SB: Well, I think that part of it comes from growing up and part comes from finding different things along the way that inspire me. I was 18 when I wrote Pep Squad, and I turn 35 next week. So I see the world totally differently today than I did back then. For one thing, I'm very thrilled to be working with professional actors now. They are a joy. They are prepared, act like adults, and we all get along really well. Filming Stuck! was a breeze because of that. My other films usually had some melodrama and immature antics going on off-set because a lot of the people I was working with were so much younger and inexperienced.
Things that drive me artistically vary, but mostly it's travel and learning new things about nature, human beings and culture. All of my movies have some underlying traits that mirror each other, but I find myself growing more interested in experimenting with different themes. I'm planning a proper western, and a southern gothic, and a musical, a sci-fi movie, a thriller... I really want to be a mad scientist and try out movies that challenge me — that I'm not used to watching or making.
FH: Kansas is a very unique base for an independent filmmaker. What are the resources or challenges for you basing in Kansas?
SB: Kansas is great because I prefer wide-open spaces with not a lot of people, or fast-moving automobiles. It's peaceful and I can really take the time needed to create and also live. Living here it's possible to live really well. Living in a major city on the coasts wouldn't be the same. It would cost more to get less of life. There are no burdens or challenges about living in Kansas except one: people in the movie business can be very arrogant and turn their noses up at anyone like me who doesn't go there and live the same way they do. I had a friend the other day, a filmmaker in Indiana, who was yelled at by a "professional" in the business — my friend was totally made fun of because he wouldn't move to LA to make movies there.
FH: Would you consider Watch Out to be your most
explicitly queer film? What was your audience for the film and how was
the response?
SB: With Watch Out, I wanted to make a film that was in-your-face. I'd gotten so tired of all the stupid people out there that I wanted to give them something that would slap them. And it did. The response has been great - 50% love it beyond belief and 50% can't even look at it. I like to have that kind of impact on people. I'm okay with the release thus far but I have no idea if the distribution company is making any money on it. We'll have to see if a check comes in later this year.
FH: How did Stuck! begin? Why did you pick the women-behind-bars genre? How did you get the iconic Karen Black and Jane Wiedlin to be in the film?SB: Stuck! originally came to me when I met screen writer Frankie Krainz. We were having dinner and I mentioned having just seen I Want to Live! with Susan Hayward. It was a great classic women in prison film and I mentioned I'd love to make one of those some time. He said, "Oh, let me write it for you!" and I said, "Okay!" Then a few weeks later he called me up and said, "I'm done!" And I said, "With what?" having no idea what he was talking about. And he said, "With the women in prison script!" And, I said, "OHHH, right! Of course!" And when he sent me the script, I was over the moon in love with it.
I'd worked with Karen Black, Susan Traylor and Jane Wiedlin, and Pleasant Gehman before and I knew they would be perfect in it. So I sent them the script and they fell in love with it too. And we just went forward from there.
Working with those
ladies is incredible. It's a lot like summer camp and really fun and light
hearted. It's never heavy and tiring. I can't wait to work with them
again!
SB: I do agree that Stuck! is my
broadest, most accessible movie yet. I've been working with a distribution
agent who will be presenting the film in its first film market at Berlinale
next month. Hopefully [sales] will be out soon thereafter.
FH: Anything in development you can talk about?
SB: Frankie Krainz and I are working away on a great script about a group of tawdry southern women who have a recipe club. And, I've got a couple of other projects in development as well. I'm looking forward to getting back on the set in 2010!
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