Toni Fitzgerald's Cult Following
Toni Fitzgerald, a struggling comic, finds acceptance - and a willing audience - in a cult.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Felicity Pickering
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you! I made this film because it was high time I finally directed. I began my career as a playwright and later moved into film. I felt comfortable with actors, with words and concepts, but I had always feared that I lacked the technical skills to direct.
I had worked as a producer and writer on an earlier short Facon in 2016. Through the process, I realized I had a huge passion for directing and essentially I wanted more control of the narrative. I wanted, if I was honest with myself, to be the person calling the shots.
This film was about forcing myself to at last take the plunge, because if not now, then when?
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch this film because it’s a comedy filled with very funny people in a unique setting.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Everyone, at some point in their lives, has felt like a fraud. Whether is trying to be 'fun' when you're not feeling it, getting imposter syndrome as an artist or like you don’t *actually* know what you are doing at work. I think everyone has had the experience of feeling like a failure and thinking it would be easier if you could just pretend to be someone else.
It takes a lot of self-exploration to be confident in your style and who you are. I think this film is about a woman finding her comedic style and the confidence to be authentically herself on stage.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Toni Fitzgerald’s Cult Following has been a project five years in the making. The script was first written while I was a student at the University of Technology Sydney doing an introductory course in Screenwriting.
I finished the course and finished (so I thought) my screenplay, ‘Tony Fitzgerald’s Cult Following’. The script was about the lovable but hopeless male comedian Tony Fitzgerald who stole the greatest stand up of all time and performed it to a cult that had never been exposed to the material before.
The script sat on my computer for a few years gathering electronic dust. It was only when I attended a Women In Theatre and Screen Forum that I thought of it again. At the forum, held at Belvoir Theatre in Sydney, Australia, female Actors, Writers, Directors and Artistic Directors spoke of the hardships they faced in their industry. For example, not enough opportunities or exposure for female creatives, a resistance to cast diverse actresses and a lack of interesting and complex roles for women. It was this last point that hit me. While I considered myself part of the solution, ‘I am a female writer and director’ I thought, I had inadvertently become part of the problem.
Tony Fitzgerald’s Cult Following was a script about two male comedians and the two central females in the script were a nagging mother and a dumb blonde girlfriend that were more caricatures than complex characters.
Coming out of that forum I decided to gender swap Tony Fitzgerald’s Cult Following and try my best to use as many female crew and creatives as I could. I wanted to be part of the solution.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I’ve gotten great feedback so far, but we are really just kicking off on our film festival run. I look forward to more!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
One small bit of feedback I got, that surprised me, was that I seem to make a lot of films about women doing scams. I’m not sure WHAT that says about me, but I like to think rather, that I like to make films about complex women.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I am hoping to give audiences a little more information about the film, and let them learn a little more about its journey. If film festival directors were to see it and think the film is relevant for their festivals that would be wonderful!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I would love journalists to bring more attention to the short and film festival directors to program it.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like the audience to leave the cinema thinking about the fragile nature of the artists' ego.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The film is an exploration of finding your voice as an artist. So I think any questions around the nature of being an artist would provoke a conversation. Other suggested questions:
Why did you make a film about female comedians? Were you trying to make a statement about women in comedy? Why did you gender swap the script?
Would you like to add anything else?
A huge thank you to the incredible cast and crew who I would not have been able to take on this endeavor without.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I am currently working on a feature film in Los Angeles, that I hope to direct in the next two years. All the cast and crew have a million projects going on. Julia Rorke has a show called Jeneane's Kinky Room Of Astrology & Ciggiez touring Australia and Jack Gow has a show called Just A Small Town Boy doing the same. Producer Barbara Ings is producing a feature and Chalotorn Borriraji has started her own production company.
Interview: June 2019
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Toni Fitzgerald's Cult Following
Toni Fitzgerald, a struggling comic, finds acceptance - and a willing audience - in a cult.
Length: 12:05
Director: Felicity Pickering
Producer: Felicity Pickering
Writer: Felicity Pickering
About the writer, director and producer:
FELICITY PICKERING began her career as a playwright in Sydney, Australia. Felicity transitioned into film in 2016 with Facon, a comedic short film which she wrote and produced. It was selected for Award qualifying Santa Barbara Film Festival and Flickerfest. In 2017, Felicity directed her first short Toni Fitzgerald’s Cult Following and shortly after moved to Los Angeles.
Key cast: Julia Rorke (Toni Fitzgerald's Cult Following), Jennifer Rani (Jackie Snegowski), Jack Gow (Peter Pentacost), Paige Hally (Edwina Eldon), Greg Ferris (Master Ra)
Looking for: sales agents, film festival directors, distributors, journalists, producers, buyers
Twitter: @Fliction1
Instagram: @flictionmedia
Hashtags used: #TFCF #ToniFitzgeraldsCultFollowing
Website: www.felicitypickering.com
Other: IMDb