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Your new movie Niece Day
- in a few words, what is it about?
Niece Day is about a professor, Justin (played by Ben
Richardson [Ben
Richardson interview - click here]), whose work is having a “bring your kid to work” day. The
catch, however, is that he doesn’t have a kid. He opts to bring his
niece, Sammy (played by Marlee Burns), and the two have a seemingly
lackluster day together performing the mundane tasks of Justin’s every
day—making copies for class, giving quizzes, and overseeing student
projects. Uncle Justin is disappointed that Sammy didn’t have a fun day
like he’d hoped; however, when he apologizes for it, we get to then see
the day again through Sammy’s perspective—and how much of an adventure
it was to her!
What were your sources of inspiration when writing Niece Day?
Ben
Richardson and I co-wrote the script, and a major source of inspiration
for the both of us was his relationship with his real-life niece, Abby.
The two of them are the most dynamic duo ever, and the love between them
is palpably unbreakable. They were the obvious ideals for Uncle Justin and
Sammy. On a personal note, I was a nanny to a very lively girl named Ava
and her sister Riley years ago and have kept up with them over the years.
While we’re not blood-related, the excitement and joy I get every time I
get to spend a day with them—as well as the childlike enchantment with
which they see the world—was a great reference point for the finer
points of Sammy’s personality. In regards to Justin’s work as a film
professor, I drew from my own experiences of going through film school, as
well as teaching film classes myself over the past couple of years. To what extent can you identify with Niece
Day's Justin, and the predicament he finds himself in? I’m
a chronic people-pleaser. Even with years of therapy and self-help books,
my instinctual response to most situations is to ask myself “who do the
people around me need me to be right now?” With that, I relate
incredibly to Justin in his desire to be someone of importance and of
interest to his niece. When we’re passionate about something, we
typically want to share it with those we love—but there is always an
underlying fear of rejection. Just as Justin loves his job and wants Sammy
to love it as much as he does, he falls victim to that fear of rejection
because he loves Sammy and her disapproval means something to him. It’s
something I struggle with every day, so his character really meant a lot
to me from a directorial standpoint. You've
written Niece Day
together with the film's lead Ben Richardson [Ben
Richardson interview - click here] - so what can you tell us about
him, and what was your collaboration like? Ben
is quite possibly the smartest person I know. Collaborating with him is a
challenge in the best way
possible—not because he’s difficult to work with, but because his mind
processes so quickly that you have to sprint to keep up. He had such a
clear vision for the story as a whole, but especially Justin’s character because of how closely it was modeled after his own experience
as an uncle. It was also great having him in that role as well, because we
were able to talk character long before production ever started. He was a
great collaborator not just in development when writing, but on-set as
well in his ideas for Uncle Justin and subsequently the dynamic between
him and Marlee. Ben is a powerhouse to work with on all fronts, and
watching him balance the hats of co-writer, lead actor, and producer was
inspiring. I think a lot of people would have easily been overwhelmed by
that combination of duties, but Ben took it in stride and perfumed all of
his roles beautifully. This film would not have been made, much less as
well as it was, without him.
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Do talk about
your directorial approach to your story at hand! I’m
not going to lie, I felt like a useless director on this one because of
how naturally Ben and Marlee and the rest of the amazing cast fit their
roles. My main goal was to simply portray the story—it’s a simple
story with dynamic characters, and I truly felt the characters didn’t
need much help being brought to life. So our decisions of where to put the
camera, the feel of the film, were really more with a goal of not taking
away from that already-present magic. It needed a light touch; I feared
much more would have strained that chemistry amongst the cast and
overcomplicated a story that is beautiful because of—not in spite of—it’s simplicity. What
can you tell us about Niece
Day's cast, and why exactly these people?
I’ve
gone through difficult casting processes before, but Niece Day
was such a lovely change of pace in that the
casting came incredibly intuitively. Ben Richardson as Uncle Justin just
made sense—I’ve seen him interact countless times with his real-life
niece, Abby. He is Uncle Justin. He wrote his own self into that role
during the writing process, so it just didn’t make sense for anyone but Ben
to play that part! And Marlee… I knew we needed the character of Sammy to
have range, and that can be difficult to find with actors that young. Ben
and I had coffee with Marlee and her mom Ashley, and we instantly knew she
was the one. She had the beautiful, bubbly excitement of an eight year old
but could flip a switch and sit down to have a serious, adult conversation
in the blink of an eye. She understood not only how Sammy needed to act,
but why she needed to do so. It
was incredible to watch! Jessica was a fun reunion between the actress,
Karen Garlitz, and myself. Karen acted in my very first short film What
People Are, as well as the film Garden Spells which
screened at San Diego International Comic-Con in 2022 most notably. She
has such a natural caring nature about her with a hint of playfulness
that, I believe, made her perfect for her character’s dual mother and
sister dynamics.
Our
supporting cast came along very similarly. Veronique Scurry and Jamie
Brewster have the intangible mix of thoughtfulness and mischievousness
that brought their teacher characters to life. Nick Hodge made my job easy
by bringing his own natural charisma and charm to the performance, as
did Rachel Curl. I genuinely love this cast in its entirety—I was
very lucky to have them all on board!
A few
words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? There
are sets that just feel special, and I’m very pleased to say Niece Day
was one of those. Ben and I were lucky enough to
be able to hire many of our friends who have been working in the industry
for a long time, many of us even going all the way back to film school
together. It truly didn’t feel like a work environment—it felt like
the good old days of directing class when you’d gather your friends for
a weekend to shoot a movie (but more high quality and with better catering
for lunch)! The proudest element of the film for me is the amount of cast
and crew members I’ve had tell me that this shoot was the most fun
they’ve ever had on set. Ben and I strove to keep a very calm and jovial
atmosphere, and I think that was definitely reciprocated by our team. It
was really a wonderful atmosphere that I hope to be able to recreate on
future projects. The
$64-question of course, where can Niece
Day be seen? Right
now we’re just hitting our stride on the festival circuit, so nowhere
publicly quite yet. If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram at
jo.wilson12 I’ll post updates on festival and other viewings as
they’re available! Anything you can tell us about
audience and critical reception of Niece
Day?
The
reception of Niece Day
has been
very kind. It’s always rather nerve-racking to put your work and the
work of your team out there, but we have received so much incredible
support for the film. It’s been very fulfilling to watch the film with
an audience and hear everyone laugh in the right places and “awww” in
the spots you wanted them to “awww” in. The reviews we’ve had as
well have been very positive, which has been quite a relief to me
personally. I feel family-friendly films often fall victim of not being
taken seriously, and to have the positive reviews we’ve had from both
audiences and critics has been incredible in the sense that I appreciate
our cast and crew’s talents and hard work being recognized by someone
other than myself and Ben. Everyone has been very gracious!
Any future projects you'd like to share? This
is always a terrifying question because if I put it in print it means it
actually has to get made, so here goes nothing! I have a short called Rumours (produced
by Ben Richardson) that we’re currently in the process of creating a
crowd-funding campaign for to hopefully shoot early 2024. It’s period
drama about two girls in 1690s New England who find themselves in a moral
conundrum that leads either to crime or punishment with no easy out.
It’s been a passion project in the works for quite a while now, so I’m
excited to get it off the ground!
What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject?
I’ve
always been a fan of movies. A lot of my family’s traditions growing up
centered around the cinema—we’d go to the movies every Christmas Eve
and Christmas Day. We even measured time by how many movies it would take
to watch during that time span—vacation road trips weren’t “8
hours,” they were “about 4 movies” long on our little portable DVD
player. One of my favorite VHS tapes to watch over and over again was a
special feature called The Making of ‘Jurassic
Park’, narrated by James Earl Jones, and I was
fascinated by everything it took to make what was my favorite movie
growing up. I still didn’t realize, though, that filmmaking was
something you could do as a career. Until my senior year of high school,
when I went to visit some actor friends of mine in Los Angeles. One of
them was shooting a film at the time, and asked if I could hang out on set
while she filmed for a few hours. I agreed, and had my eyes opened to what
that process looked like. I got to talk to crew and realized that
filmmaking was something obtainable, that people actually did it for work
and not just art. I got home from my trip and switched my college plan
immediately. I attended Oklahoma City Community College and received my
degree in Digital Cinema Production, which was a very rewarding
experience. It’s a very hands-on program that was very effective in
preparing me for working in the industry and connecting me with so many
people I’m lucky enough to still be working with years later—many of
whom were a part of Niece Day!
What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Niece Day?
As
a director, Niece Day is my
fourth short film (not counting the cringey student films hiding in my
closet with a “do not open sign” on the door). My prior films What
People Are, Marshmallows (co-written
and co-directed with Ben Richardson) and Garden
Spells all had satisfactory festival runs
previously. Garden Spells actually
showed at San Diego International Comic-Con last year as part of the
San
Diego International Children’s Film Festival, so it’s been a great
experience to be a repeat filmmaker to such an awesome event. What
People Are is available to watch on YouTube and was
my capstone project as I graduated from film school. Marshmallows was
a great experience in that it was the first time Ben and I worked that
closely together on the same project in a creative capacity. I think it
went rather well considering we’ve collaborated again on Niece Day!
How
would you describe yourself as a director? I’d
say I’m rather simple, honestly. I like bringing on actors who can
embody the character rather than only acting in the role, which allows me
to just let them do their thing for the most part on set and watch them
bring the scene to life while curating the environment around them. I
think my job as a director is aligned with the role of bumper guards in
bowling—if the actors are the ball going towards the goal of knocking
down the pins, my job is to let them explore the lane and the world and
gently keep them from going off the rails and into the gutter in the
process. It’s guidance moreso than the authority I know some directors
work with. Filmmakers
who inspire you?
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Oh
gosh, I’ll try to keep this response to a non-novel length. Spielberg,
Sophia Coppola, and Wes Anderson. Spielberg has a way of combining the
escapism that makes cinema so beautiful with a realistic emotional
approach to character that still keeps his stories grounded. It’s such a
delicate balance to strike that I believe he’s one of the very few to
consistently execute. I could write an entire essay on this man, so I’ll
keep it there. I love Sophia Coppola’s world-building—every film of
hers feels like a hazy daydream yet is rooted in relatable characters
and situations. I’ve never been a French queen (alas), but I can relate
to every emotion in Marie Antoinette. She has a
way of taking unattainable characters and making them actual human people.
Wes Anderson is honestly a rather new obsession for me. I watched Moonrise
Kingdom and
Asteroid City back
to back and am absolutely enamored with the way he takes these big,
life-altering moments or beats and just… has them so casually delivered
as to be easily missed. Lines of dialogue that reveal so much about a
character’s past in one single sentence that in other movies would be a
cue for swells of music and a push-in on an actor are simply spoken and
moved on from. I think it’s the most realistic portrayal of life. We
have the big things that happen to us, but it’s not like in the movies
where the music builds and we get our close-up. The big moments happen,
and life goes on. I’ll get off my soapbox now; thank you for letting me
have my nerd moment! Your favourite movies? Oh
boy… do you want the list alphabetically, or chronologically by release
date? Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Marie Antoinette,
La La Land, Jurassic Park, Parasite, Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom (don’t judge me), Citizen Kane, Robin Hood
(Disney
animated version),
Asteroid City… in no particular order after Close
Encounters. I could go on, but I’ll leave it at those for now! ...
and of course, films you really deplore? This
is an unpopular opinion, so please don’t hate me. But I absolutely
detest Napoleon Dynamite. I don’t necessarily
think it’s a bad film, but it is most definitely not my cup of 1%
milk… Your website,
social media, whatever else? I’m
on Facebook as Jordan Wilson and Instagram as jo.wilson12. What else are
the kids on these days? I don’t have a TikTok, but you can find me on
LinkedIn under my name. That’s about all the social media I can keep up
with! Come say hi! Anything else you're dying
to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I’m
not a sports person so I’m not 100% certain how many bases there are in
baseball (3?? Does the spot the batter stands count??), but I think you
covered them all! Thanks
for the interview! The
pleasure is all mine, thank you!
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