HollyShorts 2018 - Zula the Infinite
A small town teenager who steals mail from her father’s post office, discovers a letter from a troublesome passer through.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Jillian Dudley
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Valentina and I wanted to capture young womanhood in the 90s through a very curious dreamer who is obsessed with stealing mail from her father’s post office. We love coming-of-age stories and we love deserts, so it all kind of needed to happen.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Because it’s fun and unique and we went through hell and back to make it for you.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Val and I both talked a lot about our love of experimenting with identity and how other women and popular culture have influenced our identity. We’ve dyed our hair every color of the rainbow, our wardrobes range from goth queen to pixie dream girl, and we’ve traveled outside the confines of our conservative families. We are the rebels, the wild ones, unsettled with being boxed into one persona. At the core of our short is a girl who wants to live by her own rules. At the core of our beings we are women who want to live by our own rules. This, however, doesn’t come with a roadmap, just as Zula’s doesn’t.
You make mistakes and run away from yourself before finding glimpses of truth. This short begins to explore how as women we search for freedom and sometimes inadvertently trap ourselves. The way out is through connection with our authenticity and sharing that with the world – or maybe even just one person.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
It changed drastically from the script in the edit. We actually experienced a tragedy in production and never completed shooting the film due to an theft in Palmdale, CA that resulted in all the sound for the film being stolen. NBC Universal heard about the theft from a newspaper article. That article landed on the doorstep of Jeff Gomillion, ADR Supervisor, and the savior of this production. He, along with Head of the Sound Department Larry Elena, sound designer, Christopher B. Reeves, and a team of foley artists voluntarily came on board the production was resurrected. Everything you hear was recorded on a sound stage at NBC Universal. For that, we are eternally grateful.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Very positive! It’s been amazing to see how many people resonated with the character and how many can’t even tell that the dialogue and whole soundscape was created in post.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not really!
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We hope to bring awareness to this important story and promote the film in hopes to eventually get the pilot made. (The short is a proof of concept for series.)
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Producers, managers, distributors, feminists, believers in the project!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like it to inspire women of all ages to tell stories about women and themes of identity, female solidarity, and just growing up as a young woman.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Why don’t we have more films simply about female friendship? What an enormous impact women’s stories can have. Having a female perspective in moviemaking is critical.
While the industry is making strides toward including women and diverse voices, many men perceive strong women as vehicles for their own success. As the process unfolded we found this to be true in the most disheartening of ways. You are going to be confronted with both subtle and blatant sexism ALL the time. You’re going to be called “little girls” on your own set, if you are headstrong you’re a bitch, if you’re not, you’re weak. All this being said, there are beautiful people out there who will make it all worth it.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We have a pilot for Zula the Infinite and we’re looking for networks to bring it to life. Valentina is pursuing her acting career as well and I have two other TV series in development.
Interview: August 2018
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, WOC, Latinx, 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
Zula the Infinite
A small town teenager who steals mail from her father’s post office, discovers a letter from a troublesome passer through.
Length: 16 min
Director: Jillian Dudley
Producer: Jillian Dudley
Writer: Jillian Dudley and Valentina Matosian
Key cast: Valentina Matosian, Stefanie Butler, Peter Michael McDonald, Nikola Balac
Facebook: Zula the Infinite
Funders: Kickstarter
Made in association with: Perpetual Productions LLC
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Hollyshorts and hopefully more festivals to come!