Film-making team Alison Roberto and Landon LaRue create a skewered satirical perspective of classic 1970s and 1990s horror in their new short GIRLS NIGHT IN.
Film And TV Now spoke with the pair about their short and its’ context.
FILM AND TV NOW: The film taps into the classic HALLOWEEN-cum-SCREAM motifs before subverting the concept based on the Bechdel Test. What fascinates you about this concept and when did you feel it made more sense in the context of the horror genre?
ALISON ROBERTO: I grew up loving films like Halloween and Scream.
For me, it was important to set up a classic horror film upfront, with the slow push-ins, and the voyeuristic camera angles, so that the turning point into the comedy realm would be that much more of a surprise.
Horror allows for the fantastical and over-the-top, it’s the perfect environment for pushing a concept to the extreme.
LANDON LARUE: I learned about the Bechdel Test when I first became interested in film as a pre-teen and bought a film textbook from a second-hand book-store.
Ever since then, it became a reflex to gauge a show or movie I was watching and I realized I really liked horror films because they usually passed the Bechdel Test.
Of course, no one is really talking about their love lives when they are fleeing from danger so I thought it would be funny if that happened.
FTVN: What was the start-off point for the script?
LLR: I came up with the idea of “Girls Night In” when I was on the dating apps and my first question was “are you a serial killer” in conversations but realized it may have not been a complete deal-breaker. It was a dark time in my dating life.
FTVN: Tell us about your cast.
AR: Becca is played by Jess Adams and Delaney is played by Skylar Benton. When we auditioned them we originally had their roles reversed. In their audition, I asked them to switch roles. They hadn’t prepared for that but they each fit into their new roles perfectly. At that point, we knew we had our Becca and Delaney.
LLR: Jess Adams and Skylar Benton are a dream to work with and it was especially easy to work with them because I’ve known them both for almost a decade; I met Jess at a social event and Skylar when I cast her in a music video I directed. When I dusted off “Girls Night In” after years of sitting at my desk, I did a small rewrite to better fit their voices and mannerisms.
FTVN: Tell us about your production team.
AR: Landon and I produced the film. It was a self-funded project and we played many roles in the making of this short. We were lucky enough to surround ourselves with friends and like-minded creatives who loved the script and wanted to help us bring it to life.
LLR: Mostly sourced from my circle of relationships built over the years in LA, it was an easy decision of whom we wanted to work with.
This particular circle has an ongoing professional relationship so they were able to work seamlessly and the set ran smoothly because of their comfort level and shorthand with each other. Also, we were able to get them at their “friendship” rate.
FTVN: Where did you shoot and for how long?
AR: We knew we needed stairs, which are hard to find in California. Landon’s friend Victoria Van Vleet was kind enough to let us use her home. We filmed in one long overnight over Valentine’s Day weekend. It was challenging but so much fun.
LLR: I knew I wanted a staircase for the shoot because of the “run up the stairs” joke so I reached out to a very close friend who owns a two-story home and she graciously let us use it as our location. We only had one night to shoot so the actual filming was less than 24 hours.
FTVN: What were your biggest horror influences on the film, both in fiction and film?
AR: Scream, Halloween and Jennifer’s Body were huge influences on the film. My Dad loved Stephen King and from a young age, I devoured his work. I was also obsessed with films like The Shining and Silence of the Lambs.
LLR: I honestly don’t know where to start as I believe my parents introduced me to horror a little too early with Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King.
Since my family moved around a lot (we were military), I read voraciously to keep myself entertained and consumed King, R.L Stine, Mary Shelley, Anne Rice, and Edgar Allan Poe.
In the film, I’ve watched Scream more times than I can count and having a Korean mom who loves horror introduced me to a completely different realm of possibility – my personal fave is Train to Busan. Right now, I’m really into genre-bending and using elements of comedy so I closely follow Jordan Peele and Christopher Landon’s work.
FTVN: Who and what are your other cinematic influences?
AR: Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, David Fincher and Stanley Kubrick to name a few.
LLR: I know I’m going to accidentally leave out some names and kick myself later when I recall them in the shower but off the top of my head: Christopher Nolan, Michel Gondry, Bong Joon-Ho, Stanley Kubrick, and Akira Kurosawa.
FTVN: Would you like to expand on the ideas explored in this short into a feature idea?
AR: Yes! It’s already in the works.
LLR: Absolutely! I’m currently working on a feature version of this script.
FTVN: Tell us about the make-up effects on the short.
AR: We used three different prop knives for the film. A dull knife, a retractable knife and a half foam knife.
Different scenes call for different versions of the knife based on the action. We also had one bloody scene at the end in which we brought in make-up SFX artist Laura Lieffring to help with blood pumps, blood packets and knife placement.
We only had one shot to get this scene right because we didn’t have time to reset our hair, makeup and wardrobe. And we pulled it off!
LLR: Jess and Skylar are naturally beautiful and very photogenic so their make-up was very minimal and they did it themselves.
The blood pump effect was another story – we had to rig a tube to Jess’s side for a gushing effect which dictated shooting angles and how we “inserted” the knife. We also have to put a pump and packet under Skylar’s bright white top with only one opportunity to capture the shot. Luckily, we pulled it off.
FTVN: Alison, you have been directing short-form content for a while now. How does short-film content benefit creatives like yourself?
AR: I love creating in the short form space, from music videos, commercials, short films and docuseries, it’s where I’ve spent the majority of my career. It allows me to work on many different types of projects and experiment with short-form story-telling. But I’ve always been interested in longer-form features and series as well. I am delving into my first full feature and I’m very excited about it.
FTVN: Landon, you have been working with Annapurna Pictures. Tell us how an opportunity like this has helped shape your career and creative choices.
LLR: The way I got into the doors at Annapurna was through a Facebook message.
No joke, I have such a fondness and respect for their catalogue and I expressed that in my DM to someone who worked there which scored me an interview. I am a fan of their filmmaker-first mentality and appetite for original stories – it’s encouraging to see healthy budgets committed to indie stories.
I used to write as if I were producing and kept the scale small but after seeing the work Annapurna backed, I have been able to open up the possibilities in my scene locations and descriptions.
FTVN: Diversity and gender are major issues in the media at present. Where do you feel progress has been made and where do you feel there is work to be done?
AR: Diversity and representation are so important. We need diverse stories and points of view. The world looks to music, film and TV for hope, for entertainment and representation and if you don’t see someone who looks like you it’s hard to imagine yourself in that position / role / occupation.
Diversity in front of and behind the camera matters. Diversity in all key positions matters. Diverse storytelling and getting to see the world from someone else’s point of view matters. It changes (1) how we think, (2) how we treat one another and (3) how we can relate to and accept each other.
Diversifying power and creating more opportunities for women and POC to obtain leadership roles is the key to real change in the world. If we can create stories with this narrative it allows others to see it and become it. Storytelling is powerful.
LLR: Progress has definitely made strides when it comes to equal representation in the media.
The only person who looked like me in film and TV for a long time was Lucy Liu (bless her for being the monolith of female Asian-Americans in the early 2000s), and now I see more faces like mine on the screen and behind the camera.
What I’d like to see are diverse faces in broad shows and films and not just a storyline about their own cultures (Crazy Rich Asians, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Warrior). We need to normalize diversity, not romanticize it as a “treat” for those communities.
Work also needs to be done to de-stigmatize mental health and bring it into the conversation without either fetishizing it or exaggerating it. Having a diverse and healthy representation of mental health issues may empower others to seek the help they need rather than shoving it all down and hoping it never surfaces.
FTVN: Finally, what are you most proud of about this short film?
AR: I am so proud that our self-funded Covid passion project made it all the way to Tribeca. It was such a beautiful surprise when I got the call that we were an official selection.
Landon and I had just turned down a fully-funded feature that we were not morally behind and decided to create our own short instead. It was a valuable lesson in following your gut and sticking to your beliefs. You never know where you’ll end up.
LLR: I’m insanely proud of the cast and crew who came together on Valentine’s Eve during Covid to make this story come alive. I always say to treat others with kindness and respect because those are the people who will show up for you and I’m forever grateful to be friends with such amazing talent.
Now read Film and TV Now’s review of GIRLS NIGHT IN:
