LITTLE SISTER Written and Directed by Zach Clark Starring Addison Timlin, Ally Sheedy, Keith Poulson and Peter Hedges 91 minutes, Color, English, USA Distributed in Canada by FILMS WE LIKE Bookings: [email protected] Press Kit and High Rez Images http://filmswelike.com/films/little-sister filmswelike Synopsis October, 2008. Young nun Colleen is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother announces, “Your brother is home.” On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, NC, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abounds. Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war. During Colleen’s visit, tensions rise and fall with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR. Little Sister is a sad comedy about family – a schmaltz- free, pathos-drenched, feel good movie for the little goth girl inside us all. Q&A with Writer/ Director Zach Clark How did the idea for "Little Sister" originate? I had ideas for some of the characters and a general story arch for a while, but wasn't really finding a way to make them work together. Our producer Melodie Sisk took me down to Asheville, NC to see her parents' house, and some of the homes and businesses of their friends, and those became the setting for the story - everything started falling into place after that. What was your original conception of the tone? How did you decide what balance between sad and funny to strike? This is loosely speaking the tone of everything I've done, and probably the closest I've got to a consistent point of view on life - that just because things are sad, doesn't mean they aren't also funny, and vice versa. I think that's a positive thing. If we can see humor in a sad situation in a movie, then maybe we can see it a little more in our own lives, too, and that will help us get through those tough moments. In LITTLE SISTER, the characters are more in on the jokes than in my previous films, and I think a lot of the comes from the family, and the shared senses of humor that can exist between siblings or parents and children. Can you talk about the inspiration for the political undertones to the film? Why did you decide to set it just prior to the 2008 election? A lot of the film deals with the expectations that children have of their parents and vice versa, and what happens when those expectations aren't fulfilled and you have to get to know your family as actual human beings, and not your Mother, Father, Sister, and Brother. I think we can put a similar set of expectations on political candidates, and I certainly did that in 2008 with Barack Obama. There was so much expectation and hope and positivity going into to that election, and then of course not all the campaign promises were fulfilled, and we had to recalibrate our expectations, and see Obama as a human being and not a political savior. The period setting puts these things in the background, and hopefully those themes can seep in a little without having to say everything out loud. What inspired the decision to make Colleen a former goth girl? For the longest time, way back before anything was really taking shape, I wanted to make a film whose main character was goth. So, in this case, I think the decision was more to make her a nun. My mother is an Episcopal Priest, and I used to listen to Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson at youth group events, so those two things aren't really so separate for me. So much of goth culture is built on an inversion or fetishization of Christian iconography, that the transition between the two is actually pretty natural. There is a shot in the film where Colleen takes an upside down cross hanging on her bedroom wall and turns it right side up, and that's the expression of that transition in the film. How did you decide on the music in the film? Were you a heavy metal fan? Two songs were written into the script, "Have You Seen Me?" by GWAR, and "Romeo's Distress" by Christian Death. I took my brother to see his first GWAR concert for his birthday when he was a teenager, and for several years after that it was an annual tradition, and since I was away at college at the time, a special bonding experience for us. "Have You Seen Me?" (and its incredible music video) was my first introduction to GWAR, so the choice of that song specifically is very, very personal for me. There really isn't a more iconic goth song than Christian Death's "Romeo's Distress" and I wanted to include it to anchor the film in goth's history, and because it's an absolutely amazing song. I came across The Subtonix on a mix album while we were fundraising, and knew immediately I had to use it in the film, and then discovered the lead singer Jessie Evans had another pre-2008 band called The Vanishing, who were also phenomenal and whose songs "White Walls" and "Terror, I've Been Dying to Meet You" are in the film. While scouring the internet for some under the radar music, I came across Dark Entires records, who reissue lots of European Dark Wave music from the 80s. The song that plays over the Halloween party, "Happy Funeral" by Kitchen and the Plastic Spoons, and the end credits song, "Moans" by Parade Ground, were both reissued by Dark Entries. In addition to the goth/metal songs, Melodie's father Ray Sisk is an accomplished country singer/songwriter and he contributed two original songs, including one written specifically for the film. They play in the bathtub scene with the parents and later at the anniversary party. In what ways - if any - is Colleen inspired by you? Are there specific elements in this film borne out of personal experience? I always say that my films are deeply autobiographical, except I haven't actually done anything that any of the characters do. I have a sister named Colleen, a brother named Jacob, a mother named Joani, and father named Bill. The family's last name is Lunsford, which is the last name of Melodie's mother and stepfather. But no character is based on their namesake in any direct way. There are moments, stories, and situations in the film which for all intents and purposes are "true" but they've been put into a blender to create something new. How did you conceive the character -- and the look -- of Jacob? Years ago I saw a photo exhibit that followed around a wounded soldier whose face had been reconstructed, and it always stuck with me. There are a lot of films about wounded veterans, but they're usually in a wheelchair, or have like a really nasty scar but are usually allowed to remain traditionally attractive by movie standards. That has always rung a little false with me, so I really wanted to commit to the look of it being his whole face, which to me also really motivates his isolation from the world and even from his family. Special effects make-up artist Brian Spears did the prosthetic design, and based it entirely off the real thing. In no way is LITTLE SISTER a horror film, but in dealing with goth/metal culture, I wanted to engage with horror cinema, and special effects make-up is a part of that, in addition to the Halloween setting, the theremin on the soundtrack, and more. Can you discuss the casting process for Addison, Ally and Keith? Did you know them before, and if so, what about them made you think of them for these roles? I've known Keith for a few years and have always enjoyed his work as an actor, especially in Nathan Silver's STINKING HEAVEN. I had him in mind while writing the film and he's so great in the movie. I didn't know Addison or Ally prior to their involvement with the film. Did the cast know each other prior to filming? Was there a rehearsal process? Most of the cast met each other during the course of the shoot. I think Keith and Kristin Slaysman got a beer before shooting started, but most everyone else met after shooting began. There wasn't much rehearsing that I can remember unless there were was a camera move we wanted to work out first. How/why do you think setting the film in Asheville was important to the story/film? The Asheville setting really made the movie come alive for me. You really can't better production value than the Asheville mountains in the fall. Melodie and I both went to college in North Carolina, which is where we met, so the state has a lot of meaning and history for both of us. It's also this little pocket of liberalism in a traditionally conservative state, which played into the underlying political ideas in the film. Can you talk about how you envisioned the aesthetic for the film, and what the collaboration/discussion between you and DP Daryl Pittman was like? Daryl has photographed all of my films and was also a producer on VACATION!, WHITE REINDEER, and LITTLE SISTER.