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Your new movie She,
Who Dared - in a few words, what is it about?
She,
Who Dared
is a short proof-of-concept by GR Films and
New Path Productions
about silent-era female filmmaker Lois Weber, a pioneer of cinema, who has
been largely forgotten since her death in 1939. The film aims to remember
one of the most notable lost "mothers of film" and her
contributions to Hollywood, encouraging a reimagining of film history. It
also features an original score by Ian Rashkin, and includes
a recreation of the lost ending to Weber’s film What
Do Men Want?
How did you first stumble upon Lois Weber and her story,
and what inspired you to make a film about her? And what does she mean to
you, personally? When I first learned about Lois Weber online, I knew I would make a movie about
her someday, but I put the idea off because I knew it would be very
expensive and hard to make. Approximately six months later, I spoke with
actress Katie Killourhy, who had recently departed from a project due to
an unsettling situation. Wanting to help her (and myself) find something
new to work on, I asked her what her dream role was. When she told me that
she wanted to play a woman from history who had changed narratives and
been forgotten, I knew she was describing Lois Weber and sent her to
Lois’s Wikipedia page. Katie’s reaction was a lot like mine in the
beginning–she could not believe no one had ever made a movie about Lois,
and more importantly, that she had never heard about her. Which is the
ultimate reason I made She,
Who Dared, and why I will make the
feature–to both educate and inspire the next generation of filmmakers. I
often say, and I believe this, that women don’t need to ask for a seat
at a table they helped build. For this reason, it’s important to know
the origins of cinema, and more importantly, the incredible contributions
Lois Weber, and women like her, made to the artform. Apart from Lois Weber's story, other
sources of inspiration when writing She,
Who Dared? When I write, I pull from a number of sources, many of which are subconscious.
But I’ve found that it’s hard to truly feel passionate about a subject
unless I can relate to it on some level. So, pulling from my own personal
struggles as a woman, not just as a woman in film, but as a woman in
general, I was able to connect Lois’s story to a broader conversation
about what it means to have autonomy as a woman. Weber's inspiring story
serves as a testament to perseverance and determination to succeed,
particularly during a time when women had limited access to financial
independence, property rights, and voting privileges. And while those
specific obstacles have since been overcome, new challenges have arisen
that must be faced head-on, making Lois's story relevant and significant
to today.
What were the challenges of making a period piece, and how did you master them? I
learned a long time ago that period pieces are difficult, but not
impossible. And while I didn't set out to be an artist that deals with the
past, I'm naturally drawn to it, so, as hard as they are to do, I have
sort of accepted that creating the feeling of the time is more important
than maintaining accuracy. Someday soon, when I have a bigger budget, I
will absolutely work with a team that can source and/or make things truer
to the period, but even then, I doubt I will be a purist about it. Who can
afford that? What can you
tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand? I’ve
said this before, but when I write, I see my shots. That’s why I have
mostly directed the things I’ve written. When I did music it was the
same way, I always wrote lyrics and melody together. Not everyone is like
that, but I am. Lois Weber said a director must be absolute, and I have
come to believe that–to trust what I see in my mind. After all, it’s
from there that the artist creates. Still, I’m never afraid to throw out
shots if something isn't working. The mind is tricky–and doesn't always
see things realistically. Likewise, filmmaking is collaborative, so I
always try to give my cinematographer, gaffer, designers, and actors room
to play in the space, too.
Do
talk about She, Who Dared's
key cast, and why exactly these people? Lois
Weber was played by Katie Killourhy, and Lois’s husband, Phillips
Smalley, was played by Paul Noonan [Paul
Noonan interview - click here]. Both of them are good friends of mine
and actors I have worked with before, so I knew they had the talent and
skill to carry the weight of these roles. I think both of them are worthy
of an interview, if you want to learn more about what was involved in
capturing these incredible historical figures. But I can say that the
weight of it, the pressure to do them justice, was huge. We all felt it.
Kris Salvi [Kris Salvi interview
- click here] played Charlie Chaplin, who had a role in Lois’s life and
career; and we had other star performances by Deborah
Del Negro as Dorothy Arzner, Marc Powers as Herbert Blanché, Monica
Ledoux as Alice Guy-Blaché, Sheri Lee as Claire Windsor, Dustin Tueber as
J. Frank Gendon, Justin Thibault as George Hackathorne, Lily
Spencer as Lois's sister Ethel Howland, and Victor Warren as Lois's
real-life doctor Leland Chapman. It was a huge cast, so I can’t name everyone, but every actor played
someone important from history so it was a unique opportunity to give
people, many of whom were forgotten, their voices back. A few words
about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? She,
Who Dared took the better part of 2023 to film. For financial reasons, and
because I was still researching and writing as we went, we broke the shoot
up into several smaller shoots, all of which ran pretty smoothly. We had a
lot of team players on set. We trusted one another and left our egos at
the door–we had to–as we had to shoot very fast to stay within the
budget. Also, we were shooting in unique locations (East
Greenwich Town Hall, Crosby Mansion and Chateau
Fairmont, to name a few) so there was almost zero chance of being able to afford reshoots.
The $64-question of course, where can She,
Who Dared be seen? She,
Who Dared was test-screened with a live orchestra in Boston on October
8th, 2023, then had a market test-screen in Los Angeles at the 2023
American Film Market. Feedback from these screenings put us back into the
editing process, and we are currently fine tuning the film. If all goes
well, you will be able to see the film in 2024 in the film festival
circuit, and we are planning to present the film again with a live orchestra in honor of
Silent Film History Day and Women's History Month on
Cape Cod, and hopefully in Baltimore, next fall. All screenings will be
announced on my website: gabriellerossonfilms.com. Anything you can tell us
about audience and critical reception of She,
Who Dared yet? The
response has been promising. Not only does the message of the film seem to
translate well, but there is interest in a feature. Which is incredibly
exciting, and a little scary, if I’m honest! But as Katie always says:
Lois wouldn't give up, and neither will we. Any future projects you'd like to
share? As
much as I love to stay busy and direct, I’ll be keeping my head down,
writing the Lois Weber feature. Perhaps by the time this is all said and
done, everyone will be sick of hearing me talk about Lois. But if that is
the worst thing to come from all of this, that people finally know about
Lois (to the point of being sick of the topic), I’ll have achieved my
goal–plus some, haha. Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever
else?
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She, Who Dared
has an Instagram page, @she_who_dared_movie, and you can always
get updates through GR Films and New Path Productions on Facebook. Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask? I
just want to shout out my kids, Juliette and Christian Tittel, for not
only helping me with the film but for supporting my desire to chase my
dreams, Ian Rashkin for composing the music that now lives in my head, New Path Productions, and everyone on the cast (too many to name but you know
who you are!), crew (Chris Esper [Chris
Esper interview - click here], Michael Neel, and Shahine Prentice II +
many more!); including our executive producers (Mark Meagher, Deborah Del
Negro, Lily Spencer, Chuck Canton and Erik J. Forrey), ALL our producers
(too many to name but you know who you are!), our makeup artists (Jackie
Hunt, LeeAnn Rubin, and Jamie Cook), our costume & production
designers (KJ Traynor and Natasha Nicolaou),
our PR team: ChicArt Public Relations, and last but not least, our post-production team
(Chris Esper, Jay Sheehan, Geoff Bassett and Ken Almquist), all of whom I
could absolutely not have made this film without! Thank you. Thanks for the interview!
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