Actress and film-maker Tara Westwood focuses on the cause and effect of gun-related crime in her new intense short drama TRIGGERED.
Film And TV Now spoke with the film-maker about the film and the deeper issues of focus.
FILM AND TV NOW: This is an incredibly intense experience. What was the start-off point for the script?
TARA WESTWOOD: Thank you. Thomas C. Dunn wrote the play Triggered and I acted in it in 2019 with Amy Schumer’s theater company, The Collective NY.
He obviously made changes when he wrote the screenplay, but it’s very similar to what it was. We are both passionate about gun violence prevention so I wanted to make it my directorial debut and got the rights from him to do so.
FTVN: Given the recent tragedies in the USA, what are your hopes for the future in America with regard to change with gun control?
TW: I personally avoid saying ‘gun control’ because as soon as you try to control anyone, they resist.
‘Gun violence prevention’ is something everyone can wrap their heads around and it surprises many people that even the majority of NRA members support certain changes. I grew up around guns in Canada but we don’t have the gun violence epidemic that America does.
Though I don’t know how to fix it, I believe that some changes like national red flag laws could help (however if someone makes a frivolous claim there should be legal consequences to them so the law wouldn’t be abused). Have an effective child access prevention law nationwide, more thorough background checks and stronger domestic violence reporting laws. These are some of the things that I believe could save lives.
FTVN: You are both a key member of cast as well as writer/director. How did you juggle your responsibilities?
TW: I wish I could’ve written this amazing script but that was all Thomas C. Dunn. I did act, produce and direct it though and since Triggered is my directorial debut, the only way I could do all three was to surround myself with the amazing cast and crew that I did.
Also, the fact that I’d played my character Heidi before helped tremendously in that she was already a part of me so I didn’t have to worry about figuring out who she was.
FTVN: How has being a director helped shape your acting in this film
TW: Well I got to cast myself!
That’s a very good reason for actors to go to the other side of the camera. Also, casting Isiah Whitlock Jr., Caitlin Mehner and Robert John Burke to play opposite me was the best thing I did. Working with great actors like they are elevated my performance.
Especially because it’s such an emotionally driven film, it was challenging to be fully in the moment as an actor while keeping a part of my brain focused on everyone’s performances too, but they all effortlessly handled me breaking character to give a note.
Having so much going on in my head oddly helped my acting I think, because I didn’t have any space left in there to be insecure about my performance; I just had to work.
FTVN: Where did you shoot and for how long?
TW: We shot in New Rochelle, N.Y. for two days.
We went the day before to have a casual rehearsal and get a feel for the space. We were also able to get most of the lighting done, which helped tremendously.
FTVN: Tell us about your production team?
TW: I think they must be tired of hearing from me because I email every crew member each time we have any festival news or something good happens for the film!
Every single one is so great at their job and I will forever be thankful for them to have been a part of my directorial debut. I knew I couldn’t make Triggered without Edd Lukas as my cinematographer because I’d worked with him as an actor before and knew how wickedly talented he is.
He came to NYC ahead of time and we just worked our butts off in prep; he’s taught me so much. I was so lucky that the Newton Brothers came on board because though we don’t have a lot of music in the film, what we do have sets the tone at the beginning and keeps you in all that you’ve (hopefully) felt with their amazing closing credits song. When they said YES I had to pinch myself.
Then, to have our editor Galia Moors made my job much easier. Two of the characters in the film are forced at gunpoint to stay in circles that have been spray-painted around their feet (meaning there’s not a lot of movement), so it actually is a much harder film to edit and keep the pacing going than one would think.
Having Nick Goldfarb and Elias Plagianos as my producers helped beyond words. Mariah Bergeron is one of the most talented and best team players I’ve ever met and if I had my way she’d be on every set that I am on because she makes it all run more smoothly.
Lastly, I must say from the bottom of my heart that I wouldn’t have made Triggered if not for our co-producer Marie Therese Guirgis giving me the strength I needed to jump off that proverbial cliff. There’s also a dear producer friend of mine who isn’t credited but has been like my Mr. Miyagi, teaching me so much. This is a long answer… can you tell that I love my peeps?
FTVN: Having John Leguizamo (CARLITO’S WAY) as an Executive Producer is a coup. How did you get him on board?
TW: Thank you. John is a really good soul, amazingly talented guy and a dear friend. He and his wife Justine are two people I can never get enough of.
I know he cares a lot about gun violence prevention and obviously I also knew that it would help us to have such a great supporter on board. So when I asked him and he said YES, I was truly honored.
FTVN: Who and what are your cinematic influences?
TW: I love stories and films that feel real and that we can all relate to one way or another.
Though I didn’t realize (or admit to myself?) when I was younger that I wanted to act, I was incredibly moved by filmmakers like Ron Howard and Penny Marshall. And now, whenever I see a Sarah Polley film I’m blown away at what she can make me feel. Don’t get me wrong, I dream of acting in a huge Tom Cruise action film (for real can we make that happen?), but as a director I want to tell stories that make me feel how I feel when I read a Tracy Letts play.
Life is complicated and filmmakers that share stories that make us laugh and cry at the same moment, like how for example Steven Spielberg does, are the giants I look up to.
FTVN: Diversity and gender are major issues at the moment. What are your hopes for the future and where do you feel progress has been made?
TW: Agreed; they are (and should be) major issues.
Though I feel that there has been some progress, much more is needed. I can only speak from my personal experience as a white woman, but I was a young single mum who was more focused on my kids than my career and I remember someone saying to me ‘By the time you’re willing to go away for a few months to film a movie, you’ll be too old to get cast since you’re not a name’.
Though there’s absolutely still some truth in that, women over 40 are definitely being hired more than they used to be. I think it’s a great time to be a woman director, however there were fewer working on the 100 top-grossing films in 2021 than there were in 2020, so I’m curious to see where that lands in 2022.
I was at SeriesFest last year and saw a great pilot called Roommates which had two lead actresses who are disabled and played characters who are as well. Though I loved seeing proper representation for that particular project, they were such kick-ass actresses, that I hope they won’t be limited to any specific kind of character.
I think the more that we can have greater representation of all people, the healthier we as a society will be.
FTVN: Would you like to expand on the themes explored in this film into a feature script?
TW: Gun violence is so prevalent that I fear people turn off the news because it’s just too sad and they don’t have the reserves to take it in, especially after the last few years we’ve been through.
The problem is that without a conversation going on, no changes will be made. That’s why Triggered is more important now than ever and there are many avenues a feature script could take.
Thomas and I have discussed how if we make a feature and get a wider audience to see it, then through the power of storytelling, hopefully people will be open to watching and allow themselves to feel it all since it’s ‘just a movie.’ I think with such a charged topic, the subtleties that Thomas brought to the short film script would be more important than ever in a feature.
In fact, a friend of mine who’s a gun owner said he was glad we “didn’t preach” but rather made him feel empathy for the characters and moved him emotionally, which was more powerful. Since we’ll be dealing with gun violence, mental illness and other heavy subject matters, some levity needs to be brought in too.
Thomas understands the complexities of human relationships well and I’m excited to see how he weaves it all into the feature.
FTVN: Are there plans to show the film to Congress and educational establishments as a morality tool?
TW: We don’t have plans to yet, but that would be a dream of mine because I believe that art can make a difference.
During the Directors’ Lunch at Tribeca someone asked me, “If you could get anyone to see Triggered, who would it be?”. They told me they expected me to say a producer or director I want to work with (for hopes of work begetting work), but my answer was “I’d love every Senator in America to see our film.”
Side note, I emailed Moms Demand Action a bunch of times on their website hoping to get them to see Triggered, but I’ve not had any luck in getting a response yet.
FTVN: Gunplay in films is glamorized so much with films like DIRTY HARRY, HEAT and LETHAL WEAPON. Would you ever consider helming a movie that uses guns as a key narrative device in this way?
TW: I feel like I should inherently say no, but the reality is if it were a well written film that made me feel a lot and the use of guns was warranted and not gratuitous, then I’m sure I would.
Sometimes I watch a film and wonder ‘why did they just spend so much time killing so many people when it’s not a necessary part of the story?’, and I often feel it’s just because they didn’t know how else to make it ‘interesting’ or good. Unnecessary violence is a lazy choice in my eyes.
FTVN: How has the festival circuit helped your film?
TW: It’s been amazing and without it no one would have seen Triggered.
It’s also been a learning experience for me. Paul Sloop, who heads the short films at the (Oscar qualifying) Cleveland International Film Festival where we premiered, explained to me that if there’s a festival we really hope to get into, then it’s important to save our premiere status for them, at least in their state.
That reality was hugely important for me to hear because I just want as many eyes on the film as can be with the hopes of galvanizing the conversation about gun violence prevention, but now understand that the best way to do that is to be in the top tier of festivals, which I’m so grateful we have been.
Meeting all of the incredibly talented filmmakers on the circuit has been genuinely inspiring.
FTVN: Finally, what are you most proud of about this short?
TW: Every single time I watch Triggered, I’m so deeply proud that my amazing cast and crew trusted me and said YES, because I believe we made an important film. I’m also proud to have shown my kids that it’s never too late to go after your dreams.
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