"Woman's Prison" Online Q & A Part II

May 12, 2010
These were questions sent to me from a Mississippian and I thought I would answer them via Video:

When young Julie Ann's mother was driving around in the motel parking lot, a woman asked young Julie Ann if she could wait until her mother got there. I think she said "Could I wait here with you.?.."..or something. Who was that woman?

*What killed Julie's cousin?

*Why was Julie abandoned in vehicle at party?

*Leading up to the gunshot of Julie Ann's boyfriend, was it accidental? Since it didn't kill him, what was she charged with? ( I NEED TO SEE FILM AGAIN!)

*And (being a single old guy), what medical condition caused the boyfriend to get upset. That was a pretty awful scene, to me. Was she suffering from her miscarriage?

*I read some of your quotes on IMDB. Catholicism seems to get the treatment in your writing, yet, in the film, Evangelicals are the nasty bunch. Was this by design? I'm from a mostly Protestant area of the world (Mississippi), so, I felt more connected to this film. Had it explored the abuse in the Catholic church, I don't think it would have had the same impact.

*And...here's a stretch.....has anyone offered that the film could have been a dream of young Julie Ann's that she experienced when sitting in the electric chair while out with her mom visiting the prison? When awakened, she runs into secure arms of mother.?
Hi Katie. As a followup to viewing your film at the Crossroads Film Fest, I have a few questions about the characters.

*When young Julie Ann's mother was driving around in the motel parking lot, a woman asked young Julie Ann if she could wait until her mother got there. I think she said "Could I wait here with you.?.."..or something. Who was that woman?

*What killed Julie's cousin?

*Why was Julie abandoned in vehicle at party?

*Leading up to the gunshot of Julie Ann's boyfriend, was it accidental? Since it didn't kill him, what was she charged with? ( I NEED TO SEE FILM AGAIN!)

*And (being a single old guy), what medical condition caused the boyfriend to get upset. That was a pretty awful scene, to me. Was she suffering from her miscarriage?

*I read some of your quotes on IMDB. Catholicism seems to get the treatment in your writing, yet, in the film, Evangelicals are the nasty bunch. Was this by design? I'm from a mostly Protestant area of the world (Mississippi), so, I felt more connected to this film. Had it explored the abuse in the Catholic church, I don't think it would have had the same impact.

*And...here's a stretch.....has anyone offered that the film could have been a dream of young Julie Ann's that she experienced when sitting in the electric chair while out with her mom visiting the prison? When awakened, she runs into secure arms of mother.?

 
 

"Woman's Prison" Online Q & A Part 1

May 12, 2010
Because I missed the Q & A at Crossroads Film Festival, audience members emailed me questions. I made two videos answering a few of their questions. These questions were from Todd Baxter: 1) How did you cast the film? 2) What is happening to Julie Ann's body that results in the shooting?

 

Continue reading...
 

13 Things No One Told Me Would Happen After I Made My First Feature Film

April 19, 2010


A list of things that the aftermath of "Woman's Prison" has taught me.

---- that I would have an emotional and physical breakdown once the project was over.
When you are shooting a movie, you are no longer a civilian. All human desires and urges cease to exist. You are a robot in production mode. The world outside does not exist unless it becomes a conflict. And once production and post production was over, my body collapsed. My emotions were strained. There is an aftermath, you have achie...


Continue reading...
 

The Necessary Ruthless Heart

April 5, 2010

Ruthless Yet With A Heart

What I have learned, is that you can't be desperate. Desperation never yields good results. It is unfair and bizarre how life works, yet one can see from extreme examples in the world that those who are the most need rarely never get it and those with the least need usually are the ones who get things for free.

And so being in a room with other filmmakers, people who may call themselves my peers, I felt suffocated by their aggressive desperation. They ate up the...
Continue reading...
 

3rd Wave Feminism & Woman's Prison

April 5, 2010


“Feminist” is a term that I have struggled with my whole life. When people have called me this, I feel very insulted, stripped of my own independence and humanity. Stripped of the personal struggle created by being unable to relate to both the mainstream ideals of womanhood and the third wave feminist movement’s demands that I reject feminine qualities altogether.

Many third wave feminists have rejected “Woman’s Prison”, and me as well. They write me letters thanking me for...
Continue reading...
 

An Introduction to the Opposites

June 14, 2009
Although I am not a devout practicer of yoga, I will compare film making to the process. You must hold your self in a very uncomfortable position, and breathe. Most of this pain, that you will experience making a film is emotional, soon leading to physical. However, it is the realities that you discover which will cause you most the emotional distress.

Film making is the play on opposites. And I find it hilarious.

It takes a million dollars to make a film about poverty. When I was taking "Woman...

Continue reading...
 

Pain is Temporary, Film is Forever

June 11, 2009
I am in awe of what we created. I want to live now, and repair so that I can continue onward in this process. I did not know, but waiting on the other side was the life that Julie Ann and Susan both deserved. A life without the haunting of violence or poverty.
 
At the end of the film, Julie Ann's only freedom is her death, and this film was how I freed myself. And now, I have exchanged despair for the truth of myself to exist. For the first time, I am surrounded by the positive things that Ind...
Continue reading...
 

The Emotional Toll of "Woman's Prison"

June 11, 2009

Before I set off to make "Woman's Prison" I was completely ready, there was no doubt in my mind that making this film, in the summer of 2008, was exactly what I had to do. And even during production, I attacked each day with a bolt of electricity surging through me. However, that all took a turn once I finished the film.

Now, I do not know why I made the film. After a visit to the heart specialist ordered by my doctor, I question if it was worth it. As I laid there, listening my heart beat bac...


Continue reading...
 

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

February 19, 2009


Both were the same, only one had more freedom to move around in the cage. And just that little ounce of more, led to her undoing.

It was not that he did not love her, he loved her in the unusual way that older boys tend to fall smitten with much younger females. It must be clarified, since this type of love is not general, it is romantic and special and somehow completely separated from the sexual lust that traps humanity. There is a magic in it, the way there is in the lyrics of Sweet Child o...

Continue reading...
 

Recent Posts