Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?!
Two third grade girls are writing a comic book together about feminist superheroine Sergeant Laser--but as they push to make their deadline, their friendship is tested.
Interview with Writer/Director Giorgi Plys-Garzotto
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
This film was my senior thesis at NYU, the culmination of four years studying film at the Tisch School of the Arts! Because of the resources I was able to secure from Tisch, plus the money I’d been saving for all of college, it was the biggest artistic undertaking I had ever been able to do, so I wanted the film to be a bold, stylized expression of who I am as a writer and director that I could then use to start off my professional career. I wrote the first draft of Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?! in a sophomore year screenwriting class, and I ended up just thinking about these two little girls and their comic book long after that class was over, like their story was stuck in my head. Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?! basically just followed me around for the next year and a half; it wouldn’t leave me alone! All the themes I wanted to explore and the stylistic progress I made in my work kept washing up on the beach of this story, until I started thinking about what my thesis should be, and there it was!
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Without being immodest, I can say that it’s a feminist story, hopefully a funny one, with female friendship as the central theme. It also touches on the often-toxic dynamics of the art world and cautions against heterosexual relationships, particularly how much they often demand from women, usually at the cost of their own personal passions.
Stylistically speaking, I worked really hard with my art team to make the production design carry the satirical themes of the story into every detail of the movie, so that the visuals give you all kinds of small jokes in every scene—Amanda and Catherine have superhero lunchboxes we made that feature Georgia O’Keeffe and Virginia Woolf, and we made a full 10 page comic book showing the adventures of their superheroine character Sergeant Laser. She fights against space capitalism and the Evil Boy Alliance, which includes a character based on Amanda’s crush. Oh, and I almost forgot, there’s an original score that uses stuff like train-whistles and scifi blaster sound effects—it’s the perfect musical counterpart to the visuals!
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
My own (often frustrating) experiences as an artist in an art world run by men was a huge inspiration for what the two main characters go through trying to get their book published. Their “publisher” Andy is another kid in their class who wears a little suit and who has to approve all their creative decisions. When you make feminist art, there are so many gatekeepers like Andy, and so many rules for how you have to behave to be permissible to the mainstream; much of this film vents a lot of bile that was rising up in my throat in response to how I, and my female friends, get treated sometimes. Often when you make work about politics there’s an explicit choice between doing everything you want to do, and doing work that has a chance of making it with a wider audience, and I think it’s something anyone who does political art can relate to.
The character of Sean also embodied some frustrations of mine about dating. He woos Amanda by stealing her pudding at lunch, which is a common behavior among kids that people often laugh at because hey, little boys don’t know how to express their emotions, haha! But as Amanda learns, if a guy doesn’t respect your pudding, he doesn’t respect you. Am I right, ladies?
As far as universal themes go, there’s the themes I touched on earlier like feminism and female friendship, but another bit I hope comes across is how non-satirical the film actually is—children really do understand and learn these gender roles and other toxic elements of the adult world, and they’re reproducing what they see from their parents and TV at least by 3rd grade, if not earlier. The title Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?! is a reference to a common pearl-clutching political refrain, but also a sincere wish for future generations not to have to learn patriarchal violence before they’ve even learned algebra.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Since I wrote the first draft two years before I shot the film, a lot changed! The ending changed many times; I went back and forth between whether or not I should have Amanda break up with Sean (I won’t tell you which I chose!), and for a while Andy was kind of a floating character who didn’t have a big role in the main plot—he was just a comedic cameo character. I enlarged his role, and that let me put in a lot more about the art world specifically!
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I’ve showed it to friends and family, who have loved it, and the film has also been in the Official Selection for 7 film festivals to date, where it has won 2 Best Director awards, and one for Best Student Film! I’m really proud and gratified!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The response to the final product has been pretty positive, but when I was developing the concept I got a lot of great notes from friends and teachers! My production class senior year was a two-semester course where we all workshopped each others’ projects, and the feedback and suggestions from that class helped me polish the script and concept a lot!
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Now that I’ve made this film I want as many people as possible to see it! Hopefully the exposure of being featured on We Are Moving Stories will help me broaden the film’s reach.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
A distributor would be great, and I’d be beyond excited if any journalists out there are interested in reporting on the film too!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I guess I’d like it to get as wide and positive a reception as possible! Specifically though, I want women artists who see this film to feel solidarity with Amanda and Catherine, and take away confidence that they can use to make their own Sergeant Lasers come to life!
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How about “Are men worth it?” Haha!
Would you like to add anything else?
I love this film, I loved making it, and I hope people out there love watching it!
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Our AD Deirdre is in like three different queer punk bands right now. She lives at the Silent Barn with her partner, who is working on a queer vegan web series. Julio, our script supervisor, is in post-production for his own NYU thesis Mushrooms, which is this awesome surrealist psychological thriller about aliens, pies, and a mysterious disease. Our director of photography Brooks worked on the Get-Down this fall, and our production designer Georgia directed a short over the summer that she was kickstarting around the time we were filming! Some of the crew is also still at school at NYU, making their junior and senior thesis films, which I get to see developing on Facebook.
Interview: April 2017
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Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?!
Two third grade girls are writing a comic book together about feminist superheroine Sergeant Laser--but as they push to make their deadline, their friendship is tested.
Length: 14:03
Director: Giorgi Plys-Garzotto
Producer: Peter Kang
Writer: Giorgi Plys-Garzotto
About the director: Giorgi Plys-Garzotto studied film at the Tisch School of the Arts and now works as a freelance editor and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. A piece of her work is a daydream with ambition. So is she.
Key cast: Juliette Grossman-Smisek, Jamie Neiberg, Aidan LaPoche, Paxton Singleton
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Distributors and journalists.
Social media handles:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wont-Somebody-Think-of-the-Children-An-NYU-Thesis-Film-174036343095127
Funders: Self funded!
Made in association with: NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts
Where can I see it in the next month? No screenings this month, but follow our Facebook to stay updated on our film festival run!