In an era of entertainment where the majority of Hollywood productions are sequels or remakes, audiences are starving for original and authentic stories. While independent In an era of entertainment where the majority of Hollywood productions are sequels or remakes, audiences are starving for original and authentic stories. While independent filmmakers have the stories, the lack of funding prevents their work from reaching a wider audience.
With all of social media’s vices, free marketing has been one of its greatest gifts to creatives. Writer/Director Gianna Cavarozzi and Lyanna Zammas used their social media skills to share their short film Glory and Gore on Tiktok, which follows an exclusive study group and the mischief that happens behind closed doors. After posting teasers and behind-the-scenes content, they quickly grew a following. Their comments flooded with comparisons to films such as Dead Poets Society and novels like The Secret History and If We Were Villians.
In the months leading up to the premiere, their follower count grew into the tens of thousands, all waiting in anticipation to see the mayhem and destruction these alluring scholars get into. Within hours after being uploaded to YouTube, fan edits of these characters were posted on TikTok.
I had the pleasure of chatting with the writer/director duo about the journey of Glory and Gore and how it evolved from a small student club project to finding a cult following on TikTok.
Ashley Murphy: How did Glory and Gore first come to be? Was it originally written as a feature, or did it grow from something smaller?
Lyanna Zammas: I never know where to start with this; Gianna and I became friends the summer before college. We met on our school’s Instagram page for the Class of 2026. When we got to school, we were in the same first-year seminar course, Love and Neuroticism in Western Cultures. We did all the readings and film screenings together, and we really connected with a couple of things we read, Plato’s Symposium and Plato’s Republic (the classics) We were talking about those two books and dark academia novels such as “Secret History” and “If We Were Villians,” and we were thinking about them as a whole and our love for them. And she [Gianna] was like, “What if we write a TV show together?” “and I was like, no, I would write a manuscript.” And she said, “No, I want a TV show,” and then I was sold.
Gianna Cavarozzi: Lyanna and I were internet friends; we didn't know this before coming to college, but we found out in the dining hall while going through old DMs that we talked when we were 12 years old.
LZ: Even crazier, the last thing I posted on that old Instagram account was Lorde's lyrics for Glory and Gore.
GC: There is a secret first Glory and Gore that is being dubbed by our cast as Baby Glory and Gore. It was a 10-minute pilot; it had a small budget and really big ambitions. It’s out there somewhere on someone’s drive. After we filmed the pilot, we thought it could be something more, so we decided to turn it into a proof of concept. What’s really interesting about Glory and Gore as a proof of concept is that, at this point, we had somewhat of an audience (not as big as we have now). And we loved this story so much and the characters; we knew we wanted to tell a complete arc, a full story. So, instead of using the usual proof concept format, a part of a story, or the beginning of the story to prove you can make it into a feature film, Glory and Gore is the beginning, middle, and end, but nothing really in between. there are a lot of blank spaces, and that's kind of done intentionally just to the point to leave the audience somewhat unsatisfied and feel they want more of this and more of the characters and to expand on the world. That is the Glory and Gore you are viewing now, something we reformatted to be a proof of concept.
AM: One thing that really stood out to me was the cast. These boys truly encapsulated their characters. Did you seek out these specific actors or hold open calls?
GC: This was for a student club, so they have their own audition/casting process. Through the club, people auditioned, and since we go to such a small school, we knew we wanted some of these boys to be in it. Like Mateo Bailey ,who played Brooks, we reached out personally to play Brooks. We knew we wanted him for that role. Same thing with Jason Korn [who played Monroe] and Andrew Bova [who played Will]. Originally we wanted Jason to play Cassius; he came into the audition room and wanted to play Monroe. In that audition, we knew that was Monroe, and that was the best surprise of the casting process.
LZ: Also, we didn’t know Javier. He never did film acting, and Glory and Gore was his first time on screen. He does wonderfully on stage. He walked into the casting room, and I go, “Oh my god.” It was immediate he was Cassius, and if he wasn’t going to be, he had to be on the cast. Thank god he was Cassius; he brought so much to the role.
GC: Javi wasn’t going to audition; Jason made him audition.
LZ: They were in Little Women together at the time.
GC: For David Wright’s role, Elliot wasn’t in the original Glory and Gore. We wrote him in for the proof of concept because he was so necessary. We knew of David; he is such a talented actor, and we had a small audition process. We didn’t write Elliot for him, but we knew we wanted him for the role.
LZ: We had two people in mind, and we only asked those two people, and they both ended up in the film. The other one was Luke Joyce, Winston, the goofy little character, the club’s TA.
AM: It’s rare to see such a contrast between the cast and crew; all men on screen and women nearly made up the entire crew. How do you think a story about corruption and masculinity is told in a different light through a feminine lens?
LZ: Trying to think about what sets us apart is looking at these spaces. Let me be more specific– looking at this Symposium, I mean, it's so Meta on so many levels because looking at the Symposium, which is, you know, the angle that we set the situation for the story, all these men are in this prestigious academic forum to discuss philosophy and ide, and that is the opposite of what they’re doing. Women were excluded; they weren’t invited for ideas they were invited to be the entertainment. Even thinking about our film school and how many women make up the crew. Thinking about how we came up with the idea in her [Gianna] dorm room. Women weren’t allowed to go to school for a long time, and it is really true that you need a room of your own to come up with these ideas. To have the space to talk about these things, that if a woman were present for these things, none of this would happen. All this debauchery, terror, and one bad apple turning the bunch wouldn’t be possible in our mind. It gives a distinct feel that these men were directed and supported by all these women; this story could only be told in that setting because we aren’t glorifying this behavior. Any investment in these characters is a success; it’s so rewarding to see because, as terrible as they are, they are human just the same. I think, more often than not, characters tend to fall flat or glorified when they are told from that certain perspective. I tend to think of Fight Club,and how people watch that movie and take it in all the wrong ways. I hope we made it so people can be attached to these characters but view them with a critical eye.
GC: A lot of people question us, “How is this the female gaze?” It's because women made it.
LZ: I’m a gender studies minor, and that’s what I want to pursue in the future; I always think about the fact, and it started as a joke, but I think ultimately it's important; people were like, why would you have just a male cast with a female crew? Why wouldn’t you have women in this story? That’s the whole point.
GC: I’ll add to that, especially with this story and having a female character present; besides the point of would this happen if a female character was present, it’s just the problem of this is a story of corruption and impact of masculinity. Me personally, as a writer/director, I never feel the need to show and perpetuate violence against women onscreen. I think this is a story that can be told without perpetuating that narrative and without showing women being sexualized or brutalized onscreen. I don’t think it is necessary for a story to comment on or critique masculinity.
AM: The locations were absolutely stunning, radiating old money, elitist university. What was the process of being permitted to film at these locations?
GC: We had two other amazing producers, Nikki Emma and Dailey Newcomb, who were mainly in charge of locations. They would text locations, and we would just say yes or no.
LZ: We filmed in some creepy locations. You think it's private universities? No. One of those is a university. We were in a terrifying temple; there was cult propaganda everywhere. The film is based in the 90s, and everything looks like it was from the 70s, so it worked.
GC: The only location that we kept from Baby Glory and Gore was the symposium room, which by far was our favorite location. We loved that room; we loved the school that let us use it, and they were very kind. Technically, that room is not one they film in; you're not supposed to film that room. They rent out their college for students to film in, but not that room. They allowed us to use it twice, which was very kind and awesome.
LZ: The second time around, when we were filming at a high school, we made a little name for ourselves on social media. The students were still hanging out there after class, and they were stopping our actors to take photos. It was very sweet.
GC: It was really cute; they said, “We know you, you were here.”
AM: The marketing for this film over the last year has been stellar. Growing a strong fanbase leading up to the film, nearly 65k on TikTok and 44k on Instagram. Only two weeks after release, dozens of fan edits on TikTok and fanfiction are in the works on A03. How does it feel to have such a loyal fanbase to these characters you’ve created?
GC: It doesn’t feel real. We haven’t fully processed things. Since the release, it’s been a lot all at once, so much attention that we aren’t used to. Especially for a project that wasn’t really an impediment for this big of an audience, we never knew that many people were going to watch it when we initially wrote it. It’s really cool, and we’re really grateful,l but we haven’t fully processed and this is actually happening with our characters. Like with the fanfiction and the edits, I’m watching it thinking it's so cool, then realize it’s mine.
LZ: We grew up being those kids; Gianna was an editor, and we both wrote stories about other stories that we were passionate about. That was something we knew when we were pitching to the club’s organization. We knew there was a unique space to market this film. That was always the plan; we never envisioned it working to the degree it has. To see people invest in and care enough about something that we came up with that drives them to write and create. It’s equally as gratifying that just as many people on this crew and cast were just as deviated and passionate about this project, which was the first thing we were grateful for to see this many people come together and work this hard.
AM: What is in store next for the boys of Symposium Club?
LZ: There are worlds for these boys that didn’t make it onto the screen, and we haven’t been able to work through ourselves with the time crunch, budget, and resources. We would love to dive back head-first into this world and have every intention to do so. I know the future holds something more in some type of revision.
GC: No matter what, we are rewriting to be in feature or miniseries format. We are currently in the process. People have grown to love this world; we really love it, and I think no matter what, we are going to expand on it no matter where that lands us.
LZ: Hopefully to a theater near you.
You can now stream Glory and Gore on YouTube.
Interviewed by Ashley Murphy
