HollyShorts 2019 – Retreat
A lost young woman obsesses over a life coach who is way more screwed up than she is.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Audrey Ellis Fox
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
We are a generation of seekers and perfectionists. There is a self-help book for every ailment from over-eating to how to manage your dick. We want cures. We want answers. There’s always something wrong with us and there’s always someone who promises to fix it -- especially online.
I’m interested in telling a story about society's obsession with wellness and the measures some people will take to transform their lives. About FOMO gone wrong. About the grass not always being greener on the other side. About you. About me. About anyone who has ever googled the meaning of life in the middle of the night and takes the Quora answer seriously.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch this film if you want to laugh at yourself and everyone you know. The main character Maisy, 25, recently laid off from her sales job and too lazy to get out of her pyjamas, is desperate to find something -- anything -- that points to her purpose, even if it is Yvette, 30, an Australian ex-model posing as a life coach on Instagram with outrageously few followers. There is a part of all of us in Maisy. We have all been in a rut. We have all gotten sucked into our screens. We have all entrusted the wrong person and taken their backward advice. Sometimes, it is for the better. In Retreat, I take this idea to an extreme. Yvette ends up being the opposite of everything Maisy envisioned — and yet, she enables Maisy to finally be free.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
We shot Retreat about a month and a half after the idea was conceived. I tend to write quickly and try not to get stuck in the endless revision cycle. The editing process is always longer. I have made tweaks after every festival it has played at. I listen to the audience's reaction. It is very telling. It is everything.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Not enough! We are just beginning our festival run, so I am really looking forward to hearing the audience's thoughts.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I would love to connect with other filmmakers and collaborate in the future. As a writer, director, and producer, I always have a myriad of projects -- commercial and narrative.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
All of the above!
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What do you want most in life and how are you going to get it?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I have a psychological thriller short film in post and a dark comedy pilot that I am currently pitching around town.
Interview: August 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Retreat
A lost young woman obsesses over a life coach who is way more screwed up than she is.
Length: 11:50
Director: Audrey Ellis Fox
Producer: Audrey Ellis Fox
Writer: Audrey Ellis Fox
About the writer, director and producer:
AUDREY ELLIS FOX is a writer, director, and producer of narrative and commercial content. She has worked with a variety of companies and brands, including Snapchat, Real Madrid, Warner Bros Records, Bose, Atlantic Records, Goop, Wild Breed Equipment, John Elliott, Universal Records, and many more. A Los Angeles native, she received a degree in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University.
Key cast: Chelsea Rendon (VIDA), Kaitlyn Clare, Jakeem Hawkins
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, buyers, film festival directors, journalists, producers
Instagram: @audreyellisfox
Hashtags used: #retreatfilm #transformyourlife
Website: www.audreyellisfox.com
Other: IMDb
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Hollyshorts/LA, Urbanworld/NYC