Interview: Director Jen McGowan Talks Her Backwoods Thriller RUST CREEK
A sophomore feature can be such a critical piece to a filmmakers body of work. It is the reaction and later result of the opportunities brought by filmmakers debut project. The sophomore release tends to draw with more scrutiny than surprise. Even within the fluid idea of horror, a sophomore feature can be many different things to different filmmakers. It can be a sequel to a well received debut feature or perhaps be a different path entirely into the deep and dark corners of genre storytelling. It can be more visual and less substance to show the range of the filmmaker or it can also be completely a different tone and film genre totally.
Winning a variety of awards and prizes for her shorts and feature including the SXSW ‘Gamechanger’ Award for her 2014 comedy/drama feature Kelly & Cal. Filmmaker Jen McGowan elevated a talented cast including Juliette Lewis and Cybil Shepherd with her debut feature about an unlikely friendship and control in one’s life. A directing product of the MFA program at USC and also getting her BFA in acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, McGowan short film work has been a staple of the festival circuit for over a decade. Having her feature Kelly & Cal picked up by IFC Films, McGowan returned to the distribution label with her latest portrait of an overachieving young woman who must defend herself in an environment that she is alien within the dark, dramatic thriller Rust Creek.
Written by Julie Lipson, Rust Creek stars rising talent Hermione Corfield (King Arthur and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as the young woman about to embark on her journey named ‘Sawyer.’ Set in the backwoods of Kentucky, Rust Creek is a very human story with characters that represent survival, a warped sense of entitlement and justice. Surrounded by a solid cast and strong crew, this story does not hold back and challenges the viewer to understand how things can get out of control even with the fullest of preparation.
We spoke with director Jen McGowan about her tale of survival, as well as the casting, the physicality of the role, and tribalism for Dread Central.
Dread Central: First of all, happy holidays and congratulations Jen on your latest feature film Rust Creek. Can you discuss why decided on this story for your sophomore feature and came to partner with screenwriter Julie Lipson on her first feature film screenplay?
Jen McGowan: Thank you! Happy holidays to you too! I met the producer, Stu Pollard about another film that I was trying to get financed. Although he didn’t respond to that project, we hit it off and he asked me if I would like to take a look at the script for another film he was looking for a Director on called Rust Creek. I did and I loved it. For me, when I read material, I mostly look for two things. ‘First, is this something I can make well that I think an audience will enjoy? Second, is there something in the material that will hold my interest and keep me engaged for two years.’ Within both cases, the answer was a strong yes!
DC: Can you talk about casting the talented actress Hermione Corfield as ‘Sawyer’ and what she brought to the character that was not on the page?
JM: Hermione is amazing. She is a lovely human and an absolute pro which is the perfect kind of actor I love to work with. She’s is as technically skilled as she is emotionally available. It was an absolute joy to collaborate with. We found her through traditional casting. The film was casted Jeremy Gordon and Caroline Liem and I could not be happier with all of the casting.
As for what was not on the page, that’s hard for me to answer because ‘Sawyer’ is now so much Hermione to me. Looking back, I don’t think I can even recall what the character was before her. She owned her, completely.
DC: One of the larger themes found in Rust Creek focuses on the idea of family versus mortality in connection to the conflict surrounding Sawyer? Can you speak to that theme and choices of doing the right thing versus doing the expected thing?
JM: Ah well. Doing the right thing versus doing the expected thing is something that definitely interests me. Humans are social pack animals and we see time and time again how hard it is to do anything against the grain no matter group we’re a part of. I’ve never really fit 100% in anywhere so I’m drawn to those characters. In a way, that gives me a special power that I think is necessary for a director. I’m used to that feeling and directing is a singular role.
I’m also very interested in the nature/nurture question and how someone is shaped by their environment. It was very important to me, that Sawyer came from a similar place as everyone else in the film. She’s not an outsider. She recognizes Buck and Hollister as familiar. She saw Buck and Hollister’s at her family gatherings growing up. For me, people’s families are fascinating because we are not our families but we can be.
DC: At the heart of it, Rust Creek is a dramatic thriller but it is also a survival piece. Can you talk about what pitfalls you wanted to avoid when bringing this story to life?
JM: The first was the tone. I wanted to maintain a consistent tone. In my opinion, it is very much the director’s job, it was paramount. I would also say pacing. There are large quiet sections of the film and others that are more dynamic. This came very much down to the post production stage with editing, sound design, and score.
DC: Rust Creek was filmed in Kentucky. For anyone who lives there or has lived in these isolated areas of country and towns, ‘justice’ takes on a different set of ideals, choices, and results. The rules change because the outside world is not watching for the most part. Can you talk about your decision on why it needed to be in the backwoods of Kentucky or was it always meant to be there? How much did that area fully form the film?
JM: Absolutely. We take our norms from those were immediately surrounded by and interact with. I think social media has blasted through that quite a bit but still, proximity is a powerful force and isolation multiplies it. The film was always set in Kentucky. The writer Julie Lipson, has talked about how she wrote these characters who she recognized from her time in the rural Pacific Northwest. However, these tribalisms are seen in cities as well. They’re just intertwined more and interact more with other tribes.
When you’re shooting an indie film, shooting on location is one of the ways you can really stretch your budget and capture an authenticity that you might not be able to otherwise duplicate. I love that we were able to film there in the winter. You see the cold on screen. It was definitely very additive.
DC: Can you talk about your pre-production when it came to storyboarding and/or deciding how you would present the vast woodlands? How did you handle the lighting of the production?
JM: Extensive scouting of the woods and roads was extremely important to me for finding locations that allowed me to show a visual progression in her journey. In terms of the roads, I wanted to move her from a place of light and spaciousness to a place of darkness and constriction. As she drives the woods, it begins to envelope her. For the woods themselves, I needed to make sure we were able to track her, which meant finding visually distinct areas of the woods. This was much easier said than done once you figure in screen direction, the sun’s direction, and shooting time of day. It was certainly an AD challenge.
Also, one thing I had to constantly keep in mind is almost the whole movie takes place during the day. Creating a thriller in the day time is a particular challenge because you can’t really rely on hiding things in shadows.
DC: Your decision to handle the music component for Rust Creek is unique and smart. Why choose that musical dynamic? What did H. Scott Salinas bring to this story with his musical choices?
JM: I adore Scott. He is so creative and fun to work with. We, or at least my side of we, had a blast! When we were creating the score we talked about themes, emotional arcs, threats, character themes, and location authenticity. I wanted something that would feel at home in these woods but wanted to resist the obvious twingy-twangy banjo sound that immediately comes to mind. Probably because a film like Deliverance did that so well. Some things don’t need to be related because they’ve just been completely mastered.
We used lots of instruments that were natural to the environment. Lots of wood, metal, sounds of wind, and animals were incorporated into the score itself. I love this score and I think Scott did a brilliant job.
DC: I think Sawyer’s age is quite a powerful tool in this story. She still is a teenager (technically) but she is also on a coming of age journey. Was Sawyer suppose to be this age originally or did the age change once you started to flush out this story? What is so compelling about this age for a woman?
JM: As far as I know, this was always Sawyer’s age. At least when I first read the script. I agree with you. I think it’s the right age for what we wanted to say which is capturing this moment when you have lots of freedom and some agency but maybe haven’t had your larger world views tested too much yet. It’s when hope and expectation hits reality. Some people overcome, some absorb, some pivot, and some excel. Everyone has a first moment in their lives when they are truly on their own.
DC: Can you talk about the physicality of the film and what the thinking was for a realistic execution of the stunt work?
JM: I wanted the stunts to feel real. This isn’t a superhero film. I used some slow motion simply so that things could be seen and understood. None of the action and stunts are glamorized or romanticized. I wanted all of Sawyer’s physicality to be believable for an athletic woman of her age who has clearly been to a self defense class. I said that to my fight choreographer as well. I said, ‘I want this to be messy, awkward. She can’t punch properly but she likely knows how to connect a knee to a groin and throw an elbow.’ I remember when I took a self defense class before I went to college and there’s nothing Sawyer does that wasn’t in that realm of possibility. You also deal with a normal person who would be able to stay calm enough to execute anything under these stressful circumstances. Hey, this is a movie!
DC: Your production supports women in film. You have been a staple and an example of empowering women in the industry with a variety of grants, awards, and recognition. What does it mean to have a large percentage of the cast, crew, and more be women on this production?
JM: I would say women in film supported this production. We had incredible, highly skilled women running almost every department on this production. This movie benefited greatly from their talents. Every movie is a sum of the contributions of the people making it and as our president would say, “I have all the best people.” However, in my case, they just happen to be mostly women!
DC: Thank you so much for the time!
JM: Thank you!
DC: Rust Creek is available right now through IFC Midnight at http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/rust-creek
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