A woman in crisis searches for just the right shade at her hometown paint store. Her reacquaintance with two women from her past does not help.

Interview with Writer/Producer Anna Carini

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Thanks! For several reasons: first of all, I have a feature I'm trying to get funding for so I wanted to make a short as a pitch film for producers/potential investors in my feature. I also wanted to create work with people I love collaborating with. The other actresses in the film, Sue and Calli, who are also both producers on it, are two people I've been working with for years. We have a long history of creating theater together in Chicago.

It's important to us to tell stories where women are the main characters, are the heroes and villains of their own stories. So even though the overall concept of the film is based on my feature we came together and brainstormed story ideas, how to make it a bit different. We decided on a woman having an existential crisis in an inappropriate place was a good starting point. I then wrote a draft and we were off.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

That's a great question. You should watch this film because it's a poignant story from the female perspective. It's also very different from what is generally out there to consume. It's important women have representation in media. To be able to empathize with someone, really be able to put yourself in their shoes, you need to understand how they see the world and how the world sees them. Women are often misrepresented in media, in my opinion. Or maybe I should say underrepresented. So often we are relegated to "wife", "prostitute" or some other generic, two-dimensional trope where we never see a fully formed woman materialize.

Changing perspectives, peoples' attitudes toward groups of people starts with representation which can lead to understanding. This film has three women as our stars who are each fully flushed out characters, women who are flawed, but relatable, women who are just trying to be who they are in a society that doesn't often value that, women living their truths. Also, there's a pretty shocking ending to this film that I find fun.

Bliss Blue

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

I heard a great quote once: "the things we think are the most personal are the things that are usually the most universal". As we were leaving the film my aunt, who came to attend the premiere, told me a story about something that happened to a friend of hers that was very very similar to what happens in our film. The more specific a writer can be, the more personal we allow ourselves to delve in our writing, the more what we create will resonate with audiences. Hemingway said, "write hard and clear about what hurts most" and that is what I try to do. I'm a little obsessed with death and how it affects the living. I'm sure this is partly (if not mostly) due to having a family member pass away at a young age and watching the continuously evolving effect that has had on the family dynamic.

The main woman in our film is in crisis. It's pretty clear from the opening moment something is up with her. And as the audience watches her go through a seemingly mundane chore it becomes more and more apparent something is definitely wrong. I think most, if not all, of us can relate to having to do something we really don't want to do while trying to keep a straight face doing it, not really letting the world know what's going on with us. To add to her misery she runs into two old high school friends who are the last people she wants to see today-this moment in her life, and now she must navigate them as well.

We live in a society that tells us we're not allowed to have strong emotional feelings in public, we must keep it to ourselves, figure it out on our own. I think people will relate to the feeling of being in a public place, and wanting to scream at the top of their lungs because they've just had enough of everything but we don't. We stick to societal norms, keep it in, and that ends up taking an emotional toll in its own way.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?

I think I ended up writing about 7 drafts of the script. Each one I took to Sue and Calli for notes before we finally decided on the production script. We also made changes while shooting. The director, Elle would feel a line or two wasn't necessary, we'd discuss (quickly) then make a decision whether to keep it or not. Most often losing it tightened up the story so the line would get dropped.

"There's a saying, "you have the film you write, the film you shoot, and the film you end up with". Bliss Blue is the first film I produced and the learning curve has been huge. I was quite surprised in post when we realized we could tell this story several different ways. We also had a couple alternate endings. I'm very happy with what we decided on.

Bliss Blue

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The feedback has been tremendous. People have really loved and responded to our little film. After its premiere at Sidewalk Film Festival we continuously ran into people throughout the rest of the festival who were like, "you made that film. It's great. One of my favorites I've seen."

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

How beloved it turned out to be at this festival has been a bit surprising though I guess it shouldn't be as I love what we created too. It definitely resonated with people which just helps validate my point of view as a filmmaker.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

I want to promote women filmmakers making films by and about women. Not only was our cast mostly female, our crew was too. It's important to us to see more women getting work on all aspects of a film set. It's important to us to change the conversation about women in film, for our stories to be recognized as universal, human stories not just "women's stories".
The feature Bliss Blue is based on was first an award-winning, critically acclaimed play. It resonated with audiences, just as Bliss Blue did, and I want that bigger, larger story to reach a wider audience. So I adapted the play to a screenplay and after seeing the response to Bliss Blue I'm itching to get the feature funded and made.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

I'd say right now I'm looking for producers to come on board to help me get financing for the feature to be made. Eventually I'll be in the market for sales agents, buyers, and distributors so I can get it widely distributed. Of course, the more festivals Bliss Blue gets into, and therefore the more people who see it, the more we can amplify our message as well. Press is always a good thing too!

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I hope people see the humor. I wrote it to be darkly comedic but it may be a little more dark than humorous. We got some laughs at the premiere which was nice. And I hope it helps further appreciation for films made from the female gaze. The stories I write are character driven. I'd rather see human connection than just about anything else in a film so I hope folks also come away with compassion for the lead character and what she goes through, that the film reminds us everyone is in crisis in some way or another and we have no idea what affect our interactions can have on each other.

Bliss Blue

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Why has the lead woman come back to town? There's a shocking ending and after viewing the film, I would ask an audience if they think her return to her hometown is a result of the outcome or the cause?

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Sue has some writing projects she's working on, Calliope just had a baby so she's in the throws of new motherhood while also booking consistent voiceover gigs, and the director, Elle, is on the festival circuit with some other projects she's involved in. I'm working on funding my feature, finishing writing a pilot I've been working on, and I recently wrapped shooting a recurring role on a new Amazon show called Good Girls Revolt that comes out this fall.

Interview: September 2016

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We are moving stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. 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

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Bliss Blue

A woman in crisis searches for just the right shade at her hometown paint store. Her reacquaintance with two women from her past does not help.

Length: 10 minutes

Director: Elle Schneider

Producer: Anna Carini, Calliope Porter, Sue Redman

Writer: Anna Carini

About the writer, director and producer:
producers: Anna Carini, Calliope Porter and Sue Redman have all produced theater for years and now produce films. We started a theater company together in Chicago called SiNNERMAN Ensemble where Anna was the Artistic Director, Calliope the Executive Director, and Sue the Literary Manager as well as being actors in each of our shows.

director: Elle Schneider is the co-creator of the Digital Bolex camera and works in film as a director and as a director of photography.

writer: Anna Carini is an actor turned writer, director, and producer who lives in Los Angeles.

Key cast: Anna Carini, Calliope Porter, Sue Redman, Tony Sancho

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): producers and journalists

Where can I watch it in the next month?

At this point we don't have distribution. After a successful film festival run we will most likely release it on line.