Create.

I recently attended the screening of Isabelle Landry and Maritama Carlson’s first short film, So Called Friends. Izzy is a good friend of mine so I decided to interview her about the process of creating her first short.

C2: You collaborated with Maritama Carlson on this project. What prompted this creation?

Izzy: Maritama and I encountered one another frequently at auditions. We got to talking one day and decided to stop waiting for “them” to give us parts. We were going to make our own movie. Maritama had a concept she wanted to develop, so in 2004 we started getting together to write. Her concept was a spiritual one about the importance of friendships, and how much more difficult life is without good friends.

C2: When did you go to camera?

Izzy: We filmed the project in 2007. It usually doesn’t take this long to make a short but we hit a few bumps and roadblocks along the way, to put it mildly. Our director, Tony Mirza, made three final edits of the film which all were lost. The first edit, his computer crashed. The second edit, his computer was stolen out of his kitchen window. The third edit, his computer crashed again! Ultimately, Tony had to give up on editing the film himself. This led us to reach into our wallets and seek out hiring a professional editor. The first editor we hired was unable to complete the project because he was inundated with higher budget gigs, so we kept being put on the back burner. Then we found, Laurent Piche, and he was able to do a brilliant job. Oh my gosh, did I tell you we had a different director in the beginning?

C2: What? No!

Izzy: Yes, yes, we had a different director initially; but, unfortunately he didn’t work out. So two days before shooting we had to scrap everything and start over. This meant canceling extras, hair and make-up, locations, everything! Then we brought Tony on board and started over.

C2: What kept you moving forward in spite of all the setbacks?

Izzy: I have found that there are a lot of “talkers” out there: people who talk about doing things, but never follow through. Dealing with that was the most frustrating part of the process. And, ultimately, I do not want to be perceived by myself or anyone else as a “talker”. We had to finish what we started. And it worked out that whenever I was ready to give up, Maritama, would be like, “We have to keep going because I have made some headway in this area of production.” And vice versa, when she was ready to throw in the towel, I would be dragging us forward.

C2: What is the most positive thing you have gained from this experience?

Izzy: The value of perseverance and teamwork.

C2: What advice would you give to others embarking on the adventure of making a movie?

Izzy: Start small, like really small. I think we went too big for our first project. The final running time is 30min. We should have started with 5min and learned from there.

C2: So you’re saying, don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Izzy: Exactly.

C2: That’s so hard though if you are ambitious. I always bite off more than I can chew.

Izzy: I know me too! (laughing)

C2: Okay, now it is time for the stock questions portion of the interview. I need to know the following:

What is your favourite recipe?

Izzy: My home made salsa.

2 large tomatoes
2 stocks green onion
1tbsp ginger
1tsp honey
Juice of one lemon
salt and pepper

finely chop all ingredients. Add lemon, honey, salt and pepper. Enjoy!

What is your favourite restaurant in Vancouver?

Izzy: Oh tough one… are we judging on food or atmosphere? For food I have to say 3G on Cambie St. It’s a great place for vegetarian food.


What is your favourite cheap/free activity to do in Vancouver?

Izzy: The Blodell Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park. The entrance fee is about $4.50.

C2: Thank you for taking the time to allow me to interview ya Izzy! (Iz is currently working on her next screenplay.)