Baca is looking to raise $20,000 in donations through Kickstarters by April 21.
Unfortunately, due to server issues, SF-Fandom was unable to publish the interview prior to now.
Here is an excerpt:
SF-Fandom: Looking at your work in the film industry, what would you say were your advantages and disadvantages? Were you helped along the way at any point? Have there been times where you have had to just rely on yourself to make something happen, to overcome a great challenge?
Shawna Baca: I have to rely on myself a lot to be persistent and determined enough to get a project done. I have done almost every diversity program out there. It has been another valuable tool that I like to say was part of what I consider my film school experience. In the PGA Diversity’s Workshop, I learned how to pitch. In the Fox Diversity Writer’s Program, I learned how to structure my screenplays and so on. All tools I need as I moved forward. I think there are clearly some disadvantages to being a female director. When I was trying to look for a commercial production company to rep me, I clearly noticed that ratio of women directors being represented vs. the male directors. You look at the percentage of female DGA directors there are and it’s not even close to 20%. It’s very discouraging. There are people that have helped me a long the way and I have over the years built my crew. Now, I am faced with, you’re a female writer/director who wrote a high concept action sci-fi trilogy, “Why are you aiming so high, when you are just launching your career?” “Why don’t you just do a calling card film first?” On the flip side, coming from all the diversity programs, you have people saying not to do diverse projects, focus on commercial screenplays and films. So, now I have both that I’m packaging and developing.
SF-Fandom: What was it like to work with Tippi Hedren on “Rose’s Garden”? How did your first meeting with her go?
Shawna Baca: Rose’s Garden was my first film I directed. I met a casting director through a friend and after reading Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Guide, I knew I had to get a casting director. We met and went through a list of actresses. Honestly, I never thought in a million years, we would get Tippi Hedren, but my CD was confident about pursing it. He sent over the script to her agent. Miraculously, the owner of the agency was in the office over the weekend and read the script. She forwarded it to Tippi, even though she was on location filming. We needed an answer by Monday. On Monday, Tippi Hedren called me directly and said she loved the script and wanted to do it. I was completely shocked. That was the first time my script had ever gone through an agency, so I was terrified that it wouldn’t be received well. Tippi said it was a sweet story and she wanted to do the short. It was a big deal to me because I’m such a Hitchcock fan, so I was excited to work with her. She was delightful and professional. A real blessing for a first time director.
SF-Fandom: So let’s talk about “Ascended Masters”. Where did you get the concept for that production? The film’s core theme — immortal warriors battling on behalf of mankind — resembles many martial arts/anime concepts but do you draw on your Native American heritage when developing spiritual themes?
Shawna Baca: I never really truly knew I was Mexican Indian/Native American until I started writing. I mean I was raised by my Indian grandma and there is a sense of spirituality and cultural dominance within me, even though I am about as American as you can get. I think there is an element about everything I do that has that love for mysticism, spirituality, magical realism that lives inside me. I often consider myself as a storyteller rather than labeling myself as a writer. Storytelling is a big part of the Indian culture. As for Ascended Masters, I am really of lover of where science, religion, and new age/spiritual philosophy’s start to parallel. I spent two years and a half years reading and looking into this. There are immortal watchers in every aspect of religion, science, new age theories, theosophy, etc. that talk about these cosmic/celestial/divine beings. I really became fascinated with Helena Blavatsky’s theories on the spirituality of the cosmos. I thought it would be great to bring these characters into a screenplay as they’ve never really been portrayed in a movie. I made the decision to write the screenplays from a science fiction perspective than a spiritual perspective.
Read the full article here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment