![]() The first time I ever premiered and saw a short of mine on screen was at that theater so it’s a space that’s really special to me. “It’s Richard Linklater’s theater, and they’re a nonprofit that supports local filmmakers. There were plenty of full-circle Austin moments to be had, like screening the faux premiere at the Austin Film Society. ![]() “Even before I got into film, all of my comedy projects I've been producing here in Austin… I always hire all women, all BIPOC, all queer crew and lead cast.” I thought it'd be really funny if they attempted to make a soundtrack for a short they don't know anything about,” she said. “, I wanted to highlight my friend's band. Ross kept not only the jokes hyperlocal, but also hired within her Austin circles. So I decided, alright, I'm just not gonna be part of the cool kid gang in their eyes. Or that the SXSW comedy lineup will be mostly LA and New York people. The point of this short really was to make fun of the fact that LA and New York will come down here and they'll fly directors in instead of hiring locally. And I say, ‘but we didn't even submit anything.’ And she says ‘well, yeah, it's an early bird rejection.’ I love seeing jobs come here and I love seeing things stay local when it can. But on the first day of the shoot, the executive producer comes over and says, ‘we've been rejected by every music slash comedy slash film and technology festival. “I'm probably burning a bridge by making a joke reference to it in the short. Ross’ love for the Austin entertainment scene is evident throughout, even as she also makes space to share criticism for one of its biggest festivals, South by Southwest, and the idea that it’s shifted from its roots of finding young, burgeoning talent and sticking to the script (pun intended) of showcasing folks from LA/NY. ![]() She also sits on the Board of Directors at Big Medium, a non-profit dedicated to championing and cultivating artists and the contemporary arts in Texas. She aims to cultivate an inclusive work environment to make space for marginalized communities and creatives of color. Sticking to the meta concept, Ghassemi also makes a brief cameo in the film as well.īita Ghassemi is an award-winning Iranian-American writer and director from Austin, Texas.Ĭurrently, she is the co-founder of PILLARBOXED, the only women, POC, and LGBTQ-led video production company in Austin, Texas. She then teamed up with Ghassemi, who runs her own production company and is a lifelong Austinite, to create short-form video content to document the two-week journey. “I’m so used to it being a one-woman writer’s room and it was so great to lean on other people to bring these funny moments and keep things flexible and on the fly, especially with such a tight turnaround.” “Our script supervisor, Chinwe Okorie, was able to pitch ideas too, and it was really cool,” Ross said. With an emphasis for fun and improvisation on set, Ross first built out the writer’s room-including local talent Evelyn Ngugi and Ivy Le-and forged ahead on a creative process she wished to see more of in the world. And thanks to the parameters on film length and tight turnaround, Ross (as producer and director and star) used these confines for character development in her comedic favor, to make herself “the monster over the arc of the short.” Between the production and documentary crew, it was the “utter confusion” that added to the real-life hilarity that jumps off the screen. The cast, crew, and behind the scenes team all made the film and were in the film too. Inspired by the heyday of mockumentary TV and Christopher Guest films, Ross resourced her Texan rolodex of funny and diverse friends and had them keep their names but play heightened versions of themselves, all centering on the premise that they had only two weeks to make an epic film.
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