Austin Film Festival opens the door for independent filmmakers to show off their passion for storytelling. The Daily Texan sat down with Chase Joliet (writer, director and star) and Steph Barkley (star) of “Grapefruit” to discuss both the film and what it takes to be an independent filmmaker.
The Daily Texan: What advice would you give student filmmakers?
Chase Joliet: Surround yourself with people that are excited to (make films) and are as passionate as you are. Don’t be afraid, it’s not going to be perfect. You have to find the beauty in the imperfection. The most important thing is to go and do it because you’ll learn so much along the way. I’ve produced a number of movies now, but when you’re at the helm of writing or directing, it’s a whole different skill set. You’re learning constantly and moving on your feet. So, don’t be afraid, is what I would say, and just start making.
Steph Barkley: “Don’t think, just do,” (from) Maverick, “Top Gun.” The more you think about it, sometimes you talk yourself out of it. The best way to learn something and learn the craft is to do it over and over and over again. So, just do it.
DT: Considering the difficulty of indie filmmaking, what was a proud moment for y’all in making this film?
CJ: Every moment when you make an indie movie is a proud moment because movies are miracles. You start off with absolutely nothing. You have this idea. Then someone puts it on a page, and they write the script. Then they bring in actors to pretend that script to whichever levels you want them to pretend: realism, surreal, abstract, whatever. Then you hire crew. So, that’s the miracle.
DT: How long did it take to make the script?
CJ: I started out with a play I wrote called “To Love is to Die.” I wrote that, and Stephanie and my friend (read it). They (said), “Oh, this is so contained. Why don’t we just do this as a movie, just us?” I tried to write that into a screenplay form. It didn’t work out. Then, this other thing started to develop within that where I was taking scenes or ideas from that and it was molding into “Grapefruit.” (I took) a lot of personal things from my life, and tweaked and fixed away (for a while). My mother is nothing like Evelyn in the movie. But how can I make an antagonist out of a mother who loves and cares so much and is having a hard time with herself? What does that do to other people? That became really interesting to me as an antagonist.
