Made with Love
Lipstick Lex, an ambitious unconventional artist who only uses kiss prints and lipstick to create her art.
Interview with Director Nathan Agin
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you, Carmela! Alexis Fraser (Lipstick Lex) is a good friend of mine who I respect very much. She has created an impactful platform with her art and inspires hundreds and thousands of artists and women to create the life of their dreams. I've always loved capturing stories of inspirational stories and I just knew I had to make a documentary on Lex.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch this film because you'll walk away from it feeling energized, inspired and ready to take on the world. It's a powerful film that reminds us that we all have greatness inside of us. Also, Lipstick Lex's art is cool. Hahaha.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Like most filmmakers, I usually want people to take away their own meaning and themes from the film, but for me, the main theme of this documentary is love and self-love. When I say self-love, I don't mean that corny shit that no one actually follows through with. What I mean is, respecting yourself and loving yourself enough to realize your self-worth and to make your life better, because you owe that to yourself. No one else. Show yourself some love and work to become a better version of you.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The thing that I love about documentaries is that the story is always constantly evolving throughout the process. Especially during the editing process. Originally the film's style was supposed to be more upbeat and faster pace, similar to a travel style video, but once we did the interview with Lipstick Lex I realize we had something much more than that. Listening to Lex talk to the camera, I felt inspired by her words. Her story of struggle, perseverance, determination and manifestation. From there on out, I put a stronger focus on her story and strayed away from the original ideas of montages.
Then, during the post-production phase, I met Kasey Tam. An animator who has multiple projects on Newgrounds. We discussed the possibility of animating Lex as a little animated character and the following character design sheet was the outcome.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been incredible so far. This has definitely been the best reaction I've seen yet from a film of mine. On Facebook, the film is currently at 128,000 views with thousands of engagements. I'm excited to see the reactions at film festivals in the Fall.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback made me truly realize how powerful and important story is in filmmaking. That sounds obvious when reading it, but it's a hard thing to continually stay on top of when creating a film. I've made films that had so much emphasis on beautiful visuals and advanced editing, but the focus on the story for this Made with Love documentary is what received the best feedback yet. From here on out, I'm focusing the majority of my energy on crafting the story in the best way possible.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
The community at We Are Moving Stories is beautiful. Not only do you share well-crafted stories, but you always share POWERFUL stories. Seeing this, I knew I had to get my documentary film, about true self-love and women empowerment, included in this great community. I want to spread this powerful message even further.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We're currently looking for film festival directors and journalists. Our goal now is to continue getting press on our film so we can spread the film's message as much as possible and inspire more people.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Just like all my other films, the goal of this film was to help the viewers realize their ultimate potential in life by watching these incredible people who went from nothing to something.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Visualize the future that you desire. What does that look like? How would you manifest that into reality?
Would you like to add anything else?
My goal in filmmaking is to show people that we're all capable of doing great things, despite what society might ingrain into us. With persistence, determination and realism, you CAN achieve the goals you set in life. I can't wait to grow together with you all.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We're about to begin pre-production on a new Amazon Prime short documentary that will tell the story of food truck owners. The pleasures and pains of owning and running a food truck. We can't say too much about it yet, but you can follow our Moribund Studios facebook page to follow updates on the film as they come out and help get involved by donating to our Kickstarter for it! Donating to our Kickstarter will get your name in the credits.
Interview: April 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
Made with Love
Lipstick Lex, an ambitious unconventional artist who only uses kiss prints and lipstick to create her art.
Length: 10:29
Director: Nathan Agin
Producer: Nathan Agin
Writer: Nathan Agin
About the writer, director and producer:
NATHAN AGIN is a 20-year-old film director. He spent many years of his adolescence developing his filmmaking craft and is now working towards breaking into the documentary filmmaking industry.
Key cast: Alexis Fraser (Lipstick Lex)
Looking for: film festival directors, journalists
Facebook: Nathan Agin
Instagram: @aginvisuals
Website: nagin.myportfolio.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Moribund Studios (production company)
Funders: Self-funded