Writer & Director Christine Stoddard of Quail Bell Press & Productions: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker

… Fall in love with your story or concept. Honor and protect your vision. Practice filmmaking without a license. Figure out marketing and promotion early. Keep making what you want to make.

As a part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Christine Stoddard.

Christine Stoddard is a Salvadoran-American writer, director, performer, and multi-hyphenated artist creating books, films, plays, murals, etc. She founded Quail Bell Magazine and Quail Bell Press & Productions. She recently premiered her first feature film, Sirena’s Gallery, after directing several shorts, such as Bottled, Virtual Caress, Butterflies, Drunken History, and Brooklyn Burial. Her books include Heaven is a Photograph, Hello, New York: The Living And Dead, Naomi & The Reckoning, Desert Fox by the Sea, Belladonna Magic, and Water for the Cactus Woman, among others. She will be directing her nationally award-winning play, “Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares” at the Gene Frankel Theatre in NYC in 2022. Previously, she was the first-ever artist-in-residence at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House in Manhattan and served as an inaugural AnkhLave Arts Alliance artist fellow at the Queens Botanical Garden. Her work has appeared in Ms. Magazine, The Huffington Post, Portland Review, Bustle, and beyond.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?

I was one of three siblings born to a New Yorker father and Salvadoran mother and raised near the bank of the Potomac River in suburban Washington, D.C. Arts, entertainment, and media were a part of my foundation. When I wasn’t burying myself in books, I tagged along with my family to museum exhibitions, plays, screenings, festivals, and more. You wouldn’t believe how many memories I have of dodging goose poop on the National Mall! Thankfully, D.C. is a Mecca for free events. They can be hit or miss, though the hits make the misses sting less. At a young age, I became such a little culture vulture that I must’ve been unbearable. I’d like to think I eventually grew into the role. Now you could say that I’m a classy dame as well as a sucker for low-brow. In so many ways, I feel like my life is just beginning, but that would discount the journey I’ve led so far and I’d never want to do that.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

From childhood, I had plenty of bullies, naysayers, and haters, but I listened to the people who encouraged me. Teachers encouraged me above all else. In college, professors told me that the path I wanted to pursue was possible — as long as I didn’t keep my head in the clouds. One professor, in particular, guided me through some major artist grant applications. She told me that I could achieve just about anything I set my mind to and that she couldn’t imagine me as anything else but an artist. I’ll never forget sitting in her office one afternoon nearly crying because I didn’t know how I was going to juggle everything for the semester. On top of my full-time class schedule, I had the last of my AmeriCorps service hours, a part-time job at a magazine, and weekend theater productions. She told me that sometimes, for short periods in life, it’s worth powering through, no matter how hard. When the end is in sight, you need to reach the finish line. You can’t quit every time you’re tired and overwhelmed and sometimes you really need to push yourself. The time to rest and reap the fruits of your labor will come. Of course, I had heard all of this before. Yet the advice hit differently coming from her. She was an artist I greatly admired and someone who had seen me grow as an artist and earnestly believed in me. That semester ended up being my most grueling semester of college. I never regretted the sacrifices I made to get through those few months. My focus and effort allowed me to progress more quickly than if I had flailed about, not committed and spread out some of those experiences. I felt satisfied. Dang, did I sleep well that summer!

Developing that work ethic in college served me well. Call me a nerd and you’d be right. I paid attention and people both on and off-campus noticed. I took advantage of office hours, researched grants, and submitted and re-submitted work until I got it right. This was how I won funding and earned press for my creative projects while still in school. I don’t know that I will ever love writing a grant proposal, but I will always love that grants make my creative work possible.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your filmmaking career?

The making of my first feature film, “Sirena’s Gallery,” makes for a bizarre story. I was awarded a residency in an art gallery in my home state during the pandemic. This allowed me to shoot a film in an art gallery, in isolation. In May 2020, I ended up nearly living in the gallery with 24/7 access. When I needed exterior shots, I wandered around downtown Richmond, which was a ghost town. Even under normal conditions, it can be a sleepy place (and surprisingly happening for the right occasion), but I’d never seen it look so post-apocalyptic. Mostly, I stayed inside, splattering watercolor paint and dumping SD cards. There were literally hours where I just stared at the white walls or peered into the soul of my camera as I shot and re-shot. Sometimes I just rolled around on the perfect hardwood floor just to hear a sound. I had no company. The silence was profound.

Mere days before the George Floyd protests took place, I packed up to return to New York City. My two weeks of monk-like contemplation and art-making had come to an end. Downtown Richmond was about to get very loud. As people took to the streets to make their voices heard, a lot of property was destroyed in the process. That gallery was spared but many neighboring businesses were destroyed. I’m thankful for my timing because it would’ve been terrifying to have been in the gallery alone at night while the smash-and-grabs were taking place. I’m all for people’s right to protest, just not a big fan of being put in harm’s way.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

The most interesting people I have interacted with are ones who are honestly themselves. I’ve interacted with celebrities and other notable people and, while I could use this as an opportunity to name-drop, I won’t. The most interesting encounters with strangers have always been a lot more low-key. Once I took a Greyhound bus from Washington, D.C. to Pittsburgh and had an hours-long conversation with a man who got on at Baltimore. He was headed to Chicago to propose to the love of his life. And, boy, did I hear all about it. He was manic! Nothing propels a person like love. I found his energy charming and I never forgot it. After I heard all about his romance, we shared our philosophies on love. It was very much a “Let’s not talk about the weather” kind of conversation.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are many, but lately, I’ve been especially grateful to Amanda Andrews. We met on a very messy film shoot last summer and grew stronger because of the whole absurd experience. Since then, we’ve collaborated on multiple stage and film projects, with so much on the horizon. She’s acted in two of my comedy plays at the Broadway Comedy Club: “Cyber Cinderella” and “Forget Fairytales.” She will be appearing in a third one, called “Hashtag Mountain Girl,” on April 3rd. (Tickets are available on Eventbrite.) Amanda will also be hosting the Q&A for the next virtual and in-person screenings of my films “Sirena’s Gallery” and “Naomi & The Reckoning.” I’m pretty excited to have the New York premiere for both films at the Stuart Cinema in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, especially with Amanda by my side. (Tickets are available on Eventbrite.) She has some very insightful questions planned to ask me. And that’s just what I can mention publicly at this time!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

The Buddhist saying that life is suffering will always resonate with me. Initially, it does sound pessimistic but I’ve always took it as optimistic: Life is full of suffering but the downs allow you to appreciate the ups. You need contrast. Those points of comparison remind us that life is beautiful and wild and worth it.

I am very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

1. Our society is diverse. The human species is full of variations. If art represents life, our entertainment should reflect that.

2. There’s more than one way to tell a story. Stories are universal, but storytelling varies from culture to culture. We should open ourselves to different kinds of stories. It can be a beautiful, valuable, and fun experience.

3. We build empathy through commonality. The human condition binds us all. Stories remind us of just how much we have in common.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

“Her Garden” is an experimental narrative film involving mermaids and mental health. It’s feature-length and a remix of director Tim Ashworth’s film “The Garden,” a never-finished re-telling of Alice in Wonderland. “Her Garden” is currently in the post-production stage and will be released directly to Vimeo On Demand. There’s a lot of power and magic in editing; it’s one of my favorite parts of the process, so I’m relishing this.

I am working on promoting my films “Sirena’s Gallery” and “Naomi & The Reckoning,” as well. It’s not just enough to make a movie; you have to bring it to audiences! I also have other narrative and documentary projects in the works, plus book, theatre, new media, and visual art “stuff.” That includes plays at the Broadway Comedy Club and the Gene Frankel Theatre. That’s just as much as I can say publicly at this time.

Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?

One reviewer (Glassworks) once wrote that I tell stories “in magical and hauntingly beautiful ways.” I’m pretty proud of cultivating a style and continuously refining it. This is not an easy process. In fact, it’s one of the hardest: to develop your distinct voice and make it heard. I’ve been told that regardless of media or genre, my voice comes through and that’s one of the highest compliments I can receive. Creative expression is one of the main reasons most artists become artists in the first place. There is a drive to do this and I know firsthand how much it breaks my heart not to do it. Anytime I spend too much time dwelling on the business side of my creative projects, for instance, I start to ache. I always want to get back to art-making. I always want that to be the priority.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Fall in love with your story or concept. Commit and then follow through on your project. If your love is strong enough, it doesn’t matter what others think of it. There will always be critics. I care less and less about the haters and more and more about what lives inside of my head and heart.

2. Honor and protect your vision. You must protect what you have fallen in love with. That doesn’t mean it can’t change. What it does mean is that you shouldn’t settle. I’ve become a lot more comfortable saying “no.”

3. Practice filmmaking without a license. You don’t need permission to make art. Make it because you want to make it. But you need to actually make it if you’re going to make it.

4. Figure out marketing and promotion early. This is my least favorite part of the process, but it can make all the difference. Planning is essential for a self-producer like me. I’m trying more and more to think in terms of logistics because that’s not what comes naturally. What comes naturally is dreaming!

5. Keep making what you want to make. Your audience is out there. While I’m not interested in competition, I realize we all exist in a capitalist system. That reality can be extremely discouraging. But I try not to think in terms of scarcity. I think in terms of abundance: abundant potential, abundant possibilities, abundant audience members, abundant opportunities to try again.

When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean?

My artistic vision always comes first. This is the main draw of being an independent artist: I answer largely to myself. Grants and donations from fundraising campaigns help support my work but they don’t determine much about my final creative choices. I am not so concerned about viewer preferences. I find my audience and that audience is not everyone. I simply want people to connect with my work. I am even less concerned with critics. I would be lying if I said I didn’t like praise, but praise does not impact my artistic choices. At this time, I don’t have financiers, but if and when I do, I will choose my partnerships wisely. I want financiers who are attracted to my unique vision and will value that vision.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Well, it’s not my original movement, but it is one that I firmly believe should catch on: embracing children and their potential; don’t underestimate them. There is so much that children can absorb and process if we find age-appropriate ways to meet them. One phrase that I love comes from Montessori, a method of teaching children that’s focused on experiential learning and natural curiosity. That phrase is “peaceful children, peaceful world.” This saying promotes teaching non-violence and pacifism from early childhood. How different would human history be if more people encountered these ideas as small children? That phrase reminds me of another important concept: consent. This critical lesson can be taught to children as young as preschool age. Show a child to leave another child alone when they say don’t want to be hugged and you’ve just given a lesson in consent. Kids get it, but they can’t get it if they’re not exposed to it. Many adults prefer to shelter children instead of modifying lessons in a manner that children of a certain age can grasp, given what’s typical for their life experiences at that point. I try not to assume a child can’t understand something. It’s probably more likely that I am not yet prepared to find an age-appropriate way to discuss it with them.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)

Right now, it’s a tie between Sally Mann, Cindy Sherman, and Wendy Red-Star. Do I have to pick just one?

How can our readers further follow you online?

My website is bangin’! Check it out at www.worldofchristinestoddard.com for my most comprehensive and up-to-date online presence.

Obviously, I’m also on social media. Here are my handles:

Instagram: @stoddardsays

Twitter: @stoddardsays

Facebook: @artistchristinestoddard

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.

In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.

Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.

With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.