Written by:
Diane Anderson-Minshall
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this Issue of Curve:
Vol. 15#5
Author and filmmaker Andrea Richards has always been into making short films — at least since high school when she and some friends tried to get out of writing a paper on The Canterbury Tales by making a movie version called The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.
“We used a chicken nugget in the starring role as the chicken. It was ridiculous and so much fun that I thought, ‘Why ever get stuck writing a paper again?’ Which is ironic since I spend most of my time writing nowadays.”
Richards is sharing that love with other women and girls with her terrific new how-to zine-like tome, Girl Director: A How-To Guide for the First-Time, Flat-Broke Film and Video Maker (www.tenspeedpress.com). We caught up with the auteur to find out why we should all be toting cameras soon.
Q&A:
I loved Girl Director. What a fun way to introduce novices to film. What was the origination of the project?
I continued to explore [filmmaking] in college, making a few short Super 8 films and watching everything I could at the little independent theater I worked at where I got exposed to some really great female filmmakers by watching Allison Anders and Agnčs Varda movies. By the time I got out of grad school, I thought, “Why shouldn’t making films be like making zines?”
I wanted to empower teenage girls to express themselves in what today is a male-dominated medium. I wanted to do a book that would break down the process of making a film so you didn’t need a million dollars or a lot of extra people to do it. Also, it was important to me to let girls know that female filmmakers are not some anomaly. One of the most incredible things I learned in researching the book was that women were very active in early Hollywood. During the silent era there were lots of women directors, and then when the big bucks and studios moved in, the women got pushed out. It’s important to rediscover these women directors — they are incredible role models. Also, you know what was great about doing this book? I got to interview so many women directors working today, many of whom were my filmmaking role models. That’s another thing I tell girls getting started: if you ever want to meet some idol of yours, make a movie or write a book. Then you have a great excuse to talk to someone whose work you respect. And the women in the book were incredibly supportive of the project and offered all sorts of advice to beginning directors.
What’s the biggest misconception women have about filmmaking?
That you have to be a professional to do it. I’m all for more women working in Hollywood and making a living as a filmmaker, but I also want to open up the medium for amateurs. Poets aren’t the only people who write poetry; why are filmmakers the only people who make films? Nowadays the tools are so accessible and so many people are shooting home movies and all that. Why not take those tools and do something artistic and expressive with it? And then send it out into the world. I was really inspired by women like Sadie Benning, who made those great films as a teenager in her bedroom. To me, movies should be like zines, something you can do right now.
Only 10 percent of directors are women right now. Do you think more girls will be picking up cameras in coming years?
Yes, I’m sure of it. Look at all the great women directors who have come on the scene in the last few years: Karyn Kusama, Kimberly Peirce, Catherine Hardwicke , Sofia Coppola. I don’t think it’s going to be easy — it’s never easy to be an artist or a creative worker in today’s economic climate — but there [may be] more women in film school now, more girls fooling around with iMovie even as we speak than ever before.
an you tell me about your own short films?
My shorts, in terms of subject matter, are all over the place and they’re all shot on Super 8. I love the look of old home movie film — and while the book includes lots of info on digital video, I included Super 8 as well because today’s kids don’t even know what it is and it’s such a great medium. The tools can be picked up so easily today, because most people are just throwing those old cameras away. Usually, I make a film about something I’m writing about. For me, it’s a visual way to explore the subject and opens it up more. I can do something different than what I do on the page, and usually it’s nice because there’s someone else involved in the process. Writing is a lonely, solitary process — filmmaking can be that, or it can be more fun, involving your friends. And I happen to have lots of talented filmmaking friends. — lucky me!
Any chance you’ll turn Girl Director into low-cost, day-long mini-trainings about filmmaking for girls?
I do Girl Director workshops — just one- to two-hour programs at various film festivals or anytime someone asks me to. I’d love to do something more extensive, but honestly finding the time to put it together is tough. There are some great film centers and film organizations that are now doing programs specifically for girls—there’s a list of them in the resource guide in the back of Girl Director. A couple of my faves are the Echo Park Film Center here in Los Angeles, and the Ms. Films Festival in Durham that puts out an incredible zine. I also have been to speak at film camps before, which is incredible. I hope someone sends me to one someday.
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