Interview with Wonder Russell: Actor, Writer, Singer and Runic Games Diva

Wonder Russell is an actor, the Minister of Culture for @RunicGames, Falcor guardian, organic & vintage enthusiast, and proud Seattleite. She produced and acts in "Connect To" (2011) and is the writer/producer and actor in her current project, "The Summer Home." ” Connect To has been accepted into the Seattle True Independent Film Festival, Dances With Films Festival,  The Park City Film Music Festival, and 1 Reel Festival at Bumbershoot. “Connect To” has won two awards for score and achievement in filmmaking."


What is the current project you are working on?

First of all, thank you so much for asking me onto your blog! It's really an honor. :)

Right now I'm working on a short film called THE SUMMER HOME. I wrote the first draft and sent it to my friends, married directors Kris and Lindy Boustedt, who are completely awesome, by the way. They are passionate storytellers who also have a great sensitivity when working with actors. I was biting my nails that they'd think it was a terrible, amateurish screenplay, but instead we met for tea and they said they wanted to direct it. And we went from there! Right now that project is in post, and my next project is actually written and directed by Kris and Lindy, a feature film called THIS IS OURS. I play one of the lead characters, Sandy. We start filming in August, and I'm really excited to be on a feature again.

I'm working on a webseries called THE COLLECTIBLES that shoots next month - it's Superfriends meets The Office, and the script is so awkwardly funny. It's by one of my favorite directors, Todd Downing, who is generous enough to cast me for the second time as a superhero.

I'm also writing a commissioned short screenplay, but I'm having trouble nailing down a story I really love.

Did you always want to be a filmmaker?

No. I always wanted to be an actor! But I danced around my passion believing my own fears and the fears of others who told me that it was a dead-end career, narcissistic and frivolous at best, at worst a breeding ground for Future Alcoholics of America. When I was younger I constantly wrote plays and cast my brother in multiple parts. I went to film school. I majored in Communications, logging years of work in radio, journalism, theatre, and television. After college, I worked for a big production company as a Production Coordinator. I often cried in the car on the way to work because the job was so thankless and stressful, and all I wanted was to be on set, not to be able to see the set from my office. I kept thinking that if I could just work alongside of actors, I'd be happy enough, and also safe from making a poor career choice (acting). It's only been in the last two years that I turned that misconception around: my dream and my passion of acting are my priority, and I will support them with my producing and filmmaking experience!

What inspired you to become filmmaker?

Oh gosh. I'm inspired constantly by true filmmakers, both in the indie scene like Gary King, and on the big screen like JJ Abrams. I'm inspired by movies that bring me to tears or get under my skin for days at a time. I feel the pull of that magic. I crave it. They create these beautiful, transporting microcosms that sometimes feel more real than real life. Moments of beauty, moments of great heroism involving great personal sacrifice or risk, and the simple yet primal forces of relationships all inspire me to explore and transcribe. I remember my Dad telling me that Star Wars was great because at its heart, it's all about family. As I get older, I see how true that is. Epic and fantastic stories are most resonant when they deal with personal relationships. I find that the essence of the overlooked, every day things fueling great deeds and great films to be very inspiring.

What is the best thing about being one?

Well, I'm barely one now, haha! Though I aspire to be! I think I will consider myself a filmmaker when it support me as a career. Some may think that's a poor way of thinking but to me it just means that I have a goal, and that goal is a sustainable career.

The best thing, though, is partly the collaboration, and partly personal vision. It's deeply satisfying to have your personal vision fulfilled, and knowing you put in the blood, sweat and tears, or maybe just the credit card miles, to bring it out of concept and into reality. The materialization of dreams and deeply held hopes is very moving and powerful. And, addictive.

Nothing happens in a vacuum though, and the collaborators you meet on your journey who not only foster and midwife the vision but also add to it with their own greatness are invaluable. It's easy to see why people work together over and over. Like a family, you share common goals and values, and also develop a working shorthand. That's atypical of most day jobs and businesses where life and work are separate, and collaborators are more likely to be competitors.

What is the worst thing about being one?

Not being able to pay the bills. Going into debt for dreams. Becoming frustrated and disillusioned when you feel like you've wasted your time (this usually goes away pretty quickly though!) Collaborators who don't put the work in and leave you pulling your hair out.

What is the estimated number of projects you have worked on?

As a filmmaker, if you count student films (and I will because the number will sound much more important to you thereby justifying this interview) I've produced, written, and/or directed seven short films. But really, we probably will only count the last two projects, CONNECT TO and THE SUMMER HOME. Connect To is still on the festival circuit and has won two awards, and I'll start submitting The Summer Home by Fall. Whee!

As for just the number of projects I've acted in, I literally have lost count. A bajillion. I used to do theatre projects back to back, and when I made the transition to film, I literally said YES to every opportunity, because it was the perfect time to learn and take risks. I still prize learning on the job and taking risks, but I have a lot more to offer now than I did when I worked on student films.

Can you tell me some interesting behind the scenes facts about a your film?

By the time I felt guilty enough to ask for permits for some of the locations on our Connect To shoot, the person in charge of the process for Seattle was on vacaction. In fear and terror, we ninja'd some high traffic areas including a park and a rest stop. At the rest stop we were very conspicuous - we were shooting in and around a huge charter bus, had 3 cameras, and some 20 extras. At on point, a police officer pulled alongside the bus and motioned for the bus driver to roll down the window. My stomach did a flip flop and I thought we were going to get kicked out. "What are you doing?" he asked the bus driver. Before I could make up an outrageous fabrication, the bus driver replied with innocent confidence, "We're makin' a movie!" I waited for the hammer to fall, our permits to be requested, and for us to retreat in shame. Instead, the officer nodded like that was perfectly natural, and drove on. We were incredibly lucky.

Who is is your favorite filmmaker?

Ridley Scott. Wes Anderson. Martin Scorsese. Steven Spielberg.

How has your life changed since you became a filmmaker?

Actors give me their cards. That's both humbling and weird. I wish I could help them all.

What is one piece of advice you can give to someone who also wants to make it in the movie business?

Just do it.

What do you like to do besides filmmaking?

I am a voracious reader. I read on planes. I read all of The Girl Who Played With Fire in a day between two airports. I'm addicted to Patrick Rothfuss. I just finished The Passage and Unbroken. The latter is by the incredibly talented Laura Hillenbrand, whose singular writing style is deliciously cinematic.

I used to sing and play guitar almost constantly, but it's so difficult to do that and make films. Creative endeavors I've been involved in such as being a singer-songrwriter, acting in plays, or producing and acting in films require a huge time commitment not only to the work, but to the community in order to stay informed and relevant. After 5 years of writing, singing, and recording in Spokane WA and San Francisco, I finally released my CD for digital distribution, here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/wonder1

I take classes when I can - improv, on-camera classes, solo performance classes. I love throwing parties. I hang out as much as possible with my dog Falcor, who is one of my best friends and also my obsession. I prowl Etsy. I download recipes I never make. Am I rambling?

I try to write and when I can't write, I try to "fill the well" by going on Artist Dates with myself and finding the balance between work, films, and me-time. These days if I have an evening free, I hoard it all to myself as a mini staycation.

Have you had any other jobs before you decided to become a filmmaker?

Ha! I still have a job! I work full time at a game design company, Runic Games, who are incredibly patient with my furious ambitions.

What are some of your favorite American films? Foreign films? Television shows?

Everyone has too many favorites to list and it often depends on what the soul needs at the time. I actually only own a very few films on DVD because it's so easy to rent them or get them on Netflix, and I hate storing extraneous things. So here is my tiny and complete collection: Army of Darkness. Chariots of Fire. Blackhawk Down. Legend. Casablanca. The Departed. Children of Men. Singin in the Rain. Dark City.

TV shows I find particularly fascinating are Arrested Development, the Wire, Dexter, Mad Men, and Dr Who. I also loved Coupling and the British version of The Office. As far as Hulu, I love Community and Modern Family. Nothing else really keeps me coming back - except True Blood but only so I can be both intrigued and repulsed for the next couple of weeks. But I much prefer the books.

How would you describe your film education?

A patchwork quilt. I often forget that I do have years of formal education - internships at Tyne Tees Television in Northern England, news broadcaster for AM radio and Production Coordinator/journalist for the student paper in Juneau, Alaska, graduate of the New York Film Academy on the Universal backlot, which was an incredibly intense experience, and as a Production Coordinator on several low budget (1-3 million) films. When we lived in Thailand I shot a documentary about it on my family's camcorder, and then cut it for free on an Avid in exchange for interning at a production company back in Alaska. I'm lucky to know a lot of different sides of this business and have experience that ranges from cutting 16mm on a Steenbeck flatbad, negotiating travel arrangements and security for above the line talent, and freezing my arse off on a student filmmaker's set in the woods in early Winter without even a pocket warmer.

How would you describe the film "scene" where you live?

Stubborn. In spite of the lack of Seattle film incentives, people make films. We're small enough that reputation among filmmakers and actors can make or break your next job- which is an important lesson in itself. People are hard working, quick to help others, and obsessed with promoting Seattle through high quality indies. I love that.

How has social media changed the independent film industry?

Man, I don't really know. Social media was already around by the time I stopped treating the film industry like an untouchable holy grail conferred on a lucky few. I can tell you how it's changed me, though. It's made me very aware of a network that I never knew existed. It's introduced me to huge resources of information by filmmakers, for filmmakers. It's spurred on this revolutionary spirit that I think we all feel, of seizing our destiny and making our own opportunities.

What's your opinion on crowdfunding?

I think crowdfunding is natural, vital, and relevant. It's not the future, people. It's here. It already IS practically traditional. Learn to use it. And what that really means is, make something great and find the audience for it. That's a formula that's been working for a long time - it's just the venue that's changed. And when you do crowdfund your first project, be humble, work hard, expect nothing, and give back wherever you can. Check out Joke & Biagio's experience happening right now - it's history in the making.

What is the casting process like?

Wow. Well there are two sides to that table and different experiences on both. I've been a part of both and neither is easy. As an actor, I like being able to do the work, and I beat myself up if something goes wrong. There was a very recent audition I had that I absolutely loathed myself for afteward, because I kept screwing up my imaginary eyeline to people who weren't there. I also got feedback from the casting director that I was "creepy," which made me flustered because I couldn't tell if that was good or bad, given the character. I'm sure it didn't seem as bad to people in the room but I was pissed that I let those elements get to me.

On the other hand, I've had auditions that felt like walking on air, and I knew I brought something special. That usually happens when I'm lucky enough to read with another actor.

Being on the other side of the table is a tricky treasure hunt. It actually makes me slightly uncomfortable, but I also haven't had much experience with it. Watching people struggle is very painful, and you have to see a lot of that before you find the actors who own the room. More reason to cast myself! ;)

How does independent film differ from the mainstream?

I think this definition is very nebulous at this point, and it's easy for people to put a number on it, like "indies are made for this amount and nothing more. Anything above that number is mainstream." Which is ridiculous. If you have 5 million of your own dollars and make a movie and screen it yourself, that's an indie. It's the DIY spirit realized on a professional level. That's the level I want to work at - I have little desire to be a part of the indies that look like indies, if that makes sense. As far as mainstream, generally that's taken to mean something made from within the studio system. I'm not a snob, though. I would be happy to work in/on a mainstream movie. But I know that my greatest creative freedom will probably always be derived from the films I make myself.

It's also a tricky situation for actors who get their start in indies. The bottom line is that we still want and need a sustainable career, and some level of mainstream is necessary to establish that. Indie actors don't make enough to pay the bills just by acting. It'd be nice to work consistently on SAG features where pay isn't deferred. That's not the level I'm at now, but I know what I want and what I'm aiming for.

You could go back in time and see any classic film being made. Whichfilm would it be and why?

Wizard of Oz. I'd knock out one of the Lollipop Guild and steal their part. Then I could go back and watch myself now. Or Gone with the Wind. I'd slap Scarlett a few times and then apologize to Olivia De Havilland. Or maybe Paleface so I could see my great Aunt Jane Russell onscreen with Bob Hope. I'd be ecstatic!

What's your favorite movie quote and why?

I don't have one! My family and I use hundreds of quotes as inside joke shorthand - mostly from old movies like "White Christmas."

My favorite quotes are actually related to acting. One is by Anne Bogart: "Do not assume that you have to have some prescribed condition to do your best work. Do not wait." I also sometimes tell myself, If you build it, they will come. I also have this by my desk at work: "Leap, and the net will appear."

You could have any super power. What would it be?

The power to make others say, "Yes." :)

What is your opinion on movie remakes?

Just don't screw up my childhood.

What is your opinion on book to movie adaptions?

Read the book, THEN see the movie.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

THANK YOU SO MUCH! :) People can follow me on twitter @bellawonder


I'd be thrilled if everyone would tune in to Film Courage on July 17th at noon. I'll be on the show! :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks Wonder for doing the interview. I hope to see "Connect To" at a festival near me. Keep me posted on "Summer Home" I'll be sure to spread the word about both of your films. I'll be tuning in to Filmcourage on July 17th.