Fantasia International Film Festival 2019 – Ava in the End
After tripping over her dog and dying, a young woman wakes up in a virtual purgatory and waits for her mind to be downloaded into a new body.
Interview with Writer Addison Heimann and Director/Producer/Editor Ursula Ellis
Watch Ava in the End here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
AH: Hey thanks! I made this film because atomic scientists kept changing the clock closer and closer to midnight and I was like -- that’s terrifying -- let’s explore that!
UE: Addison and I are good buddies from college, and we’d been wanting to work together for a while. I was going to be in LA for some meetings & he had just moved from Chicago, so we decided it was the perfect time to shoot something!
But I also just love Addison’s writing -- it’s very different from my own stuff in the best way, and making this project together felt like a breath of fresh air. I’m all about existential crises, and this film externalizes that typically inner conflict in a very unexpected way.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
AH: If you’re obsessed with Black Mirror -- think sci-fi is a good time -- and enjoy women in leading roles -- watch this movie! It’s also funny and the VFX -- done by the homie Zach Moore -- are great.
UE: For all the reasons Addison mentioned! At a short but not-so-sweet 10 minutes, I feel like it’s the perfect length for a short to be engaging, suspenseful, hilarious, horrifying, poignant, and all the other things we hope you think about it.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
AH: I’m terrified of dying. And I’m terrified of the world ending. And I’m terrified of artificial intelligence, to be honest.
UE: I’m afraid of those things, too, except I’m kind of down with the AI overlords (please remember I said this, future rulers of the known universe).
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
AH: It started out as a play -- and I was like -- I want to make this a movie. So I put the play in Final Draft and sent it to Ursula. And then we filmed it and realized that sometimes -- you don’t need that much dialogue -- so we cut the movie to be about 2/3rd as long and it made for a much nicer/tighter movie.
UE: It was definitely a new, exciting challenge to direct a screen adaptation of a play! Addison gave me the freedom to create an immersive visual landscape literally from the ground up, which let me push my craft as a director in a major way.
We also worked with some incredible collaborators, including rockstar DP & fellow Northwestern alum, Travis LaBella, on-set VFX consultant & bonafide legend, Bill Taylor ASC, VFX legend-in-the-making, the insanely talented, Chicago-based Zach Moore, and my beloved longtime colorist Nate Seymour, each of whom elevated our storytelling & the production value of the film exponentially.
Our lead actor, Elsa Gay, I think genuinely carries the entire movie as well with her ever-evolving, intuitive, and sometimes painfully relatable performance, and Allie Gallerani, who voices the Computer, ended up tying it all together when she came in during post to record ADR. Allie has the perfect intonation for an AI, I seriously hope someone sees this movie and hires her to voice one.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
AH: It’s been good so far! People generally laugh and then the twist happens (no spoilers -- but yes, there is a sweet twist) and people are like oh no! I’m proud of the team who made this -- from the set to the (again very good VFX done by Zach Moore) -- it looks like an actual sci-fi movie and not a fan-made Star Trek film (no shade).
UE: Folks have been into it for sure! My dad, a lifelong sci-fi aficionado & real stickler for continuity, is a big fan first and foremost, so I feel ready to share it with the world!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
AH: Early on in the editing process -- I realized that adapting a play for film requires some actual work. Turns out -- you don’t need as much dialogue to convey the things you need to say. It was a fun and arduous challenge of really picking and choosing what was necessary -- and what could be left unsaid.
UE: Most of the movies I’ve made involve a lot of locations, cast, crew, etc., while Ava is essentially a girl in a room (plus a VFX AI in the form of a floating prism, a vintage TV, and a few other critical prod design/lighting/VFX components). But the challenge of making the most of our intentionally limited resources definitely reinforced for me what a talented group of filmmakers can create without all those extra elements.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
AH: Short films never get the recognition they deserve! There are so many talented filmmakers who make them -- that deserve to be given bigger projects. We have a feature version of this mapped out -- and it is also potentially the first leg in an anthology series that I’d love to do. So any and all attention for me and my director and the team sounds hot to me!
UE: We’d love to screen at more fests and connect with a wider audience, as well as keep working together on more projects! We’ve been chatting about some feature ideas in the same universe as Ava (though some are markedly weirder, so get ready for that), so whatever exposure we can get would be awesome.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
AH: Listen, all of the above who would like to watch this movie. Mainly film festivals, for now, cuz like, we’ve only been accepted into one -- but I need an agent and I know Ursula needs an agent, and if people really want me to -- I’ll figure out how to make this a feature. Like I said -- it’s also the first episode in an anthology series -- the other two are currently in post.
UE: Welcome aboard to anybody who wants to help get this short out there! I’m currently looking for a manager and/or agent for sure, but in terms of this project specifically, we want to build as large an audience as possible and keep making more work. So if you want to be part of that process in any way, hit us up!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
AH: The world is scary -- and the future is fascinating. I love dark humor -- especially when it comes to exploratory sci-fi -- and I’d love to connect with audiences who love contemplative slight futurism -- because I know I’m not the only one.
UE: Definitely agreed -- I think the major takeaway from this film is to live life like you could trip over your dog, hit your head on your coffee table, and die at any moment! But I also hope folks generally feel immersed in the world we created and want to see more.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
AH: Hmmm. Maybe -- if you died -- would you want to live on in the cloud -- downloaded into a new animatronic body -- or just stay dead.
UE: Yeah, I’d be curious which character people identify with the most, Ava or the Computer. I would say maybe Addison's more of an Ava, which would make me... the Computer? Who am I kidding, I'm definitely the Computer.
Would you like to add anything else?
AH: Ursula is a great director! Work with her!
UE: Addison is a great writer! Hire him to develop his own stuff, which is all so original & wonderful, or to work on any of the near future sci-fi or genre shows that seem to be popping up at the moment.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
ADDISON: My web-series Kappa Force was sold and will be distributed by Revry -- released in September. There are two other shorts in this anthology currently in post that I’m seeing through -- and I’m in development for a horror feature. So look out!
URSULA: My Columbia MFA thesis/Alfred P. Sloan grant short that We Are Moving Stories featured a couple of years ago, Crick In The Holler, was recently released online via Seed&Spark, and an older short of mine, This Is Not A Love Song, just premiered online on NoBudge. If you want to watch more of my work, check 'em out on a device near you!
I also have another short on the fest circuit, For George On His 30th Birthday, that premiered at the Denver Film Festival & I’m hoping will go on to play more fests, plus a few feature scripts and TV pilots I’m developing. I'm especially excited about the Army brat teen drama series I'm working on, War Is Kind, which is based on my own coming-of-age experience.
Interview: July 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
Ava in the End
After tripping over her dog and dying, a young woman wakes up in a virtual purgatory and waits for her mind to be downloaded into a new body.
Length: 10:00
Director: Ursula Ellis
Producer: Rebecca Shuhan Lou, John Lozada, and Ursula Ellis
Writer: Addison Heimann
About the writer, director and producer:
URSULA ELLIS is an LA-based writer/director and Columbia University MFA film grad. Her award-winning shorts have screened at festivals like Denver, Woodstock, Indie Memphis, and Cucalorus and premiered online via NoBudge and Seed&Spark, including Alfred P. Sloan Grant winner, Crick In The Holler. Her scripts have been recognized by the Academy Nicholls Fellowship, Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Institute, and her pilot, War Is Kind, won Best Drama Teleplay at the 2019 Columbia University Film Festival.
ADDISON HEIMANN is a queer writer/filmmaker currently residing in Los Angeles. His web-series, Kappa Force, played several festivals including the New York Television Festival, ITVFest, and Pilot Light, amongst others. It will receive distribution through Revry in October 2019. His short film, Jeff Drives You, will premiere at the Nashville Film Festival this fall. Currently, Addison is in development for a feature entitled Hypochondriac — a surreal horror film about mental health and childhood trauma.
REBECCA SHUHAN LOU is an award-winning writer/producer born and raised in Beijing, China. She holds an MFA in Producing from AFI, and short films she's produced have screened at the Director's Guild of America, HollyShorts Film Festival, American Black Film Festival, and Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, amongst others. She co-wrote the feature script Her Weight On Me, which was a Nicholls Fellowship semi-finalist and a finalist in the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.
JOHN LOZADA is a Colombian producer and production manager based in LA. His previous projects as producer include Ringmen, In Full Bloom, Cul-De-Sac, and You’ll Only Have Each Other.
Key cast: Elsa Gay (Ava), Allie Gallerani (Computer)
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists, film festival directors, producers, buyers
Facebook: Addison Heimann, Ursula Ellis
Twitter: @addy483, @UrsMaGurse
Instagram: @addybear5, @ursykay
Hashtags used: #avaintheend
Website: www.addisonheimann.com, www.ursulaellis.com
Other: IMDb Addison Heimann, IMDb Ursula Ellis
Made in association with: Sassy Computer Productions, Little Bear Pictures, & Foxtrout Studios
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Fantasia International Film Festival/Montreal, Canada - July 27th