In this episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins speaks with director Erica Tremblay and Co-Writer Miciana Alise about the film, Fancy Dance. They discuss what their writing collaboration looked like, as well as challenges they faced during filming. The film premiered at Sundance 2023 and will premiere at SXSW on March 10.
Topics discussed:
- Tackling prevalent problems in indigenous communities
- How Erica and Miciana met and what it was like writing the script together
- Applying storytelling into different genres, platforms, and formats
- Sharing breakthrough moments in complicated scenes
- Realizing that one still does directing in post production
- Successfully pulling off a big set piece using ingenuity and networking
- Having the right people behind the scenes, who really wanted to support the project
- Learning how to be a more considerate writer
Memorable Quotes
- “We hope it can shine a little light on some of the struggles that Indian country has, with outside forces coming in and trying to tell us how we should be living on our sovereign land.” [5:12]
- “It makes it a little less painful that you’re not just alone in these deep, dark, scary pages.” [12:29]
- “There’s this symbiotic relationship of ideas and talent and knowledge that’s passing through two people, ending up on the page.” [12:43]
- “The biggest thing was learning what the characters didn’t need to say….Just letting them breathe in that uncomfortable moment.” [14:56]
- “Just be ferocious. You cannot hang your ego on any one scene. You can’t be precious about it.” [22:12]
Resources:
Fancy Dance
Find Miciana on Instagram
Find Erica on Instagram
Find No Film School everywhere:
On the Web
https://nofilmschool.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/nofilmschool
Twitter
https://twitter.com/nofilmschool
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/nofilmschool
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/nofilmschool
Get your questions answered on the podcast by emailing [email protected]!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices