BORED HOUSEWIFE seduces HOT PIZZA GUY for free pizza, but is desire worth $29.99?

Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Talia Shea Levin

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

The concept for Make Me a Pizza began as a joke with co-writer and lead actor Woody Coyote during the height of the COVID lockdown. A Marxist porno, the pizza boy trope taken to its most illogical conclusion, it just made us laugh. Plus I had a half-cooked dream of abandoning the indie film industry to become a feminist porn director. I looked deeper and discovered that what I really wanted was to abandon fear and embrace a good challenge full of joy, and I believed audiences could use some of that spirit too.

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

It’s about pizza and sex. If you don’t like pizza, it’s got sex. If you don’t like sex, there’s still pizza. If you don’t like either of those things, I’m worried about you, but there’s some philosophical theory in it too, so I hope you can still have a nice time.

Make Me A Pizza - Woody Coyote (HOT PIZZA GUY) in Make Me A Pizza

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

I think the best way to address our reality is to look beyond it. I create new worlds in my films to reflect on our own, so amidst the imagined realms, there is always a grounding in emotional truth. You might get transported to another dimension to meet the pizza goddess, but that’s so you can learn to recognize the presence of the divine in every slice you’ll ever have.

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

It was still a deep pandemic when we first came to the idea, so making it seemed impossibly far away, but what we could do was watch movies together. John Waters, Paul Verhoeven, David Lynch, David Cronenberg - we studied everything we could to build the world of the film to be as gloriously gorgeous and sleazy as possible. Once gatherings were allowed again, we had a devising rehearsal with our friend Katie Peabody. We used the shorthand we had developed doing immersive theater together to generate the bones of the story, which I then translated into screenplay form. We continued to develop the dialogue until right before shooting, but with such a long lead time the final film is pretty faithful to the structure of the original idea.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

This is such a fun film to bring into the world. I made it as a shout into the void, and some people are shouting back. Most of them are excited, I think (it’s a little hard to hear).

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I’m only surprised when people don’t have a reaction.

Make Me A Pizza - Sophie Neff (BORED HOUSEWIFE) and Woody Coyote (HOT PIZZA GUY) in Make Me A Pizza

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

It's an honor to be featured on We Are Moving Stories. In sharing our film here, we hope to reach more people who share our love for joyful chaos.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We want to take the film to festivals around the US and internationally. If someone is buying our pizza, we are definitely selling. We’d love to partner with a pizza company if they need some marketing that’ll cut through the noise, or a sexual wellness brand that’s down to get a little saucy. Most of all, we want to entertain as many people as possible!

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

We want people to feel something: laugh, be disgusted, rethink their way of being, but most of all, we hope they’re a little bit turned on.

Behind the scenes of Make Me A Pizza - Woody, Vitto, Talia.jpg - Woody Coyote (Lead Actor and Co-Writer), Vittoria Campaner (Cinematographer), and Talia Shea Levin (Writer/Director/Producer) eating pizza behind the scenes

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

Is it easier for two strangers to relate to each other as pizza than as their human selves?

Would you like to add anything else?

Realism is deceit! Embrace artifice and maximalism. Get in the goo.

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

I have a handful of feature-length screenplays in development for independent producers, and one based on my previous short film, a time travel road trip relationship drama called Next Time. But the pizza cinematic universe is due for expansion too…there is more to deliver.

Interview: March 2024

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

Make Me A Pizza

BORED HOUSEWIFE seduces HOT PIZZA GUY for free pizza, but is desire worth $29.99?

Length: 12:25

Director: Talia Shea Levin

Producer: Talia Shea Levin, Kara Grace Miller

Writer: Talia Shea Levin, Woody Coyote

About the writer, director and producer:

TALIA SHEA LEVIN creates new worlds in her film, theater, and virtual reality work. Her short Next Time won the Audience Award at Nashville Film Festival and her dance films have been featured across international platforms like Short of the Week and NOWNESS. She holds a degree in Screenwriting and Directing and has continued her education at artist residencies. She likes goat cheese and indecent amounts of parmesan on her pizza.

WOODY COYOTE is a journeyman mechanic as well as a part-time actor and writer. Trained in clown, mime, and Bouffon, he’s dedicated to moving beyond the tyranny of realism - pushing performance into the expressive, surreal, and abstract, with one foot always planted firmly in joy. He’s a founding member of The Nonsemble clown troupe and editor-in-chief of The Oaf comedy zine. He likes his pizza with pepperoni and banana peppers.

KARA GRACE MILLER (they/she) works in narrative film, documentary television, and commercial production. Their projects have screened at HBO/BET’s Urbanworld Film Festival, Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival, and The National Film Festival for Talented Youth. They are on staff at Public Record, have managed video production for NYFW shows, and have produced presidential and congressional campaign spots. Their favorite pizza is a late-night vodka square from Artichoke Pizza.

Key cast: Sophie Neff (BORED HOUSEWIFE), Woody Coyote (HOT PIZZA GUY)

Looking for: journalists, film festival directors

Instagram: @thepizzamovie

Website: www.taliashealevin.com/pizzamovie

Other: IMDb

Made in association with: Hyperion Territories

Funders: Self-funded

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

SXSW/Austin, TX - March 10 and March 14
Cinequest/San Jose, CA - March 15