The 15 Years Of Filmmaking That Led Tosca Musk To Passionflix
Film Courage: I know you’ve produced numerous movies, you’ve worked for other people but you’ve wanted to direct for a very long time and I was wondering what that journey was like? And now to finally be able to direct three movies (and more are on the horizon it sounds like), as well?
Tosca Musk: Well, I did two movies prior to Passionflix. I directed two movies prior to Passionflix, three movies actually.
I started out as an actor and then went into directing and then after directing my firstfeature I realized it’s like really, really hard to actually get it out and do things and then I went into producing and I produced for the next 10 years.
It was after I had my kids that I realized I wanted to do something that’s more creatively fulfilling for me. And I went and met with an executive producer who I produced a couple of movies for before and she is an awesome woman. She works at Lifetime now (her name is Sharon Bodis). And she said “What do you want to do?” And I said “I want to direct.” And she goes “Hmmm…I’ll let you direct. I have a movie now. Do you want to direct it?” And I went “Yeah, sure!” And she said “Okay.” And within a month I was on prep with that movie and directing. It was called YOU CAST A SPELL ON ME and that’s the one the Joany saw. So having that lunch with her basically changed my life and brought us to Passionflix because she said I could direct that movie, Joany saw it, she loved it, Joany contacted me and now we have Passionflix. That’s basically it. That’s the short story.
I got to make two movies for Sharon. I made that one and then the following year they hired me to make a CINDERELLA CHRISTMAS, which was a Christmas story and also a love story for ION as well.
Great experience, that’s where I met Emma Rigby and as soon as we made Passionflix, I asked Emma Rigby to be my first female lead of Passionflix for HOLLYWOOD DIRT.
So it all just sort of worked together. I was very fortunate. Of course it was 15 years of slogging to get to that point. But I was very fortunate to be given that opportunity by a great supporter of women.
Film Courage: To know that someone believed in you that quickly, where you were probably just coming down the line and [possibly] this was something (probably you weren’t expecting it so fast), what was that first day on set like? Terrifying? Empowering? Both?
Tosca Musk: It was exciting, actually. I definitely felt that I was in my own and that I owned it for sure. It was a very positive experience. That entire movie was wonderful. Again the two lead actors that I worked with (Ryan McPartlin and Nikki Deloach) had great chemistry. We had great chemistry together. And so we still are in contact and we still want to make another movie another. And so it was a really positive experience. I knew exactly what I wanted as a filmmaker. I had a great DP with me and he was very knowledgeable (a lot of experience).
Oh! Actually on that one I didn’t [have him] but I had a great DP. She was new to the field in that particular one but she was so supportive. So I had the DP that I had a lot of experience on my next movie CINDERELLA CHRISTMAS. So it was a positive experience, it was just fun. And I think once you’re doing something that you are passionate about and that you really, truly believe you should be doing, you do a great job, you excel in that. And that’s why to me it’s not considered work, it’s considered play. So I can do it forever, which is great, I have a great time.
Film Courage: So going back to that first experience [as a director], it was also the chemistry and the environment. It all seemed to kind of work?
Tosca Musk: Yeah, the chemistry and the environment, I mean I think at the end of the day (and I’ve been fortunate to have been told this by a lot of my crew members) is that the environment is created by the director. So the director, the mood on set is going to be based on how the director is feeling that day. And if I was throwing tantrums and yelling at everybody, probably it wouldn’t have been a great set to work on.
But I arrived and we were laughing and joking and having a fun time from the second we started and so everybody was laughing and joking and having a great time and that really helped…(More here via FilmCourage.com).
