I wasn’t sure if she could do the part because of her inexperience as an actor, but I met with her one more time, and in that meeting at a coffee shop, what I needed to know, she showed.
I kept striking out casting the role of Sara, so I called up a casting director named Lori Malkin who I had worked successfully with before and she set up auditions. The first day we saw 54 actors, and I narrowed it down to five. When reviewing the audition tapes, it just became very apparent that Julissa was it. She had that ingredient, that emotional accessibility that Sara needed to have for this story to work. She is simply a strong actor. So I invited her to call-backs with Jessica and they played so well off each other — it was a done deal.
QM: Are there any plans to turn Sara into a feature-length film?
Stan: Currently no. I do have a lot of back story on the character of Sara, and I do know what direction I’d take the story if it were a feature. A lot of people have commented that they’d like to see a feature film, that Sara was either too short, or that it left them wanting more. If someone were interested in financing and producing a feature-length film of Sara I’d totally make it happen!
QM: What made you decide to distribute Sara online?
Stan: As an independent filmmaker, you have to test the waters, figure out how to get your film out there. I made a film to be watched. I want people to respond, engage, like, dislike, talk about the story — because art is communication. It is a way to communicate with the world. The internet is this great distribution platform; it can reach people all over the world instantly, and it is a very new and evolving stage for films. With Sara I wanted to experiment, to see what comes of this method of distribution and learn from it for my next projects.
QM: What would you say to filmmakers who are interested in featuring their films online?
Stan: Sara is a “test” for me in regards to online distribution, and since I just released the film, it’s too soon to know. But I do know that you have to think about the distribution and marketing of your film before you’ve shot the film.
From the moment you write that script or find a script, think about filmmaking as a long-distance marathon. You need to endure all aspects of the distance you will be covering, including the marketing and distribution of your film. So from the beginning, think about your audience, take stills on set, make a website or blog for your film, shoot extra footage or behind the scenes, get your actors on board to be the face of the film, utilize social media, explore all the options that are out there and so on. It is work, and you have to do it from conception of the film. Otherwise, you’ll have this film, and it’ll just stay on your shelf or your hard drive.
QM: What advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers in general?
Stan: I think the advice I have for making films is also the advice I have for life. I learned an immense amount from this one short film. So my advice is — go. Stop listening to the excuses and start saying yes to yourself, to your vision, to life, to that little idea that you think won’t turn into something. Say yes to giving it, and you, a chance.
Don’t overwhelm yourself with the impossibilities of making a film; take it one step at a time. I think the one other thing I’d say is don’t be afraid to fail. Failure should not hinder you from going after your dreams, from making a film. I personally have learned the most from my failures rather than my successes.
QM: What projects are you working on now/next?
Stan: I am developing the story for my next film — a feature. Due to the complexities of the story, characters and what I want visually, I definitely wasn’t in a place to create such a film back when I first conceived of it. This is the film that I’ve more or less been dreaming of since summer of 2005, so it feels good to finally be in a place to give it my full attention.
I also am developing my production company, Todol Productions. I’m really excited about this year – very, very excited! I feel it’s going to be a powerful year in productivity, creative energy and more. I’ve learned an extraordinary amount from Sara, and thankfully, one of the things I’ve walked away with is that I need to tell stories, make films.
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If you haven’t already, you can watch the online version of Sara here.
You can also read a great email interview with one of Sara‘s lead actresses, Jessica Clark, here.
If you’d like to pop on over to Sara‘s official site, click here.
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