Sundance 2021: Sara Hirner and Rosemary Vasquez-Brown
Co-directors Sara Hirner and Rosemary Vasquez-Brown tell us about making GNT, their animated short film about a woman on a mission to conquer social media. They chat to us about collaboration, female friendship, and embracing the vulgar.
What inspired you to make this film?
GNT was inspired by real conversations between young women, and the lengths we will go to in order to validate our most vulgar curiosities and insecurities. We started making comics centred around these three characters, Glenn, Nikki and Tammy. Their interpersonal dynamic acted as a voice for so many humiliating, challenging and gross experiences we were having, or talking about. We were so inspired by the characters, and wanted to see more of them, so we decided to make GNT the short film as a proof of concept, to tease out the tone and style of what could be a larger GNT universe.
Did anything unexpected happen during the production?
There were so many twists and turns. We don’t come from a sound background and were not well versed in the technical side of recording. It took us making a lot of errors before we made the decision to bring a professional sound designer (Jules Wucherer at Uncanny Valley) onto the film. Having said that, a lot of these accidents ended up being our shining stars. After recording all our sound with an air con whirring in the background, our original voiceover artist couldn’t make the re-record. We ended up bumping into Issy (Isabelle Coury) at university the day before our re-record and, upon loving her vibe (and eavesdropping on her conversations), accosted her in the university labs. She agreed to be Glenn and completely transformed the character - we can’t imagine Glenn any other way now! Our voice actors ended up being so impressive with the delivery that a lot of their improvisation and flare made it into the final sound edit, instead of our written lines. It adds to the conversational style of the film. Sometimes you just need to give people the space to play and blossom their own creativity. The twists and turns often become real gifts, or at least that was the case for GNT.
Getting your film into Sundance is exciting! Do you have a favourite Sundance film?
Rosemary: I absolutely fell in love with Marielle Heller’s 2015 film Diary of a Teenage Girl. Most films about teenage girls that I had seen before this often portrayed them as “pretty and innocent”. Heller’s portrayal was true and insightful, capturing all the gross truths of what it is to be a girl. That and I had never seen such a seamless collaboration between live action and animation – it was so stunning and inspiring.
Sara: Mine has got to be the short film Black Holes by Meat Dept. I don’t think I’ve seen an animation that’s made me laugh so hard in a long time. It’s so original, from the writing to the style.
What was your first ever short film?
This one! No wonder there were so many unexpected pivots. GNT was one massive learning experience for the both of us. Working out how we flow together, how to resolve creative problems and telling a story that’s actually legible to an audience was all new to us.
The pandemic has affected the industry in many ways, how have you kept motivated during the past year?
Rosemary: It’s certainly been hard but I recommend working creatively with other people when lacking motivation. It’s the best driver when you’re feeling pretty deflated. Sara and I continuously inspire each other and admire one another's work, in addition to that we found our motivation hits us at opposite times – whenever I'm extremely motivated and productive Sara isn’t and vice versa. It’s the ideal situation for a working partnership and has been a miracle dynamic during the pandemic.
Sara: Motivation is a tricky one for me. Sometimes I think the important thing is not to worry about motivation. It’s so sparse, especially during a pandemic. Usually, I think the trick is moving through the creative process, regardless of mood. Sometimes that’s not possible, sometimes I’m bursting with creative energy and need to capitalise on those days. Dogs, snacks and zoom trivia have certainly helped the past year.
What are your thoughts on the transition to virtual film festivals?
It’s been odd. This is our first film, so while we’ve been part of many traditional festival audiences, our only experience of being on the filmmaker side has been virtual. Everywhere has found ways to make it fun, especially Sundance. Obviously, we would have loved to experience the festival in person and we can only hope that we will be able to one day. Sundance has done a really good job of connecting filmmakers, and we would love anyone to reach out to us virtually! Thinking of being in a cinema, feeling everyone’s reactions in real time, versus the one-on-one nature of watching at home on your laptop is so strange. GNT is kind of made for being curled in bed, with two-day-old pizza and your laptop perched at your titties anyway, though.
Who has inspired you during your filmmaking journey?
We are inspired by so many of our friends in Sydney – the creativity here is super diverse. We have an amazing animation industry, full of really original work. The comics scene here in Sydney is also really inspiring and diverse. We take a lot of inspiration from the folks over at Read To Me Comics Workshop, run by Fionne McCabe and Gabe Clarke. We’re always inspired by Bailey Sharp’s comics and writing. We love Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s work – by the time you’re reading this, our Fleabag shrine might just be completed. We love Michaela Coel’s work, and the way she’s managed to create so diversely. We’re big fans of South Park as well - I think all of this bleeds into our work and the tone of the short film. When it comes down to it, I think we’re most inspired by each other and the conversations we have with our female friends. There’s nothing like female friendship, especially ones who over-share like ours.
More importantly, who has supported you in your career?
Our friends and family, of course. They have been so giving in terms of time, space and feedback. We studied at the University of Technology Sydney, and literally wouldn’t have made this film without them. We wouldn’t even have crossed paths. We met at uni, we made this film as part of our Honours Year, and we are still to this day supported by our teachers and tutors there. Whenever we have a question or a challenge we still hit them up for advice. They were so generous with their time and criticism. It’s very difficult to ever find support like that again.
What do you hope audiences will take away from your film?
We hope it makes you giggle, or at the very least question your choices on social media. We hope you can relate to the characters on some level, in all their hypocrisy and vulgarity. If it does any of that for you, please reach out.
Tell us three goals you want to achieve in the next five years!
Obviously, in the next five years, we would have made so much money off of short comedy films that we can solve the climate crisis and bring peace on earth at large. Just kidding. We would love to develop the GNT universe more, and have a space for the characters in a longer form. We would like to create more comics together and broaden our creative horizons. We don’t necessarily want to stick to one thing, so hopefully we’re still creating fun things together, in whatever forms those projects may take – we hope zombies make okay audience members.
Lastly, what are two pieces of advice you would give to young filmmakers starting out?
Rosemary: Maybe obvious advice, but take time to focus on your story and your characters before you start anything else. Take from real life when creating characters, because real people are always the most interesting ones. A solid story and interesting characters make for the best films and makes physically creating the film so much more enjoyable.
Sara: If you’re starting out, remember criticism might hurt. Assess feedback and adjust to it. There were so many times while making the film that we received feedback we didn’t want to hear, and it was painful. Considering the audience, and the feedback they give you, allows for a much more inclusive and clear story. Clarity was definitely less intuitive than I thought it would be! It’s a privilege for people to be engaged enough in your work that they want to give you criticism, so show it to as many people (preferably with more experience than you) as you can in the beginning stages.
