Transcript
music
[Dark piano / organ music. The audience is chattering.]
speaker
Without any further ado, our fearless leader, co-writer of the new Black Christmas— [Audience cheers and applauds] —witchy woman— [More cheering] —April Wolfe! [Sustained cheering and applause.]
music
"Switchblade Comb," by Mobius VanChocStraw. A jaunty, jazzy tune reminiscent of the opening theme of a movie.
april wolfe
Welcome to Switchblade Sisters, where women get together to slice and dice our favorite action and genre films. Uh, I'm April Wolfe, as, uh, aforementioned. Every week, I invite a new female filmmaker on—a writer, director, actor, or producer—and we talk in-depth about one of their fave genre films, maybe one that influenced their own work in some small way. Today, I'm very excited as we broadcast live from Fantastic Fest in Austin, 2019. I'm very excited to have the filmmaker Mattie Do here. Hi, Mattie! Come on up! [Audience cheers and applauds.]
music
[Music.]^
mattie do
[Distantly, without a mic yet] Would you sell your soul for me? I've got fame! [Cheering and laughter from audience.] [Louder and more clearly] Thank you. This is already delicious, you guys. We started with a mimosa, bright and early. It's not fucking early, but like, I think it is. [Laughs.] [Audience laughs.]
april
It's pretty fucking early for me.
mattie
Yeah. [Laughs.]
april
Uh—yeah, exactly, I should have said, "coming from Fantastic Fest, where all of us are a little bit hungover." [Someone cheers.] So—
mattie
But we gotta be hungover, like, fucking fabulously, right?
crosstalk
April: Yeah... Mattie: Like, that's what—that's how we do! [Laughs.] [Audience cheers and claps.]
april
So I—I wanted to anoint you, as a guest. [Light audience laughter.] Um, we haven't—we're not—I'm not telling you what movie we're watching yet, but here is our clue, obviously. Ohhh! [Scattered cheers.] She's a witch. I'm putting a hat on her.
crosstalk
April: She's now a witch. She's— Mattie: I feel knighted. By the dark lord—
april
Yeah!
mattie
By the lordess? [Laughing] What's—what's the word?
crosstalk
April: Lord—lordst—lord— Mattie: Lordsd. [Laughs.] Anointed. April: Let's have a seat here.
april
Uh, for those of you who aren't as familiar—familiar with Mattie's work, please let me give you an introduction as well. Um, born to Lao refugees, Mattie was raised in Los Angeles, but returned permanently to Laos a decade ago. Her debut film—I mean, I'm not sure of the pronunciation on this.
mattie
Chanthaly (Chant-ah-lee).
april
Chanthaly (Taht-ah-lee)? Uh, was the first Lao film to screen outside of Southeast Asia. Its festival success led to Mattie's selection for the Cannes Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde, uh, and TIFF's Directors Talent Lab, along as, uh—along with Berlinale Talents and by fans—uh, Fantastic Film School. Afterward, Mattie worked with the Ministry of Culture to create the infrastructure necessary to introduce foreign co-production to Laos, including a framework for managing the country's rigid censorship, which—if you've seen her work before, she's getting around a lot of things. Uh— [Audience laughs.]
mattie
This film has a body count, y'all. [Laughs.] [Audience laughs.]
april
It's good. Uh, Mattie produced Laos's first, uh, American and Japanese co-productions. Her second film, Dearest Sister, which is available on Shudder right now, receives Special Jury Mentions at Sitges and Fantasporto, and was later selected as, uh, Lao's first submission for the Foreign Language Film Award at the 90th Academy Award—uh—Academy Awards. [Scattered cheers.] Her third film—
mattie
I didn't win. [Laughs.] [Audience laughs.]
april
What?! You didn't?!
mattie
No, for reals, I didn't. You saw me eating, like, this chocolate gold rabbit? That was from her, from Switzerland. It wasn't the Oscar. [Laughs.]
april
Ohhh nooo! Aw, sorry!
crosstalk
April: I—I'm so sorry to bring that up, that you lost! Mattie: Ah, it's alright.
mattie
I don't mind. I like the chocolate rabbit better. [Audience laughs.]
april
Her third film, The Long Walk, which I think many of you will be seeing after this show if you're at Fantastic Fest, uh, premiered in the Giornet—okay. Uh—
crosstalk
April: Giornate— Mattie: Giornate degli Autori. [Chuckles.] April: —degli Autori—
april
—uh, at the 76th Venice Film Festival in 2019, and, um, she is the first and only female filmmaker of Laos, so... [Audience cheers and applauds.] Doing it for herself! Oh my god—I forgot! We actually have a special guest! Um... Is Black Phillip here? [Audience laughs.]
music
[Heavy metal music.]
april
Casey is bringing Black Phillip to the stage. He’s ascending. It—oh, and he's—he's—
crosstalk
Mattie: Oh my god! April: Black Phillip has taken a seat between the two of us.
mattie
[Laughing and nearly inaudible under the music] This—this goat is so delicious! [Mattie or April imitates a goat.]
music
[The music abruptly stops during Mattie's next sentence.]
mattie
You guys, for real, we had so many goats on the set of this film that's playing today, and we, like, would chase them away and they'd get into our trash all the time on set, and there was—there were some Black Phillip–type goats. Let me adjust you here, honey. [Laughing] And, um— [Audience laughs.]
april
I know!
mattie
And I was like—it's about a guy that's so fucking poor that he can't find anything to eat except, like, he has to go scrap metal and like, forage for food. And I was like, "We gotta chase these goats off set!" Because like, if it were me, I'd just fucking kill one of the goats and eat them, because it's like—[breaks off, laughing]. [Audience laughs.] It—
april
Yeah, logistically, it seems—
mattie
They taste pretty good. They're a little strong and gamy, [laughing] but they taste pretty good.
april
We'll definitely get into some goat talk later on. [Mattie and audience laugh.] Because, uh—Mattie's, uh—the film that she chose to talk about today is, uh, The Witch— [Someone cheers.]
april
—which you guys have already probably figured out at this fucking point. [Some cheering and applause.] Um— [Mattie laughs.]
april
—can you give us a little bit of an explanation of why it's one of your fave genre films?
mattie
I was blown away by The Witch, you guys. When I saw it, it was—it was a total sensory experience, and it was—it actually helped to define the way I made this film. Um, I don't know the guy. Eggers is his name, right?
april
Mm-hm.
mattie
And, um, it was—the wide shots that he has are like painted tableaus. It's so artistic. And the camera moves like a character, and the camera—sometimes it's unwilling, like, when you're going into the forest, you're behind the character and it's like, pushing you into the forest, and it's like pulling you in, and you're like, "No, don't fucking go in there! There's a goddamn witch in there!" You're like, "Nope, I'm going in, I'm going in! The camera's going in, I'm going in!" [Someone laughs.]
mattie
And it—to me, it redetermined how to use camera language and cinema language, um, to make a film. And also, like—come on, you guys. We're women here. A lot of women—even guys—we all remember what it was like to be a teenager, and to be the black sheep or the black goat, [laughing] as—as Black Phillip might say. And like, your parents fucking hate you. They don't believe anything you say. Everybody's against you, like, everybody's like, "Nope! You're lying. You're full of shit. You're the bad one." And you're like, trying so hard, and like, "I'm trying to do this prayer thing, I'm trying to be a good girl," but like, nothing you do satisfies anyone. And that's—like, I so sympathize with Thomasin's character, because I was like—at some point, if everybody just keeps telling you that you're bad, that you're a witch, that you're a fucking bitch, that's what you just become! And it's alright! Plus—
april
Turns out it's not too bad to be a witch, though. [Audience laughs.]
mattie
It's—it's a lot more fun. [She and the audience laugh.]
april
Uh, for those of you who haven't seen The Witch, today's episode will obviously give you some spoilers, but that shouldn't stop you from listening before you watch. As always, my motto is that it's not what happens but how it happens that makes a movie worth watching.
mattie
Yeah.
april
Still, if you would like to pause this and you're at home listening and you wanna watch The Witch first, do that right now. And now that you're back— [Audience laughs.]
mattie
And we're back! [Laughs.]
april
Let me introduce The Witch with a quick synopsis. Written and directed by Robert Eggers, The Witch stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin, the eldest daughter of settler William and his wife Katherine. Along with Thomasin's younger brother Caleb, twin siblings Mercy and Jonas, and the baby Samuel, the family settles in 1630s New England after being banished from the Plymouth Puritan colony for a religious dispute that we don't quite know about.
clip
Speaker: Then shall you be banished from this plantation's liberties. William: I would be glad of it.
april
Um, the terrain there is harsh, and the family is deeply... deeply disturbed by everything. Um, very quickly, things go awry when Thomasin is playing peekaboo with Samuel and he mysteriously disappears. Who took the baby? A fucking forest witch is who. [Audience laughs.] Katherine's unraveling. William confesses to Caleb that he sold Katherine's prized silver cup for hunting supplies.
clip
William: Speak none of this to Mother. None. She's overwrought already. I'll tell her of the cup when her grief is past. Let's not speak on this again.
april
I would be fucking pissed. [Audience laughs.] But Katherine thinks Thomasin took it.
clip
Katherine: How thou could lose me father's silver wine cup in this hovel, I cannot know. Thomasin: I haven't— Katherine: Peace, child. It is gone. Did a wolf vanish that, too?
april
One of a number of things they come to blame Thomasin for. Katherine wants to sell her off to work for another family. Caleb's fed up and he's gonna set a trap in the forest for this damn witch. [Audience laughs.] Thomasin forces him to take her with him, though. Uh, on the way, however, Thomasin's knocked out cold, and Caleb follows their spooked dog, Fowler, to find it's been disemboweled, and then he finds the witch's hovel.
april
Everyone is mad at Thomasin when she comes back. They blame her for losing Caleb.
clip
Katherine: Tell us why you went to the wood. Thomasin: I promised. Katherine: I care not!
april
But then Thomasin finds Caleb standing outside in the rain, having a fit of some sort. Caleb coughs up a bloody apple and dies, and everyone's official—
mattie
I thought it was like a fucking eyeball! [Some audience laughter.]
april
It's—there's a lot of shit happening.
mattie
I thought it was like [coughs/gags], eyeball.
april
There's stuff.
mattie
Okay. [Laughs.]
april
There's a lot of stuff. He's—you know—
mattie
I watched that movie like a billion times; [laughing] I thought it was an eyeball.
april
The—
mattie
But apple's fine, too! Adam and Eve, whatever. [Mattie and the audience laugh.]
april
His stomach is like Mary Poppins' bag. [Audience laughs.]
crosstalk
April: Where anything could come out at any time. Mattie: It was—it contained many mysterious things, you're right. April: Yeah. Mattie: [Laughing] It contained mysterious contents.
april
There's a—there's a lot of possibilities, there. Um, so everyone's officially witch-crazy. The twins are blaming Thomasin and Thomasin's like, "They're the ones talking to Black Billygoat Phillip in the barn."
clip
Thomasin: What say you? Jonas: Black Phillip says you are wicked. Mercy: Aye, he told me, too! Thomasin: Damn your Black Phillip. Mercy: He says you put the devil in Caleb! That's why he's sick. Thomasin: I'd never hurt Caleb. Nor Sam. Nor thee. Mercy: You beat me. Thomasin: 'Twas a jest! Mercy: You said you'd eat of me! Thomasin: Mercy! Jonas: Mother and Father will find out. Thomasin: What? Mercy: That you are a witch!
april
William locks all the remaining children in the barn with goats, 'cause that's... how you punish your children. Meanwhile, Katherine sees a vision of Caleb and Samuel, thinks she's holding Samuel, but she's really getting her breast picked apart by a crow. William wakes up to find the barn is blown to bits, the twins missing, and Thomasin with blood on her hands. Before William can do anything, Black Phillip gores him. Then Katherine finds Thomasin and tries to kill her daughter, but Thomasin stabs Katherine in self-defense.
april
Now Thomasin is all alone! Or is she? She finds Black Phillip and demands he speak to her. He asks her—
clip
Black Phillip: [Whispering] Woudst thou like to live deliciously?
april
—and transforms into a man, before having Thomasin undress and sign her name in a black book. Thomasin then joins a coven of other witches in the forest, and they dance the night away. [Audience cheers and applauds.] So—
mattie
She flies, too, you guys! She like, straight legit levitates, 'cause she's a fucking witch. [Audience laughs.]
april
Yeah! Again, it's not that bad. Um, so I—I wanted to get straight into, um, the—the setup of this movie. Things happen very quickly. There is not—there's not a lot of—I mean, we consider this to be almost a slow burn type of film, but the plot sets off very quickly. You get into, um, the baby Samuel missing, like, right away.
mattie
He's like, in the first ten minutes. In the beginning, you think the inciting incident is them being banished from their, um, settlement.
april
Mm-hm.
mattie
And it does seem like—I mean, it is an inciting incident, but in reality, like, shortly after that, [laughing] the baby goes missing like [popping noise]. I was like, "Balls on this director to just be like, 'And bam, the baby's missing, and here's your film!'" you know?
crosstalk
April: Yeah. Mattie: It was like— April: No wasted time. We— Mattie: —incredible.
april
Um, but let's get into the idea of—your—you begin a movie with a bang. This baby goes missing. What does that tell you in terms of, you know, how you kind of construct the stories that you tell? You know, because it could take a long time to get into it, but this is a—this is a movie that doesn't waste any time.
mattie
Right. And I super respect this film for that. Like, I am so impressed by the way this Robert Eggers does not waste any time. He gets, like, straight into it, and we're dealing with this trauma right away, that Thomasin lost the baby, that this family has suffered this loss. And it's—they're—the father and the mother are trying to wash it away like it didn't happen, because to be honest when you're in that—we live similarly to this still, in Lao. Many places are still like this. We just gotta move on. The next day is here. We gotta survive. And starting the film with a bang like this, I respect it so much because my films are [laughing] actually slow burn films. Like, slllooow.
mattie
[Mattie, April and the audience laugh.] But, like, they pay off, you know? You pay attention to all the details. You're there with my films from beginning to end. And then— I think my films are like, big bang films at the end. So you, like, add up all these small details. You follow the sm—someone once—do you guys know who Liam, um, Gavin is? He did A Dark Song. He's a good friend of mine, and he was like, "If someone were to"—thank you, I love Negronis! [Laughs.]
april
[Audience laughs.] A Negroni was just brought to the stage.
mattie
Yes.
annick mahnert
Aperol spritz.
mattie
Aperol spritz, mi scusa dai. Um, that's my producer. She's Swiss. [Laughs.] She knows. But, Liam said, "If you could describe your film like a rollercoaster ride, what would you say?" I'd be like, "It's a slow ascent. Like, you don't even realize you're headed uphill. And then in my film, suddenly you realize when you're looking off the cliff face, that you're about to fucking drop and there's probably no safety net."
mattie
That's my film. But Eggers is like, "I dropped you off the fucking cliff!" [Mattie and April laugh.] "And now how do we deal with this shit?"
mattie
And I love that! Like, I—I want to—I want to do that. Like, I really want to do that.
april
It's nice that you—that you have an appreciation and this admiration for someone who—who does a kind of opposite way of storytelling—
music
"Switchblade Comb," by Mobius VanChocStraw, is fading in.
crosstalk
April: —in that sense. Mattie: I love his storytelling.
mattie
Like, I res—I did not see The Lighthouse yet.
april
I haven't either.
mattie
But I'm dying to see it, because I love this film so much.
music
"Switchblade Comb" continues for a few moments, then fades out.
promo
[Music.] Travis McElroy: I'm Travis McElroy. Courtney Enlow: I'm Courtney Enlow. Brent Black: I'm Brent Black, and we're the hosts of Trends Like These. Courtney: Trends Like These is an Internet news show where we take the stories trending on social media, and go beyond the headlines! Travis: We'll give you the actual facts of the story, and not just the knee-jerk reactions. Brent: Plus we end every episode with a ray of hope that we call the Wi-Five of the week. Travis: So join us every Friday on Maximum Fun. Courtney: Or wherever you get your podcasts! Brent: Trends Like These. Real life friends talking Internet trends. [Music ends.]
music
"Switchblade Comb" plays again, then fades out as April begins speaking.
april
I would love to get into, um, working with children. This is a—I'm— [laughs] this is a big thing that happened for Robert Eggers was the fact that, you know, he's got a—a first feature film, and he's working with goats and children! [Scattered audience laughter.] They always tell you, don't do that for your first movie, and of course he brought people to the middle of nowhere—
mattie
Right.
april
—to work with goats and children. Um, so he was working with a lot of kids, and he said, quote, "Their parents had to read the script and know what they were getting into, and a lot of parents wouldn’t let their children audition for the film." "The young children never had the full understanding of what the story was, in order to protect them. Um, but yeah, the young kids, there was sides, line readings where we would do, um, so some scene work, but there was also, especially with the littlest boy, a lot of improv." So you have that—the small child, um, the—the twins, you can tell that like, the—
mattie
With Anya, right?
april
Mm-hm. Yeah. So they're—they apparently, those twins, when they got together, they had to cast them, you know, simultaneously to find like, the right chemistry with them. So it was a lot of telling them to, um, tell a story. So he sat them down and was like, "I need you guys to kind of tag team and tell me a story." And so they told him a story, and it was thrilling, and they just kind of kept bouncing it back and forth. The details in that was how he decided, was like, "These kids are hilarious and they obviously work well together."
april
Um, what's your—what's your experience with working any kids? Would you like to work with children?
mattie
This film tonight, today, after this podcast—
april
Really?!
mattie
—stars a child, [laughing] a nine-year-old boy, actually. He's like, the star of the film.
april
Yeah! So, let's get into that!
mattie
[Chuckles.] Um, to be honest, Annick, my producer, and my husband, who's my screenwriter and also a producer, they were nervous. You were less nervous, Annick, I have to admit. You were less nervous about that. [Annick says something we can't hear.] You didn't give a shit.
april
[Someone laughs.] Annik says, "I didn't care."
mattie
Um, my husband was so nervous, because the script is so dense for the little boy. And it's a tough film! Like, it's a very complex film. Um, it's very multilayered, [laughing] and many-faceted. But it's a tough film emotionally. This little boy basically suffers one of the largest traumas of his life. And abuse, as well. And my husband was just like, "What are we gonna do? How are we gonna get it? You gotta go find some 14 or 15-year-old boy that's just really stunted." [Mattie and an audience member laugh.] [Laughing] And—and I was like, "I mean, I do live in Laos. It's a possibility. Like, look at me. Like, shit. I'm like half the size of a human."
mattie
[Mattie, April, and the audience laugh.] No, but I found my little boy two days before the shoot. Two days before principal shooting.
april
That's such a witchy thing to say.
mattie
Mm.
april
[Spooky voice] "I found my little boy two days before the shooting." [Audience laughs.]
mattie
No, it was totally fucking witchy like that, too. [Laughing] Because, like—I never cast for films. I don't like casting. I don't—we don't have, uh, professional actors in Lao—Issa! Hi! I've been looking for you! [Laughs.]
issa lópez
[Offstage] Sorry, I—I know this woman! [Mattie laughs.]
mattie
She's in my Korean pop band that's not Korean. [Mattie and audience laugh.] [Audience begins to cheer and applaud.]
april
Issa López is—
issa
Aw, what the heck.
crosstalk
Mattie: Finally! [Laughs.] April: —has approached the stage.
april
[Laughs. Audience cheers and continues clapping.] For a hug. [April, Mattie, and Issa laugh.]
mattie
No, it's okay, she's like the frontman of my band. [Mattie and the audience laugh.]
mattie
[Laughs.] So—so with this—this little boy is like—my husband's like, "You have to cast!" And my Lao producer, Douangmany, was like, "You have to cast." Like, "You can't just do this thing, Mattie, where you go out in the street and be like, 'Would you like to be in a film? I met you in an ice cream shop! I'm for reals a filmmaker. Like, just sign this contract and I will pay you.'" [Audience laughs.] "'You must show up on time,'" you know, and he's like, "We can't do that shit with a child."
mattie
And I was like, "Oh, we can't? [Sinister voice] Would you like some candy, little kid?"
april
"Would you like—" [breaks off, laughing].
mattie
"Would you like to live deliciously?" [Laughing] You know? Like— [April and the audience laugh.] And so I fucking cast, you guys. We had like, 40 kids come over. Uh, they came over at once. I took them, like, in a big group. We played. I told some "Thank you, go home." Um, I whittled it down to a group of five kids, and we played some games. Um—I mean, it's just on the fly. We played games. And then I picked one, and then in the end, that one kid ended up with my main old man actor in a school project.
mattie
It was like a—a like, how do you say, like a P—PSA? Public Service Announcement—
april
Public—okay.
mattie
—thing. And he threw a fit during the shooting of this PSA. Threw a huge fit and just refused to work, and my—my actor, who'd worked with me in Dearest Sister before, calls me like, a few nights before principal photography, and he's like, [Laughing] "You can't use this kid! He's a little shit!" Like, "You can't use this kid!" [Audience laughs.] "He sucks! He really is—he's horrible! Like, he just, like, got on the ground, kicking and screaming and he, like, went home."
mattie
And I was like, "Ohhh fuuuck." [Audience laughs.] Because like, a PSA is a one-day shoot! A film is 28 16-hour days, you know?! And I'm like, "Oh, shit." He's like, "But I saw this little boy. He's really cute. He's dark like me." Because the characters have to look like each other, and in Lao we're very multi-ethnic, like, mixed, and so we range from like, light colors to dark colors.
mattie
And I needed a boy that looks like my old man. And he was like, "And he didn't cry once, and he was super nice." And so I was like—we literally—I hung up the phone, my producer and I got into a fucking car, and we drove to the village that this little boy lived in. [Pause.] It was nuts. So like, we went there, and then all the parents and all the aunties and uncles were like, "Oh my god, Mattie Do!"
mattie
They like, kinda knew who I was, so they were like, "She's here! She's gonna, like, give our family some money." It's like, "Cry for her! Can you cry? Pretend to cry! Can you dance? Sing her a song! Sing her a song!" It was like, "Dance, monkey, dance!" [Mattie and the audience are laughing.] And I was like, [calmly] "Do you wanna go play?" Like, "Let's go play."
mattie
And so I just took him away from the adults, and we just had a little talk. We played pretend. I let his little brother come with me. His little brother was like three years old. And we played some games. And I was like—I liked him. He liked me. For me, working with kids is more about your personal relationship. If they trust you, they will be willing to go the extra mile for you. As long as they trust you. And so I just got to his level, and I was like—I—it was like Black Phillip, was like, "Do you wanna live deliciously?"
mattie
I was like, "What would you do..." [Audience member laughs.] "...if I put you in a movie, what would you want? Like, anything. What—what do you want? Would you like to live deliciously?" [Laughs.] [Audience member laughs.]
mattie
And he was like, "Well, I'd like a fucking bike." [Mattie and the audience laugh.] And it's like, "What color?" He's like, "I don't know, maybe red or rainbow."
mattie
I was like, "I can do that." [Mattie and the audience laugh.] "I can do that." 'Cause reality is if, when I give him his actor's salary, he doesn't know. He doesn't see it. It goes into his food, his clothes, his school tuition, like—
april
Mm-hm.
mattie
—he doesn't experience that. His parents and his family does. So I was like, "You will get a bike." [Laughs.] [Audience laughs.] And then two days later, he was fucking on set. Shooting. He had no concept of the script, because the script was super complicated, and I was just feeding him bits of the story and what he needed to do in this scene. And what, um—we improvise a lot on my films. So I'd be like—
april
Mm-hm.
mattie
—"What would you feel if this person said this to you, and they really meant that?" And he'd be like, "I'd be like this." I was like, "Okay, let's shoot that. Like this." And my husband was just shocked! But the reality is, like, he shouldn't have doubted me. I'm a fucking ballet teacher. [Audience laughs.]
mattie
You know? Like, my job was to make six-year-olds, like, plié on stage for six minutes, and like, do the little turn in the same direction all at once. So like, yeah, I got that! [Laughs.] [Audience laughs.]
april
I gotta say, the—okay, so we look at your—well, you'll see The Long Walk. But if you look at The Long Walk, and if you look at what Eggers was doing with the children, you have two directors who are putting children through terrible things. [Audience member laughs.] Um, and—and that's—
mattie
[Laughing] Super terrible.
april
The process of doing that, obviously, you want to protect the children. Um, and—but you need to get that performance out of them. Um, Eggers said, quote, because I'm gonna talk about the possession scene that we—where he's—
crosstalk
April: —possess—Caleb is possessed, and— Mattie: Oh, that was incredible. That was incredible. April: —and that performance is really wonderful.
april
But this is what Eggers said about that. Um, he said—uh, where is it? "We were going into deep, dark, horrific psychological places, and we had to create a safe environment to crawl out of that stuff. With the little children, they had to be protected. They couldn't be going into deep, dark places. These are places they should not be going. So they had to have a Disney-fied understanding of what the film was. And for Harvey, who plays Caleb, it's like a dance. We worked on the possession scene more than any other scene, and the parents, particularly Ralph Ineson, um, were so damn helpful.
april
And Harvey's father was helpful, too. They really worked with him, just drilling and drilling and drilling, because," and this is the very important part, "I knew that if that scene didn't work, the film wouldn't work. A lot of things hinged on that."
mattie
It's so true.
april
"So I'm grateful to everyone for being so collaborative in that scene, and really supporting Harvey and keeping him safe psychologically while bringing that to the screen." We have a clip of that, just to remind everyone, too.
sound effect
[Whoosh.]
clip
Caleb: [Screaming / choking] She desires of my blood! Mercy & Jonas: She desires of my blood! Caleb: SATAN UPON ME! Mercy & Jonas: [Louder] She desires of my blood!
clip
[Something is rattling.] Caleb: [Yelling unintelligibly] Mercy & Jonas: She desires of my blood! [Continue repeating.] Caleb: [Yells again, then] SHE SENDS THEM UPON ME!
sound effect
[Whoosh.]
april
So intense! [Audience chatter of agreement.] One of the techniques that Eggers was using on set, too, is that acting technique of, um, getting your physical self, um, ready for it. So even if you're not—you're—don't have an understanding of what's happening in the scene, you know, like the kids were protected from that stuff, he would be like, "Breathe very quickly until you're almost gonna pass out."
april
Like the—[briefly hyperventilates]. And then you get panicked, and then you—you look scared, because your body feels scared, and so he was—he was doing, um, you know, very kind of basic, uh, theatre techniques—
mattie
Mm.
april
—to get those kids working.
mattie
He came from a theatre background, I had heard. [Mattie agrees with April emphatically as April speaks.]
april
Exactly. Yeah. He was, um, he was in production design. And costuming before that, which obviously you could tell, there's such a—
mattie
It's a beautiful film. The art direction is incredible in that film.
april
Um, the—the art direction is wonderful, but I do think that we should say that one of the things that he always gets asked—asked about all the time is his production design. And he doesn't really—like, he cares about it, obviously. And he cares about authenticity. But he was a little bit—kinda nervous or weirded out by the fact that people were more focusing on that, as though it was just authenticity for authenticity's sake.
crosstalk
April: As opposed to— Mattie: I'm so fucking sick of this "authenticity" word, like, for reals.
mattie
[Laughs.] I'm sorry, like—it's a movie about a goddamn witch, and it's, like, fucking settlers—my movie's a time travel serial killer film set in rural Lao. I had some random person tell—say that my film comes from deep-seated inauthenticity. And I'm like, "...Okay?" Like, maybe it does, because like, how many time travelers do you know? [Mattie, April, and the audience laugh.]
april
[Laughing] Right.
mattie
Like, tell me! I—I would like—I would like to meet them! Not if they're a serial killer, though. [Laughs.] You know?
april
Yeah, yeah.
mattie
Like, for reals. We make cinema. We make magic. We make escapism. Yes, it's imbued with our personal feelings. It's imbued with authenticity and with our perspective and our bias, but let us make our magic on screen! And that was fucking magic.
april
Let me—let me also give a—an Eggers quote about authenticity. He said: "Basically, with authenticity for authenticity's sake, there's nothing really important about it. I mean, who cares? But for the designers, for the key crew members, having a golden fish so you all know what you're fishing for, that's exciting. And that made a very high bar for everyone. Everyone was super pumped to live up to that standard, especially since we knew how demanding it would be, making a movie on this scale." So even though you think, you know, like, he's doing the authenticity because it's like, uh, it's gonna be great, it's gonna look great—for him it was more about banding the—the crew together to attempt to get them all on board of "this is what we're searching for."
april
Even if it wasn't attainable. Even if it seemed insane.
mattie
He's not a historian!
april
No, he's not.
mattie
You know? [Laughs.]
april
He just wanted everyone to get together to have a goal.
mattie
Right.
april
When you, like—when you—when you have a goal together and you're all working towards the same thing, it feels more united.
mattie
There's this film called Blood Quantum that played at TIFF, and it's made by—I don't know him, but he knows my husband. Um, he helped my husband with some research. Jeff Barnaby, and he's a—indigenous person. And he—there were these comments made about the film that were like, "Oh my god, like, he missed an opportunity! He could have done more indigenous, like, story. He could have been more authentic, blah blah blah." And he made this amazing comment, where he was like, "This is, like, a 95-minute film. If you think I can unravel 300 years of indigenous oppression in a 95-minute film, like, you've come to the wrong film. [Laughs.] Like, you're in the—you're in the wrong place." Like—and this is it! Like, I love this film. It's incredible. And what is authentic is the feeling of Thomasin's isolation, the family's isolation, and the fact that she's being outcast by the people that should love her, and that should trust her most.
music
"Switchblade Comb" begins fading in.
mattie
And that she's chosen the dark side! Sorry, Phillip. [Laughs.] Because no one trusted her, and no one respected her, as a young woman. The terror is so real to this family. [Music continues for a moment, then fades out.]
promo
[Music.] Lisa Hanawalt: Hey, if you like your podcasts to be focused and well-researched, and your podcast hosts to be uncharismatic, unhorny strangers who have no interest in horses, then this is not the podcast for you. Emily Heller: Yeah, and what's your deal? [Lisa laughs.] I'm Emily. Lisa: I'm Lisa. Emily: Our show's called Baby Geniuses! Lisa: And its hosts are horny adult idiots. We discover weird Wikipedia pages every episode. Emily: We discuss institutional misogyny! Lisa: We ask each other the dumbest questions, and our listeners won't stop sending us pictures of their butts. Emily: We haven't asked them to stop! But they also aren't stopping. Lisa: Join us on Baby Geniuses. Emily: Every other week on MaximumFun.org. [Music ends.]
music
"Switchblade Comb" begins playing, then fades out as April speaks.
april
I wanna get to something that you had actually mentioned before, which is the cinematography, the shot composition here, 'cause it's really beautiful. Uh, cinematographer's, uh, Jarin Blaschke, who worked with Eggers before on many short films, and I believe also now shot The Lighthouse, which will be coming out. Um, he said, quote—this is Jarin saying this—um, "What we do is he goes off and makes a shot list, and I do the same, and then we kind of meet and build these things together with both of our ideas. But at least on my end, the shots just kind of came out of me and what sort of felt right.
april
I think perhaps we tend to do movements on the Z-axis. You know, less lateral. We do lateral moves, too, but I think things that can kind of pull you toward things against your will—" Something which—
mattie
Ha!
april
—she said.
mattie
That's fucking funny. [Laughs.]
april
Um, "Hopefully that’s the feeling sometimes. I think I read a review somewhere that said the camera never moves. I’ll take that as a compliment, but we were building track all day long—
crosstalk
April: "—every day—" Mattie: Dude, that camera is always moving. I don't know, like— April: "—and the cameras constantly were moving." Yeah.
mattie
It's always moving, that camera.
april
But that's the thing! He's—he's talking about the impression of stillness that they're doing with the moving camera. If—he says that he's taking it as a compliment. It's so clear that the—the moves are so precise. And I like what he's talking about, the Z-axis, too.
mattie
Yeah, and it's subtle. Um—it's because he's always on tracks, and on a carrello, so, uh—fuck, what's the word for carrello in English?
april
... I don't know. [Light laughter and mild dismay from the audience, Annick or Issa might be saying something.]
mattie
Carrello...
april
Are there any, uh, other Lao people here—okay.
mattie
Like, the cart on the train tracks. Dolley! Dolley. It's because he's always on this fucking dolley, so it is still, but depending on the speed, he's got this like, slow push in. And that's that, like, [sucks air in, hissing], that—that pull, that hypnotizing tug that pulls you in. It's an—it's incredible. Like, I love his DOP.
april
And, uh, Eggers's—his—apparently his only direction to Jarin Blaschke was to, um, make it feel like you're transporting an audience with, um—every frame is like we're articulating a personal memory. That's what he was saying. [Mattie sighs.] Every frame has to be articulating a personal memory.
mattie
I felt like every frame was a painting. It felt like a Renoir or something. Not Renoir—
april
Yeah!
mattie
—I'm sorry, that's the fucking wrong artist, Rembrandt.
april
Yeah.
mattie
Rembrandt. It felt like a Rembrandt painting. I loved it. Like, especially the moment—spoiler alert, when she stabs her mother. [Laughs.] And, um, there's this wide shot of just the house in the background. And this house that you now know is not occupied, is empty, because the entire family has fallen apart. As she's kneeling over her mother, and she's splattered in blood, and her mother's body is like, lifeless.
mattie
And you realize that the house has nothing. She has nothing. And it's captured in this—it really is like a painting. It—
crosstalk
April: Yeah, you can sense that isolation. Mattie: It's incredible.
april
Or do—how do you—how do you approach working with your cinematographer? [Beat.] [Mattie bursts out laughing.] What—
crosstalk
Mattie: [Laughing] Annick is laughing. April: So her producer— Mattie: We fired our first cinematographer.
annick
Exactly one year ago. Exactly. That's when this happened. [Something clatters over the last few words.]
mattie
For reals. You're right.
april
Wait, what happened?
mattie
[Beat.] We let him go, is what Annick has asked me to say in public. [Audience laughs.]
crosstalk
April: That's such a kind way to say it. Mattie: On opening—on opening day of Fantastic Fest—
mattie
—Annick had to leave her festival duties, which, as you know, she works with Fantastic Fest, not only in the capacity of bringing her films, but also, um, as a programmer, so she's doing intros, she's like, really fucking busy. And she actually had to leave the cinema and make phone calls to ff—let go— [Mattie, April, and the audience laugh.]
annick
Part ways.
mattie
Part ways! With this, uh, DOP who we had "creative differences," is the word, with. Like, he just—it was horrible. And I remember, I was sobbing, I was like, "The film is over! We shot five days! We can't recoup that!" Like— And—everybody got scared. Like, everybody got cold feet. Everybody was like, "This film is never coming back." And Annick was like, "I will find you a DOP." Todd Brown was like, "I will find you a DOP!"
crosstalk
Mattie: And I had like— April: And you were shooting in Laos, right?
mattie
I was shooting in Laos! Like, you have to like, be a certain brand of hardcore to come to Lao and shoot, [laughing] you know? Like, really! Like, you want craft tea? It's like, "Well, [laughing] we got some berries growing in that bush over there." Like, "You can try 'em out." [Mattie cracks up, the audience laughs.] You know, it's like, "I got bit by a mosquito!"
mattie
"Well, I hope you don't get the dengue." [Mattie and audience laugh.]
crosstalk
April: ...So you had insurance on your— Mattie: No— April: —[laughing] set, right?
mattie
Right, so like—I'm like, it's—and to be honest, when we started, like, um—when we started auditioning all these DOPs, it wasn't about the reel. I actually really fucking hate reels, so like, note to industry people out there. Don't ever send Mattie Do a reel, because she will just, like, shoot you down. Um, I like full works. Like, you send me what you shot that's a full, complete work, because anybody can assemble one minute of two-second shots that look hot and slick, right? But—so after I decided on the kinds of people, like, I kinda like, their style, their aesthetic—um, Annick and I started the hard sell.
mattie
We're like, "You don't wanna go to Lao. It's like making a film on your worst camping trip ever." [Laughs.] Like, "It's hot. It's humid. You're gonna have the diarrheas. The food is really, [laughing] really spicy." Like— "You're not gonna, like—it's not gonna be cool. You're gonna be on a dirt road. You're gonna get sunburnt. Like, you don't wanna come to Lao." And then the motherfuckers that were like, "I wanna come to Lao!" we're like, "Okay, okay. Next?"
mattie
[Audience, April, and Mattie laugh.] [Laughing] Like—let's narrow this down! And in the end, um, I had like 20 people. I'd narrowed it down. This DOP, who is incredible, Matthew Macar, is wonderful. Um, he worked similarly with me and Eggers. He had two days to prep. Literally, David Lawson, Aaron Moorhead, and Justin Benson told Annick, "We have this guy. He needs his first feature."
mattie
And he recommended this guy who was willing to work in a country with no money, no technology, no infrastructure. I was—he was like, "What kind of diffusers have you got?" I was like, "Well, we got this bag—" [Audience member laughs] "—from the grocery store. It's white? And semi, like, transparent, so like, it's like a diffuser, right? That's diffusion."
mattie
[Audience member and Mattie laugh.] And he was like, "Okay, that's cool. I got it. I mean, like, wax paper would be better 'cause it wouldn't melt, [laughing] but—" [Audience laughs.] And we fucking made a film.
mattie
But to be honest, April, like, he came—he got off the plane, um, in Bangkok. We went and picked him up. We got some new camera gear, and I gave him like a 55-page shot list. And I was like, "This is my shot list." And then I gave him another 30-page document. "This is my scene breakdowns." And I was like, "You're never gonna see a lens selected in here because I'm not a fucking technical person. I don't come from a film background, I come from a ballet background.
mattie
And I'm gonna talk about the camera in an emotional way, like, 'the way the camera moves in here.' And if you can't handle that, there's the fucking door. We'll find someone else." And he's like, "No, I got this! I got this!" [Laughs.] And it worked out beautifully, actually.
april
Wow.
mattie
Yeah.
april
So—you know, it's—it's good that that person was fff—let go. [Audience laughs.]
mattie
He straight up said, "Mattie Do, you speak about six languages, but you don't speak the language of cinema." [Gasps, "ohhh"s, and incredulous laughter from the audience.] For reals, you guys. He said "You don't speak the language of cinema." [Another peal of incredulous laughter from an audience member.]
mattie
And I was like, "Well I don't know what fucking dick language that is, but I don't care to speak it!" [Mattie laughs, audience laughs, applauds, and cheers.]
april
Hopefully you can hear people clapping in the audience. Um—
mattie
I like them. [Laughs.]
april
So, uh, that's a great place to, um, kinda wrap things up and introduce Issa again. Because Issa López is—
crosstalk
Mattie: [Laughing] There's Issa! April: —going to join us on stage.
april
Issa, could you come up here?
issa
Yes— [the rest is drowned out by music and audience cheering].
music
"Switchblade Comb."
mattie
I don't need one.
issa
But I can talk very loudly! [April or Mattie laughs.]
crosstalk
Mattie: Issa is like, my penpal. Issa: Yes. Music: [Stops.] Mattie: My forever sister. [Laughs.]
issa
Yeah, and—but we have never met in the flesh.
mattie
Yeah.
crosstalk
Issa: And, um—though I suspected— Mattie: Now we're like, fleshy and stuff! [Mattie, Issa, and the audience laugh.]
issa
So here we are. And, uh—and April and I, uh, know each other since the very birth of this podcast, right?
april
Yeah.
issa
And, um—
mattie
Awesome.
april
Issa was our—um—you're stepping on my cord!
issa
I'm so sorry!
april
[Mock angry] God, Issa! [Issa laughs.] Issa was the first, um—uh, guest that we ever had! To record. Um—
issa
True.
april
—even though it wasn't the first episode released. But we've—yeah, you've been there since the beginning! So—
crosstalk
Issa: Yeah! Yeah, I'm— April: You're the best. Issa: I'm—thank you! I'm—
crosstalk
April: To— Issa: I'm one of the—you're the best, too! We're one— Mattie: [Laughing] You're the—
issa
I'm one of the Switchblade original—original—original—original sisters!
crosstalk
Issa: So, yeah. April: Yeah! Issa: The original! [Laughs.] Mattie: You're an original cast member!
issa
Yes.
mattie
Jeez, it's better than our band. [Laughs.]
issa
No, it's—nothing is better than our band.
crosstalk
Issa: But okay—so— Mattie: Our band rocks. Our band fucking rocks. Yeah. [Mattie and Issa laugh.]
april
Um, so Issa's up here because, uh, we're gonna wrap up this show with a little game. Earlier, uh, Casey had introduced, uh—producer Casey, our peasant woman— [Audience laughter] —had introduced our game of "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?", uh, where everyone had to write down the thing that they would—uh, the most frivolous thing that they would sell their soul to the devil for. And—
mattie
I mean, it doesn't have to be frivolous. I—what I love about Issa's film is like, she has the three wishes, you know, and she fucking makes those wishes.
issa
Yeah.
mattie
Estrella makes those wishes.
issa
Yeah, I know, I know, but, uh—
mattie
You guys only have one. [Laughs.]
issa
Yes. I will insist on frivolity, though. [Laughing] I think it's going to make for—[breaks off, laughing]. [Mattie laughs.] Don't write "to save the world." It's beyond saving. [Mattie and the audience laugh.]
april
Yeah!
issa
Go for something really selfish and decadent.
crosstalk
Issa: Let's do that. Mattie: I wanna swim in a pool of champagne!
april
Yeah! Was it—so wait. What would you—what's the most frivolous thing that you guys would sell your soul to the devil for?
issa
You go first. [Beat.]
mattie
Oh, shit. Like, I'm—I'm a simple human being. I'm just like, "I would like to—" It—it's—you know, after seeing your film, it seems like every wish would go bad.
crosstalk
Issa: They do! Mattie: Because that's how Lucifer does it, right? Issa: That's how he works. So— Mattie: Yeah, that's how it would work.
issa
—ruin yourself.
mattie
I would like to have a comfortable life with my Mango again. But then Mango would probably, like, come out of the ground, like all "[rasping noises]." Eugh, like decaying and zombie if I made that wish.
crosstalk
Mattie: You know? Issa: That is true. Mattie: Mango's dead.
mattie
He's my dog. He died at 17 years old.
issa
Yeah.
mattie
He's beautiful.
issa
Which—it's, uh—your Twitter handle's inspired by Mango.
mattie
Every—like, my entire life is inspired by Mango. She's met Mango, [laughing] in his various stages of being alive. [Laughing] Like, you saw him in zombie stage even, right, Annick? But yeah. Like, I would love to have a wonderful life with Mango again.
issa
Now I'm going to sound really frivolous.
april
Yeah, do it! Do it! [Issa laughs.]
mattie
[Laughing] Shit!
crosstalk
April: Let it be just, like, the pettiest thing. Issa: Thank you—thank you for being touching and true to your feelings.
issa
I would love to have a singing voice. Come on!
crosstalk
Mattie: Ohhh! I can't for shit— Issa: Come on, guys! Right— Mattie: No, Issa, I can't sing for shit either. Like— Issa: Exactly!
crosstalk
Mattie: Yeah. Issa: But wouldn't you love just to be able to—I'm not going to do it because I can't. Mattie: Don't do it. [Mattie and the audience laugh.]
issa
Yeah.
april
Oh!
crosstalk
Mattie: No, we'll do it sometime. April: Should we cheer until Issa sings something? [Mixed reactions from the audience.]
issa
No, please, please—
mattie
[Laughing] Look at—she's shaking her head! She's like, "No, don't do it!"
issa
The funny thing is I knew that wishes go wrong immediately. [Laughing] So—
mattie
You would sing like fucking Ariel and then Ursula would be like, "I own your soul."
crosstalk
Mattie: You know? Like, that's how it is. Issa: I don't sing for shit, it's true! I don't!
mattie
Oh my god, so like—we both work with Annick, and like, the three of us—none of us can sing.
annick
I can.
mattie
No, you can't! [Issa and the audience laugh.]
crosstalk
Mattie: You got—you got kicked out of a— April: [Laughing] Annick disputes this.
mattie
You got kicked out of a karaoke bar in Korea! [The audience erupts into laughter.] Like, they kicked you the fuck out!
crosstalk
April: Alright, Annick—Annick is gonna sing tonight. Issa: Annick is going to sing!
annick
Just for the record, I was banned from the karaoke at a Sitges Film Festival because I was so awesome. [Laughs.] [Audience applauds.]
mattie
She actually blew a speaker singing "Wrecking Ball." [Laughs.] [Audience laughs.] And they were like, [laughing] "Get this bitch out of here." [Audience whoops and laughs.]
mattie
And we—I wasn't there, actually. I have to admit. I wasn't there. Efram was probably there. [laughing] They got kicked the fuck out because of her.
april
IIII love that. Uh, so Annick clearly doesn't need a singing voice. So we—we've got a few of our top selections here. Um, Issa's going to read these aloud, and she's also going to judge them. And she will be picking the winner. So—
issa
Wow!
april
These are for you.
issa
Okay! Oh, wow, that's, uh—I'm happy to read, but—
crosstalk
Issa: —the game is so difficult! Mattie: Oh my god, that's such a logical one! Issa: Okay, so we have "a perpetually clean apartment." That's very, very smart. April: It's pretty good!
issa
That's good.
mattie
It's good, but it's not very frivolous, you guys.
issa
Uh, "chicken pot pie." [Audience laughter.]
crosstalk
Mattie: I can do that for you. I—I can— Issa: I was going to say, I need to see the soul, because we can probably buy these. Mattie: Yeah, we can do that.
issa
Ummm—
mattie
"A Klondike bar." [Audience laughs.]
issa
A Klondike bar.
april
Yes! What would you do for a Klondike bar?
mattie
[Singing] What would you do for a Klondike bar?
crosstalk
Issa: Okay. And what is this? Mattie: I can't sing, either. [Laughs.] Issa: I—I also wanna have good eyesight, so— April: Alright.
crosstalk
Mattie: What is that? I can't fucking read that. April: This says—oh! Is this "great, shiny hair"? [Audience laughs.]
april
Yeah!
mattie
Ohhh my god! That—that—that's a thing! So that's a real thing, like—
issa
Yes, I considered it.
crosstalk
Issa: I—It was on my list. [Laughs.] Mattie: Ah—it—it wasn't on my list, but like—
mattie
—for reals, you guys have—do you—do you guys know Paris by Night? It's, um— [Inaudible response from an audience member.] Ooh! Some Asian person knows Paris by Night! [Issa or April laughs.]
mattie
It's like a Vietnamese variety show. And all the celebrity girls—singers—
issa
Uh-huh.
mattie
—not like us—[laughs].
issa
They have both!
mattie
They have this, like—I call it the Vietnamese curtain hair. It hangs and it shines like fucking velvet, and I'm like, "I want Vietnamese curtain hair!" so like—
crosstalk
Mattie: —maybe you're right. Issa: Yeah. That's good. April: It's good. Mattie: It's a good wish. It's a good wish.
issa
"A free upgrade from regular to a gel manicure." [Audience laughter.]
crosstalk
Issa: That is also the— Mattie: Bitch! I can do your manicure! I am Vietnam—half Vietnamese! I'd be the best manicurist ever! Issa: We're buying souls today! We're buying souls.
april
Alright. So—
mattie
Did you see my nails? Did you see my nails, like—
april
So you two, can you get together—um—so Mattie and Issa, can you decide—?
mattie
I feel bad about the gel manicure thing, because like, for reals, legit, I could do that right now. [Laughs.]
issa
You can?!
mattie
I can. Like, I'm awesome at manicures.
issa
I'm going to defer to the woman who's buying a soul today.
mattie
Yeah! You can sell your soul for a Shellac manicure—
issa
Exactly.
mattie
—CND, baby. [Laughs.]
crosstalk
April: Alright, so that—are we— Mattie: Yeah! Issa: Yes. Yes. April: We're going with gel manicure?
april
Who—who did the manicure? Who's got the—?
mattie
No! [Louder] Nooo!
katie rythe
YEAHHHH!
mattie
NO!
april
Oh, we've got—we've got Katie Rythe who did the manicure! Katie, can you come up here? [Audience is cheering and applauding wildly.]
issa
Oh! That is the best person!
april
Folks may know Katie from, uh— [Audience is still cheering raucously, it's unclear if April said something that is completely drowned out or if she gestured at something.] Katie—Katie, can you also—we—we have—we would love for you to sign Mattie's book. If you can—
katie
No.
april
She's got something for you to sign.
mattie
Can someone give me a pen, please?
april
Just put your name and—
mattie
Annick, you're a producer. You have a pen. I know you do.
annick
[Laughs.] Yeah.
april
So Katie Rythe is kneeling, um, with—with her Black—Black Phillip, uh, plushie.
mattie
And I'm—I'm gonna do it just like in the movie, like— [Whispering] Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? [Laughs.] [Laughter and cheering from the audience.]
mattie
[Whispering] Sign your name. She can write. Not like Thomasin. Thomasin was illiterate, so— [Mattie and the audience laugh.]
april
Authenticity. [Someone laughs.]
mattie
Now you—now you're one of usss, [laughing] right?
crosstalk
April: One of usss! Mattie: One of us! One of us! [Scattered applause.]
april
Alright! And that's our show for today. I wanna thank everyone for coming. [The audience starts cheering and continues as April speaks.] I wanna thank Issa López—
issa
Thank you.
april
—and I would like to thank Mattie Do. Mattie Do's movie Dearest Sister is available on Shudder, and her new film, The Long Walk is, uh—
issa
[Inaudible].
april
—working the festivals, and it will be out, uh, someday, and just keep us—keep tuned for that one. Thank you guys so much for coming.
crosstalk
Issa: Thank you for coming. Mattie: Thank you, guys! Issa: Thank you for coming! Mattie: Thank you! Khob chai!
music
Fast-paced rock starts playing, then fades out.
music
[A cheerful guitar chord.]
speaker 2
Comedy and culture.
speaker 3
Artist owned—
speaker 4
—audience supported.
About the show
Switchblade Sisters is a podcast providing deep cuts on genre flicks from a female perspective. Every week, screenwriter and former film critic April Wolfe sits down with a phenomenal female film-maker to slice-and-dice a classic genre movie – horror, exploitation, sci-fi and many others! Along the way, they cover craft, the state of the industry, how films get made, and more. Mothers, lock up your sons, the Switchblade Sisters are coming!
Follow @SwitchbladePod on Twitter and join the Switchblade Sisters Facebook group. Email them at switchbladesisters@maximumfun.org.
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