Filmmaker Q&A: Boob Sweat

Filmmaker Q&A: Boob Sweat

Thanks for sharing your short film with the Picture Show! Tell us a little bit about yourself as filmmakers (and as people).

We all just graduated from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in May and are facing the exciting, existential crisis-ridden independence that comes with it.  All of us love comedy and stories about awkward, weird ladies we don’t usually get to see on screen.

Charlotte: I come from a background in theater and freelance in directing, assistant directing, acting, and dog walking. I just moved to Silver Lake and am excited to build relationships with filmmakers here (and hope to get a third part-time job at Sqirl).

Kirsten: I have always loved stories, writing, making things up to make life more interesting. I also spent a few years doing field research as a painfully awkward child, adolescent, and teenager. I also recently moved to Silver Lake and am already finding it to be a place full of inspiration and kooky characters.

Where did this idea come from? How did the film come together?

Boob Sweat was made as a senior thesis project, one of four representing our graduating class.

Kirsten: Our friend, Ariana Coyle, came to me with the rough draft of this story that’s based on something her mother experienced when she was a tween back in the ‘70s. Despite taking place over 20 years before we were born, we both really related to this story and wanted to tell it right. We were able to get Charlotte as our director, and after that the rest of the crew fell into place pretty easily. We found that people wanted to work on this film because the pubescent discomfort and uncertainty that this story is rooted in is quite a universal experience. Obviously, this exact series of events doesn’t happen to everyone, but we all have memories of feeling out-of-place in our own bodies, unsure of how to interact with other people, and so on.

Was there anything uniquely “LA” about this film? Either on screen or behind the scenes?

Nearly all the members of the crew went to USC (or still do) and every shot and moment in the editing labs took place in LA.

We couldn’t have filmed this project in any other location in the world. This was shot during the winter, but the film takes place in the summer. LA is really one of the only places where you can pull that kind of thing off.

What are you up to now?

We are so excited to screen Boob Sweat at the Silver Lake Picture Show!! We hope to turn Boob Sweat into an episodic series and are developing it together now.

How can we keep up with your projects?

Charlotte: I’m looking forward to making more comedic shorts and continue to update/completely redesign my website on Squarespace:  www.charlotteguerry.com

Kirsten: I hope to continue writing and getting things made, as well as performing stand-up around the city whenever I can. You can keep up with me via my Twitter: @groovyweenie