Retro IONCINEMA.com
Ry Russo-Young
After I did the first interview with Stella as Shelly Brown, I went home and examined the footage. She was a fractured character so it made sense to divide the ways in which we see her, to fragment these pieces like a mosaic.
We’re truly honored to cap off the year for our IONCINEPHILE featurette with Ry Russo-Young and her second feature film which I was completely enamored by back when I saw the film circa third week of January at Sundance in 09′. You Wont Miss Me would play the film festival circuit with a stop at SXSW and would win the Gotham Award for “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You”, which ultimately meant that one day, some distribution company with enough panache would get behind this film. That day as come: YWMM receives a December 10th release via the Factory 25 folks. Bonus: Here’s Ry Russo-Young’s Top Ten Film list.
Eric Lavallee: During your childhood…what films were important to you?
Ry Russo-Young: Postcards From The Edge, written by Carrie Fisher and directed by Mike Nichols. My older sister and I used to perform scenes from the film as kids and still often break into dialogue when we’re together. I play Shirley MacLaine and she does a mean Meryl Streep. We also loved Fairy Tale Theater with Shelly Duval. In particular, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. (Watch here).
Lavallee: During your formative years what films & filmmakers inspired you?
Russo-Young: When I was fifteen I went to a small party and we all watched Performance starring Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg, I’d never seen anything like it and was amazed by the style, zooms and free sexuality of the film.
A couple years later I got into the French New Wave, Antonioni, Bergman, Fassbinder, Cassavetes and Kieślowski. My first year in college I was really lonely and would watch The Godfather with the sound off to fall asleep. A lot of the time I never made it past the opening wedding scene but it was very comforting to see their whole family come together.
Lavallee: At what point did you know you wanted to become a filmmaker?
Ry Russo-Young: My whole childhood I had played imaginary games, making up stories and dressing up. When I was nine years old I acted in the school play, finally I realized there was a socially acceptable term for what I loved to do. When I was in high school I took a photography class and started to connect the dots between acting and images. My senior year of high school I made a film with my best friend from childhood (the same one I used to play imaginary games with as a kid) and all these things clicked. Acting, images, narrative and fantasy gelled into one medium that felt right.
Lavallee: There’s a missing apostrophe in your title….what’s the deal?
Russo-Young: The whole film is based on the character of Shelly Brown. When I asked Stella to write out the phrase ‘You Wont Miss Me’ as Shelly Brown, she wrote it without an apostrophe and so it felt truthful to do without it. Even though in execution it’s a pain in the ass.
Lavallee: You and Stella co-wrote the treatment, at what point during the script-writing phase did you decide to blur the narrative and docu forms?
Russo-Young: The idea to shoot on five formats and to blur fiction with documentary came before the treatment. After I did the first interview with Stella as Shelly Brown, I went home and examined the footage. She was a fractured character so it made sense to divide the ways in which we see her, to fragment these pieces like a mosaic.
Lavallee: Aside from Stella’s emotionally raw perf, what I would most alluring and jarring is the film’s structure…Did you find the form in the editing room, or did you map it out according to what you presented?
Russo-Young: Both. From the beginning, the story was going to be non linear but there was some leverage in terms of moving sections. The co-editor Gil Kofman helped layer the scenes so that the emotional narrative unfolds over time. We started editing early on though so it was more about backing into a structure than a major rearrangement once everything was filmed.
Lavallee: Once the character was fleshed out, did you impose a certain rules/include specific parameters for Stella to use when acting the part?
Russo-Young: No, I didn’t restrict the way that Stella interpreted the character. I tried to do the opposite and be open to her interpretations of who and why this girl was.
Lavallee: Among the specific aesthetic choices, the more evident decision was work in various formats. My afterthought was that this enabled you to layer your protag and allowed the two of you to develop a wider interpretation of Shelly’s personality traits. I was wondering if each format was conjoined with specific acting “instructions” on your part?
Russo-Young: The format often dictated our method of shooting (how many lights, how big our crew, handheld or sticks) but not the direction within each scene. Each format was chosen because it captures a different emotional temperature. Some formats are more theatrical, others nostalgic or in the case of the flip camera, “real.” Some scenes required more instruction that others but that was rarely do to format and more a product of the scene itself.
Lavallee: Can you discuss the collaborative process you had with Gil Kofman (Co-Editor)?
Russo-Young: Gil was one of the first people who looked at a rough cut and seemed to understand how to work with the footage on its own terms; to let each moment breathe and unfold. His insight was to reveal the character in a strategic way throughout the film, allowing the audience to operate between what’s inside her head and how she functions in the world.
Lavallee: Can you discuss the collaborative process you had with Stella Schnabel?
Russo-Young: This film wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Stella. I was in awe of her bravery and honesty when approaching the movie. She’s one of the sharpest people I know in that she can be completely honest about a scene, her performance, the location, what we just shot. She is ruthless in the best possible way and most of all with herself.
Lavallee: Can you discuss the collaborative process you had with Will Bates (Composer)?
Russo-Young: Will composed the original score for You Wont Miss Me. He was incredibly generous in his time, energy and brainpower. He is an extremely skilled and meticulous musician. The music provides the momentum that stitches together the disparate moments and emotional layers within the movie. Working with Wills is also easy and fun, I would highly recommend him to other filmmakers.
Mesee Productions & Factory 25 release Ry Russo-Young’s YOU WONT MISS ME on December 10, 2010 in New York with a nationwide roll out to follow.
