Sundance 2020: Emily Wilson
Emily Wilson is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and an alumna of the SUNY Purchase Film Conservatory. She's edited television series for Viceland, including Dark Side of the Ring, Outsider, and Balls Deep. In 2012 Emily edited Reincarnated, a feature documentary that premiered at TIFF, and then post-coordinated Fishing Without Nets, a narrative that won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. She co-created the comedy pilot I Adore Dolores, a selection of the IFP Screen Forward Labs and Seriesfest, 2019. Here she talks to us about how she decided to finance her film rather than buying a house, some of the female directors she looks up to and how laughing can be the best stress relief during production.
How did you find your way into film making?
It's something I've always wanted to do. When I was around ten years old or so, I began to direct "movies" using the neighborhood kids as actors and shooting with my father's VHS camera. When it came time to go to college, I attended the SUNY Purchase Film Conservatory, which was incredibly hands on in their approach to teaching the craft. Then, after a year or two of floundering in Philadelphia and Long Island, I moved to NYC and landed an assistant editing job at Vice media. That was the official start of my career in video and film.
Tell us about your film?
It's a short dark comedy with some 90s thriller elements, called Danny's Girl. We follow Danny and Cleo, who meet for the first time after a lengthy, intimate online courtship. But of course something goes terribly, terribly wrong and the film escalates into sort of a waking nightmare, punctuated by dramatic irony.
How did you take the news of being accepted into the festival?
Well, I cried. I looked in the mirror, and I cried. It's been a lifelong dream of mine to get accepted into Sundance, but one that seemed somewhat unattainable. So receiving the news rocked me in a good way, and I'm incredibly grateful.
Funding in this industry can always be a challenge, how did you achieve yours?
I wanted to make this film so badly, so I just went ahead and self-financed it. Everyone tells you not to, but I did. With the money I made as a video editor, I developed a modest savings account with the intention of maybe putting a down payment on a house one day. But instead I made this film.
What was the most challenging aspect of making your film and how did you overcome this?
I think most filmmakers can relate to this, but really it's just the day-to-day uncertainty and anxieties of making sure nothing goes terribly wrong along the way. Whether it be booking the locations, casting the right actors, choosing effective wardrobe, hoping no one quits or falls ill. And the self-doubt that comes with making high-stake decisions on a daily basis. To overcome that, it's really important to have awesome collaborators with similar sensibilities and to develop a community of support. And whenever there was a particularly challenging moment, I tried to shift my perspective away from self-seriousness. I find that laughing at myself can be incredibly helpful.
If you could have gone into any other role in the industry, which would you be interested in?
I think I'd be down with the costume department. Clothing choices say so much about a person or a character. What an individual decides to put on their body to show others offers a fair amount of insight into their internal world. Do they rebel? Do they try to fit in, or go unnoticed? Yeah, costume department would be fun.
The percentage of female directors at Sundance has increased again this year, a great move for the industry, which female filmmakers do you look up to?
I'm endlessly impressed by the work of Kelly Reichardt. Her ability to unpack human emotion in the subtlest of ways is a true gift. I don't know how she does it, but it's enchanting. And Penelope Spheeris is just so cool and has an incredibly playful sense of humor, not to mention great hair.
What’s the next project for you?
I wrote a feature screenplay I'd like to get made called "Nasty Little Lisa." It's an outrageous dark comedy about a delinquent young woman who's been wronged and seeks retaliation. The film also has elements of a road film, which is a lot of fun.
And finally, what film are you most looking forward to seeing in 2020?
I'm very excited to see I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Charlie Kaufman. I absolutely loved his last film, Anomalisa, and this new one looks like it has that interpersonal discomfort and terror I love so much.
