FEARnyc Horror Film Festival / Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2019 – You Too
A woman is followed by a stranger on her college campus until events take an uncommon turn.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Editor Teddy Tenenbaum and Writer Minsun Park,
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
TEDDY: We wanted to make a film about modern fear. Like many women, my writing partner (Minsun Park) has been catcalled and followed in public by strange men on multiple occasions. She described how this is one of the most vulnerable, fear-inducing situations in a society where there are very few laws or barriers for predators. We wanted to dramatize this situation, but then examine what would happen when the predator is forced to experience the point-of-view of the prey.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
MINSUN: Horror films and stories often darkly mirror real societal fears and the social media #metoo movement was a turning point in our culture that empowered women and incited fear in some men. This is a subversive, feminist revenge tale that turns the tables on familiar tropes.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
MINSUN: Fear is one of the most primal and universal human emotions. As a woman, I wanted to explore an everyday fear and experience that is shockingly commonplace and relatable for every woman - that fear of unwanted attention with the underlying threat of violence from a man. And the predatory power and control that comes from knowingly inciting fear. I had a recent experience of walking in my local suburban mall and noticing that some guy was following me. I felt that all familiar knot in my stomach and I ducked into the ladies room to lose him. When I emerged after a few minutes, the creep was waiting for me outside in the hallway. Luckily, I managed to lose him but it was an unsettling and all-too-common reminder that women have to navigate public spaces differently from men.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
TEDDY: We’ve been told by women that the film accurately and sometimes painfully represents the fear they have experienced in daily life, living in a society that allows men to act as predators. Hopefully, we can move to a place where new laws and societal pressure punishes men from behaving as predators.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
MINSUN: All stories are interactive. Written stories need readers, songs need listeners and films need audiences. And the first scary stories were probably told around a campfire in a dark cave. I think your online platform functions as a digital campfire and makes space for historically underrepresented storytellers who can finally get a turn.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
TEDDY: We are always looking for additional festivals to screen our film, and are open to a distributor after our initial run of festivals ends in a few months. We are also developing a feature-length version of our story and would welcome producers interested in working with us on this project.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
MINSUN: To engross, thrill, frighten, engage, surprise and divert the viewer for a few minutes. And afterwards, hopefully, to provoke thoughts and questions about how our society continues to accept violence as part of a cultural norm that puts the onus and accountability on potential victims to protect themselves.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
MINSUN: The Me Too movement sparked personal and political debates very publicly across personal social media channels. The questions that I’ve personally debated with peers: How does male privilege, particularly white male privilege, exist in our society? Why is there a growing white male victimhood and anxiety among conservative factions in our country?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
TEDDY: Minsun and I have just finished a female-centric action/horror script and are about to go out to directors before we send the script to buyers. We are also looking to attach a director to a horror script that we sold to Sony Pictures recently. We changed gears to write a teen romantic-comedy script about a transgender girl that we are polishing. Our next horror short is set in the Korean-American community in LA that I will direct. We are hoping to get funding for this project, which we also plan on developing as a feature film.
Interview: November 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
You Too
A woman is followed by a stranger on her college campus until events take an uncommon turn.
Length: 6:28
Director: Teddy Tenenbaum
Producer: Teddy Tenenbaum
Writer: Minsun Park & Teddy Tenenbaum
About the writer, director and producer:
TEDDY TENENBAUM & MINSUN PARK are a writing team with experience in features and television, including pilot sales, staff writing, feature spec sales, and feature and television assignments. They have written separately and together. They specialize in genre writing, including horror, thriller, and action, typically with a humorous edge. With Minsun's background as an Asian-American woman born in Korea and Teddy's experience as a White dude from Ohio, they cover a lot of bases.
Key cast: Sean Whalen (D.J.), Cortney Radtke (Lila), Rachel Mumford (Candace)
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, film festival directors, buyers
Twitter: @teddyt
Instagram: @teddytbaum
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? You Too is next appearing in the Sherman Oaks Film Festival.