Oh The Places You’ll Go: Independent Filmmaker Edition

After spending 4 years in film school, walking out with abundant knowledge about the history of film, experience working with the university’s Blackmagic camera, and using words like mis en scene when discussing films, how do you have your movie? How do you get a film into Sundance? Where do you find your funds? Where do you start?

If privileged enough to receive a formal education in filmmaking, the curriculum always seems to forget to include key details on making a film. As major studios live in the past coming out with reboots and remakes, how do filmmakers tell their original stories independently?

While studying at Northeastern, Catherine Argyrople discovered her passion for storytelling. Instead of going to film school, she opted to go to the best place to learn how to make movies and film sets. By graduation, she had worked on various productions and made several short films.  She took the knowledge from those experiences into producing her debut feature, Growing Pains.  The film follows two childhood best friends the summer before their freshman year of high school, capturing the hardships of growing up and friendships fading.  

After a long 3 year journey, the film had its world premiere in Argyrople's hometown at the Boston International Film Festival. I had the pleasure of talking with Argyrople to discuss the challenges independent filmmakers face and the creative freedom to provide representation where Hollywood lacks.

Growing Pains addresses hardships most often faced in adolescence (and often follows us through adulthood), such as mental health, sexuality, and drifting of friendships. What was the process of building these characters’ stories authentically?  

I am big on authenticity– it informs how I show up in the world and my work. I wanted to create a diverse and authentic story about teenage girls that shows two unique life experiences that feel true to key struggles and themes that young women face in their daily lives. I am grateful that my writing partner, Mariana Fabian, had a similar passion for authentic representation. We both felt that many depictions of teen girls feel very inauthentic to real life. Whether that be from overdramatizing storylines and events to harmful portrayals that oversexualize or age young girls inappropriately, illustrating girls in these inaccurate representations in the media has major implications for negative cultural and societal impacts. It was important that we showed our characters, Zoe and Nat, in an honest light with sensitivity to the subject matter, as they are both seen in intimate emotional and even physical portrayals. 

We casted teens to play teens instead of casting adults. While this created more restrictions for me as a producer and writer, this was something that Mariana and I felt very strongly about, and we were not willing to compromise for the sake of authenticity. Similarly, we casted people who could represent the backgrounds of the characters that they played. The most special thing for me was casting Molly Morneweck to play Zoe’s character, as she had a similar medical background to me as a cancer survivor and the same scar as myself, as well as the character.

Few films offer a true and honest representation of teen girlhood. What are some common mishaps mainstream media makes when telling female coming-of-age stories? What essential themes were you determined to have depicted accurately in your film? 

What a great question! My writing partner, Mariana Fabian, and I wanted to tackle this ambitious and personal film with an authentic lens, in terms of the representation and how it portrays teen girlhood. Oftentimes, movies about young women aren’t written or directed by women themselves, which can be quite toxic depending on how they are depicted. Teen girls are often oversexualized and portrayed from the male gaze, and many times in mainstream media, these actors are adults playing children. All of this can create really harmful representation!

While many are blinded by the glitz and glam of big Hollywood studios such as Paramount and Universal, independent filmmakers lack the funds and resources compared to these big studios. What was your experience producing this film? 

It is my dream to work with incredible studios like Paramount, NBCUniversal, and Disney one day. They make incredible work and

provide many great resources to their teams and filmmakers! This is most definitely true about independent filmmakers having limited resources. Many independent filmmakers, including myself, are self-financing their projects and relying on grants and crowdfunding campaigns to be able to tell their stories. I used the money that I saved for film school to instead make a feature film, which was one of the best decisions that I have made in my professional career. While it would be amazing to go to film school and receive an MFA, I really wanted the opportunity to tell a personal and special story to me and to be able to have the creative autonomy of directing, writing, and producing. We also received so much community support from a successful crowdfunding campaign with 100 supporters and 4 grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which is where I am from and where we made the movie.

I am extremely proud of the movie and I know that we did a great job of creating this movie with limited resources and bandwidth. I have poured so much into this film over the past three years and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to make this film. The film was quite ambitious for a microbudget feature film debut– shooting over 21 days in 9 locations with 110+ people, including on the water! If we can make an ambitious feature film completely independently, imagine what we can do with ample resources!  

Hollywood being a male-dominated industry, it is not often you hear of a film crew made up of a majority of women and nonbinary filmmakers. How do you think the collaboration with a crew that reflects the characters on screen translates into the film? 

I feel that it is important for women to have the opportunity and platform to be able to tell female-centered stories. So often, stories of women and girls are written, directed, and produced by men. We felt that it was important to tell this story about girls with a team of women. I am proud that the film was awarded our ReFrame Stamp by Women in Film and The Sundance Institute for gender-balanced hiring, as over 80% of our crew was female or non-binary! 

I think that this female-centered, inclusive lens had a large part in creating a safe space for my actors to feel comfortable and supported on set, especially when dealing with sensitive subject matter surrounding mental health, sexuality, and intimacy. I heard a lot of great feedback from my team that they felt like this environment for filming was quite positive, especially compared to other sets. For sensitive and intimate scenes, we had a wonderful intimacy coordinator present named Kayleigh Kane who was incredible and was instrumental in helping my actors feel safe. 

Not only did you shoot in Boston, but having the film premiere at the Boston International Film Festival.  How does it feel to share your debut feature with your hometown? 

It was so special to world premiere back at home in Massachusetts, where we filmed the movie. We had a wonderful turnout at both our premiere at BIFF and our Community Premiere that my team planned independently at the iconic Somerville Theatre. At the Community Premiere, we had over 400 people on a Tuesday night! The house was absolutely packed and the reception of the film was overwhelming, as I felt so much love and support. People were laughing, crying, clapping, and cheering! It was wonderful to see that after three years of hard work and dedication to the film.

The premieres also showed me the impact of the film on the lives of our community members who helped make this film a reality. I was very moved by people’s feedback, hearing that Growing Pains was their favorite set and professional experience in their careers. It also was quite fun to chat about the film at the Community Premiere with Alecia Orsini Lebeda from Women in Film & Video New England, who moderated the Q+A. Lastly, a big highlight was meeting my writing partner and associate producer, Mariana, in person. We had been collaborating remotely over the past three years, so this was a very special opportunity to celebrate our work in person with the people who helped us make our movie. 

There is a longstanding debate among filmmakers whether or not film school is worth the investment.  What advice would you offer young filmmakers who may be questioning if they should make this investment?

I honestly think this is a really personal decision and each individual will have a different feeling about it. As I mentioned above, I decided not to go to film school and make a feature film instead. I believe that this was the right call for me, but I had extensive film production experience before embarking on this journey. I had wrote, directed, and shot a number of short films, as well as worked in the corporate film world and on a number of sets. I am also a very motivated, driven person with big goals and ambitions. 

I don’t think that making a feature film is for everyone, and I was actually advised by a mentor of mine to make a short film instead of jumping to the feature. I didn’t feel that making a short with Growing Pains was the right call for my story or career, as I actually made Growing Pains as a spec for a television series. Having some significant experience in shorts is a really helpful background to have before making a feature. I think film school can provide a wonderful education in film from seasoned professionals, as well as a great team of collaborators who you will learn and grow with. The networking and resource aspect of film school is incredible. 

My advice would be to ask yourself, “What feels like the right direction to go for your story and your career?” If you feel strongly to write and direct and/or produce, I suggest making your film independently. In film school, you typically pick a specialization and you wouldn’t have the same creative autonomy on a project. I would also find great collaborators who are going to help you realize your vision, supporting you along the way. Lastly, I would encourage you to pursue what makes you the most passionate. When embarking on a film, passion and drive are key as you will be working on the film for years potentially. 

After completing your debut feature, what have you learned from this experience that makes you feel better prepared for your next film?

I learned so much from making a feature! It was the best “film school” experience for me. I learned how to be a better collaborator and leader, which has aided me in every area of my life– personally and professionally. I learned when to take important feedback from others and when to stick to my original vision, as everyone on the team has a valuable perspective to add! I also learned how to be a better director, articulating my vision and story with more clarity and complexity to my actors. I am in pre-production on a TV pilot, Getting Back Out There, and in development on a coming-of-age surfing drama feature film. I feel my experience with Growing Pains has taught me so many lessons and learnings that I will bring with me and build upon for my lifelong career in the arts. 

Stay updated on Argyrople's journey on Instagram and her website.

Be sure to check out the Growing Pains Trailer and stay updated by following their Instagram.

Written and Interviewed by Ashley Murphy

Oh, The Places You’ll Go: Social Editor Edition

Vincent Perella with his camera

From a young age, schools present their students with limited career paths.

If the students express an interest in an industry (such as in the arts) for which the school could not make a step-by-step guide, it would be deemed a risk or unrealistic. The corporate world would be portrayed as a field that would make one financially stable—told that the only path to success is climbing the corporate ladder. Young creatives looking to pursue a career in the entertainment industry are often not provided with any direction from their high school and college advisors.

In a series of interviews, I will discuss with NYC-based creatives their journey in the industry and the different paths they took to get where they are today.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Brooklyn-based writer, photographer, and social media strategist Vincent Perella. At the young age of 25, he carved out a social media manager position for himself at Indiewire. He has covered some of the biggest events in the film world such as: Sundance, The Golden Globes, The Oscars, and many premieres. He also works as a freelance digital editor for an independent magazine, ODDA, interviewing celebrities such as Angus Cloud, Michael Cimino, Taylor Schilling, and many more. In two short years of living in NYC, Vincent has solidified his standing in this hard-to-navigate industry.

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Ashley Murphy: What are some of the responsibilities of the Social Media Manager at Indiewire?

Vincent Perella: So, going into the job, it was a baseline social media manager job. My day-to-day consists of planning the content across all our social channels (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube), writing the copy for that, coming up with graphics, and coming up with an innovative way to repurpose editorial content when certain things are trending, or I think a certain story will perform well. The role evolved. My higher-ups liked what I was doing; they asked what I wanted to make out of this job and would try to evolve to get there.

We evolved the role into a red-carpet correspondent; paired with that was also after-party photos and stuff for corresponding events such as premieres, film festivals, and award seasons.

I just hit my one-year anniversary with the company, so we are now…having a discussion over my title and where we want to mold me towards a little bit more than social media manager. So updates to come :)

A: Could you also give us a breakdown of your position as Digital Editor at ODDA?

V: The Odda team is really small. It's a global magazine, and the people running it are ten or fewer, including me. ODDA is really fascinating. We do two print editions a year, and each edition has 300-400 pages yearly (it's like a thicc boy). Apart from print, we run digital stories year-round. We cover everything from fashion to entertainment, highlighting up-and-coming talent in the art world. It's really cool having my toe dipped into culture in every possible sense.

As a digital editor, apart from the print world, I am usually the point person running all the online stories. Often I help with pitches; I have a cool hand in sourcing talent. I do most of the digital interviews, I help with the planning of the editorial shoots that go into it, and I coordinate with their team and PR; planning the launch and rollout is cool. It’s really fun.

To sum up both roles, Indiewire is like the hub of all my interests in the movie and tv world, which is what I have always been passionate about. ODDA is really cool too, because I can get a taste of the fashion and art world.

A: How do you prepare for these interviews after filtering pitches for interviews and selecting the celebrity/influencer?

V: I immediately jolt out questions I can think of off the top of my head. Most of the time, if I agree to interview someone, I know who they are.

First, I write down questions that I find interesting. Then I google their name and click on the news tab to see what projects are on the horizon to keep it as current and relevant as possible. The best/worst part of these interviews is that I am limited to 10-12 questions, so you have to narrow it down, which could be tricky. I approach it as finding the best story; I’ve never had an issue when asking a question and asked to scratch it, which is good.

A: When you do red carpet events for Indiewire, how do you keep tabs on all the people you’ll potentially meet?

V: That's a great question. With ODDA, you talk to one person and know you’re only talking to one person going into it. With Indiewire, when I’m going to a movie premiere, they’ll give me a list of expected attendees for the carpet, but they don’t all stop for the press. Typically, I approach it by picking the big names and preparing a couple of questions hoping to get them. And for the people I don’t prep questions for; it’s easy to come up with something off the top of the head.

One thing I found advantageous with larger groups, such as at the Emmys, was asking specific questions to relevant talent, but I was asking a lot of people the same question. One question I asked was, “If you could put your character in any other show nominated tonight, what would it be and why?” That was cool because we could make one article of their answers and conceptualize the storyline—the same thing with social videos.

A: How long have you lived in NYC? What was the process like getting your foot in the door?

V: I’ve been living in NYC for just over two years. Getting my foot in the door was a lot of work in college, in internships. Throughout college, I bartended to fund my move here; that was always the lifelong dream. I had four internships in college; one was at a small PR agency, two were at Boston Magazine, and the fourth was at Vice in Williamsburg. They all were pretty similar, social editorial focused. My first job out of college was at an agency doing socials for the New York Times. It wasn’t a sexy job, but most media people will say, “you need the agency experience to get started.” I was like, alright, let me get this under my belt. It was kind of a sucky job, and six months into it, I had to get out. I started to apply for jobs, and Odda came across my lap first. I was obsessed with the magazine, and I was bugging the editor-in-chief for a couple of months to give me the opportunity to show him what I could do. For a month or so, I helped him do socials and did a couple of interviews for digital. They didn’t have a digital editor, and after a month of doing this, he asked if I wanted it. It was never a full-time opportunity. I continued to work at the agency and used Odda to keep me excited about my day-to-day work life. It was an excellent resource for connections and building my portfolio with writing samples, and I grew from there.

In January 2022, I saw a job listing at Indiewire for this role, and went into it like, “I’m going to fight to the death to get this; I don’t care what it takes.” I applied for the job, found out who the hiring manager was on Linkedin, and messaged her. “Hey, girlie, I would love to hop on a call with you and learn about this opportunity.” That went really well. It was seven interviews and two tests, it came down to another person and me, and I got it.

To answer the question on how I got both those opportunities, it was having a strong resume and being knowledgeable about both those spaces. ODDA, which I was always passionate about because it covered so many spheres of culture I was interested in. What worked so well with Indiewire, I am so addicted to movies and TV, and I think they picked up on that.

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When Vincent isn’t conducting interviews on the red carpet, he continues to put his creative ambition to work through his photography. Looking through his portfolio, you’ll start to recognize a number of faces, such as Jennifer Coolidge, Anne Hathaway, Dylan O’Brien, Jenna Ortega, and many more. Captured right off the red carpet or at exclusive events, Vincent has a collection of unique portraits that feel spontaneous and raw, unlike most photos captured at these highly covered events. These celebrities are captured in a radiant and natural moment. With the vintage look amplified through the slight grittiness and overexposure in his photos, these candids resemble a ‘90s college vibe rather than a staged photo op.

Pictures by Vincent Perella (From Left to Right; Bella Thorne, Dylan O'Brien, Desus Nice, HoYeon Jung)

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A: Taking a look at your Instagram, there are a lot of familiar faces. How did you get started with your photography, and how do you approach celebrities at these events?

V: Before these jobs, I always had my camera on me. If it was taking pictures of friends or at a restaurant/bar, I was always strapped for aesthetic purposes. It started with ODDA, a lot of these events celebrities were sprinkled around. I said, “I like taking pictures of my friends, but let me try to get some celebs in the mix and see if I can pull it off.” I would straight up walk up to people and ask if I could take their picture. No one has ever given me a problem with it except [name censored, not spilling that tea]. A lot of these portraits come from after parties and big events. If you go to a movie after a party, they are expecting people to take pictures, which makes it pretty relaxing. I am pretty outgoing, so if I see someone I want to take a picture with, I will just go up and ask.

A: What is your favorite film you have seen while working the red carpet?

V: If I had to pick one, I would say Tar. It was my #1 of the past year.

A: In your recent red carpet coverage for Knock at the Cabin, you chatted with Dave Bautista about potential DC characters, and he brought up an interest in doing a rom-com.

How would you pitch the actor to be in a rom-com?

V: It’s hard; Dave is a beast. I can’t picture him being soft, cute, and funny in a rom-com. If I could pitch him in a rom-com, I think it would be cool if he could be a character of himself. I think it could be interesting if he were some sort of wrestler in the film, but behind closed doors, he is a miserable, sad man who needs someone to pick him up.

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Check out his most recent coverage with Indiewire at the Independent Spirit Awards. He chatted with Paul Mescal, discussing his commitment to the independent film industry. As well as getting Jamie Lee Curtis’ input on the current nepo baby conversation.

To see more of his work, check out his Instagram @vincentperella or his website below.

You can also find his work on Indiewire’s website.

Interviewed and Written by Ashley Murphy

Photography by Mark Bluemle