A married couple discusses a sexual assault.

Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Eleanor Morrison

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

A few years ago, I wrote on a limited series that got shuttered one week before the first shot thanks to the pandemic. I also had a feature script optioned that fell apart around the same time, so was feeling really creatively and professionally frustrated. I spent the two years after that surviving the pandemic with a newborn and navigating a serious medical diagnosis for my oldest, so when I finally emerged from that period, I desperately needed to make something for myself. I wanted something I could see through to completion and something that would reconnect me with my creative instincts.

I'd had the idea for this story kicking around in my brain for years but had always been terrified of the content. I finally decided to give it a go and just put it down on the page. It felt like the right outlet not only for my general creativity but also some of my rage at the world. As I started sharing the script with possible collaborators and heard them all connecting deeply with the material too, I knew I had to see it through.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

It crystallizes in one marital exchange how painful it can be to exist as a woman in the world, while offering the audience a lifeline of dark (very dark) humor to survive the uncomfortable experience.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

Given the film centers on the discussion of a sexual assault, there’s obviously a heavy thematic lean toward women’s experiences and the multiplicity of traumas inherent in that. But questions of sacrifice and survival and (mis)connection are all very universal.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

I shared an early draft with a survivor friend who runs an organization for other survivors. I wanted to know that person's response to the words on the page, to really sit with their feedback before deciding whether or not to move forward with the project at all. Their input was crucial in helping me proceed and deeply influenced how I approached the characters on the page and guided the actors on set.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

I've heard astonishment at the breadth of what's covered in one conversation, praise of the wonderful actors, and a repeated sentiment that the title of the film is very accurate! People really want to talk about it afterwards. It's not a simple viewing experience that ends when the credits roll.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I've mostly been shocked by how broad the appeal has been. Both the content covered and claustrophobic qualities of the scene (it's almost entirely shot inside a shower) can be rather uncomfortable, intentionally so, which means I anticipated turning off a chunk of folks and perhaps only appealing to a little arthouse segment. But I've had people who I expected to hate it LOVE it and want to see it multiple times, and that's really blown me away. It's shifted my expectations a bit around what some audiences can handle, pleasantly so.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

Shorts (especially self-made ones like this) can be hard to promote beyond the team's own personal networks, so it's especially nice you reached out! Every bit of coverage makes it that much more likely that someone else might get the chance to see it.

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 just starting the film festival circuit now -- premiering at Dances with Films in Los Angeles on June 30 -- so are most interested in connecting with audiences, journalists, and other festivals.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I'd love it to inspire conversations around not just assault and secondary reactions to it, but more broadly the inescapable friction women experience navigating this world. When a conversation like this goes so far off the rails, yet manages to be thoroughly believable, what does that say about the difficulties women regularly endure simply for existing, trying to live, trying to survive?

Behind the scenes of You Need To Process This

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Is there any degree of questioning another person's experiences that is acceptable? Where's the line? And I'll note that's not just about assault. Audience reactions to this haven't broken down by gender identity or political affiliation. The film is really a Rorschach test of a sort, and the diversity of responses can be surprising.

Would you like to add anything else?

Simply to say thank you for your interest, and for the work you're doing to amplify marginalized voices! It's such important work, especially as the industry is navigating this shaky economic time that could send execs grasping for "tried and true" stories, just as we were all starting to see more interesting narratives getting elevated.

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I recently started writing a new pilot and a feature, both dark comedies inspired in different ways by my experience of grief related to my son's medical condition. But WGA's on strike right now, so mostly I'm just walking the picket line a lot!

Interview: June 2023

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 Need To Process This

A married couple discusses a sexual assault.

Length: 14:07

Director: Eleanor Morrison

Producer: Eleanor Morrison, Colin Hudock

Writer: Eleanor Morrison

About the writer, director and producer:

WGA writer, first-time director. Eleanor Morrison’s creative endeavors focus on the challenge of being a woman attempting to survive and ideally thrive in a complex, flawed world. Her POV is informed by a geographically, financially, and domestically unstable childhood, and the academic, activist, and maternal concerns of her adulthood. Prior to screenwriting, she spent years assisting David Mandel (VEEP) and John Wells (SHAMELESS), worked for Change.org and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and taught at American University. She holds a Communication PhD from USC Annenberg, and a Public Communication / Social Psychology MSc from the London School of Economics & Political Science. Her children’s book C is for Consent is a Kickstarter success story currently in its eighth printing.

Key cast: Mary Holland, Matt Peters

Looking for: film festival directors, journalists

Instagram: @youneedtoprocessthis

Website: www.youneedtoprocessthis.com

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

Dances with Films / Los Angeles - June 30