Sitges Pitchbox Interview: Lunch Ladies

A Sitges Pitchbox 2018 Special Mention

We talk to Clarissa Jacobson, creator of “Lunch Ladies”, a horror genre comedy. Where some might find a risky combination of genres, Clarissa has proven to have in her hands a fun, entertaining twist on genre films, as she talked to us about her writing process and many other things.

Brief Synopsis:

For the past twenty years, obsessed Johnny Depp fans and fraternal twin sisters, Seretta and LouAnne Burr, have shared a miserable existence as high school lunch ladies serving up rubbery chicken parts, ammonia-treated government meat and whatever else the cash-strapped national lunch program sends their way.

This year is going to be different: Johnny Depp is touring with his band and the Lunch Ladies have scored front row tickets. Convinced this is their ticket out of high school hell town and that “The Depper” will hire them to be his very own Personal Chefs, their dreams are shattered after a snotty student pushes them one step too far.

This forces the Lunch Ladies to ask themselves…

WWJD? What Would Johnny Do?

FMH: Tell us a little bit about yourself, why did you decide to become a filmmaker? Where did you study? How did you start your career in film?

C.J: I started as an actress — since I was a little kid I wanted to be an actress. What I didn’t realize was — it was the creating of characters that I loved not the acting. I was always writing sketch characters and little plays and skits. I went to Indiana University, majored in theatre and I also graduated from the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York City. For many years I pursued an actor’s life, I was a good actress, but you know the funny thing is, I really didn’t like being the centre of attention, being looked at. When I discovered Twin Bridges Writing Salon I never looked back. I love screenwriting so much. I got into film by making my short for Lunch Ladies with my own money that I saved — and that has been a wonderful ride.

FMH: Do you have any other work in film, TV or advertisement? Can you show us/ tell us about your most noted work up until now?

C.J: My short — Lunch Ladies — based on the feature — which I wrote, produced, and created — is all over the place having won 29 awards to date with over 90 film fest screenings all over the world — that is what I’m most noted for. Before becoming a writer, as mentioned, I was an actress and did a lot of work in the theatre and voice over — some of it can be found on IMDb.

As a screenwriter, my coming of age feature film, Stella By Starlight, was optioned by Norman Stephens and Bev Nero Productions with an eye to filming it in Tulsa. I further have a gothic horror about Elizabeth Bathory that was optioned by Venezuelan Director Gisberg Bermudez who did the film The Whistler, soon to be distributed in North America. Lastly I have a thriller feature I just finished called Burnt Well Rest Stop and a comedy I’m currently working on with Shayna Weber who was a producer on Lunch Ladies the short, and is in Twin Bridges Writing Salon with me. So hopefully you will be hearing a lot more of me!

FMH: I read through the script for “Lunch Ladies” and I loved the whole concept from the start, it sounds hilarious! How did you come up with such a strange, yet funny, combination of concepts?

J.C: Thank you!

I was in a play many years ago with Donna Pieroni, who plays the lead in the Lunch Ladies short. Donna and I have remained friends over the years, and one day we were out to dinner and she was telling me that it sucked at auditions because not only are few roles for middle-aged women, but she was always up against the same person. She really liked the other actress, but it was always a bummer because only one of them could get the role. She told me she wished someone would write a story about Lunch Ladies. Because then they BOTH could get cast.

So that’s how it started. Then because, Sweeney Todd is my favorite musical and Donna happened to be starring in it at the time, I thought — wouldn’t it be funny to do a spoof on it with two Lunch Ladies? And hey, lots of people do spoofs on Sweeney Todd, so why not wink at it and make it be about two Lunch Ladies obsessed with Johnny Depp? They get the idea to do what they do from him because he played Sweeney Todd. Weird, I know — murdering Lunch Ladies in love with Johnny Depp. But it works!

FMH: What is your ultimate goal with the creation of “Lunch Ladies”? In the sense of, what concept would you like audiences to stay with when they’d watch it?

C.J: This is a film about underdogs, friendship, family, and going for one’s dreams. Sure, the Lunch Ladies are murderers and do crazy things, but at the heart of the piece is a story about people never giving up on their dreams, even when the world throws awful things at them.

Everyone, even the person you think has the smallest, least important job, has dreams. I think a lot of people don’t go for their dreams because they don’t believe it can happen, or they don’t have a support group that can pick them up when others push them down . So, in some little way I want to inspire people — that these crazy Lunch Ladies who are constantly treated horribly, they don’t give up, they don’t let people tell them they can’t succeed and their dreams come true.

The Lunch Ladies also stick together and are loyal to one another — so it’s a commentary on friendship as well — they are sisters — fraternal twin sisters — but they are also great friends.

FMH: How long have you been working on this project?

C.J: Several years — The feature took 18 months to finish — At Twin Bridges Writing Salon run by Joe Bratcher and Judy Farrell, we work those scripts hard; you pull them apart, put them back together, get notes, and develop them. Lunch Ladies was particularly hard to write and it took a long time. Then I put it aside and wrote some other scripts. I was having a hard time getting people to read Lunch Ladies the feature because it’s horror comedy and a strange idea, so I pursued some other things for a while.

Some time later, I decided to make a short from the feature — a proof-of-concept to show people that Lunch Ladies would work. I did not want to direct the short — between my job and producing it was too much so I hired a director, JM Logan, to bring my vision to life — and he did an amazing job. Now, for over a year, I have been working 6–10 hours a day promoting it with over 200 blogs on my website, 70 reviews, and social media. Once you get the film out there, that’s only the beginning! I am now going into the second phase of finding the producer/financier who wants to make the feature.

FMH: At what stage are you with it at this moment? What do you need / are you looking for to further develop it?

C.J: It’s ready to go — the script has been worked extensively — not that a script is ever done — there are always improvements — but this is a script that has been worked and read and worked again until it squeaks with dozens of people weighing in on it — people who know screenplay writing. I’m confident the script is ready. I have a great team in place, location and the fan base. What I need is someone to come on board that wants to produce it and finance it.

FMH: Do you have anybody specific in mind that you would like to be a part of your project (actor, actress, d.o.p, producer…)?

C.J: Ideally, I would love to bring everyone back on the feature that worked on the short — I put together a team that worked. The short has done fantastic and part of that is because I had the right team. I hope whoever comes on board to produce/finance the feature does not want to replace the two lead actresses especially. I know they are not big names, but they are so wonderful, and this film in particular is about underdogs. To have a big name star in that role simply doesn’t mesh with what this film is really about — the power of the underdog to succeed. I know the horror community well — they are often underdogs themselves — they don’t want these women replaced. That said, I know how the business is, and have to be open, but my thought is always — trust the work — if you tell good stories and do a good job — people will watch it. Think of the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding — they trusted the work and let the woman who wrote it star in it even though she wasn’t a big name. It worked.

FMH: What do you think stands out most in “Lunch Ladies”?

C.J: The characters. They are crazy, over-the-top, surreal and nutty but they are rooted in reality. They have fears, they have courage, they have joys, and they have sadness. Because they are three-dimensional people you care for them. I think anyone who likes this genre will like these characters and root for them. They murder but you let them off the hook because they’re just good people stuck in a bad situation.

FMH: Had you shopped it around before uploading it to Filmarket Hub? How did it go?

C.J: Not really. As mentioned, I couldn’t get people to read it — it was a crazy concept and horror comedy. So I wrote some scripts in between, then made the short so I would have something to show people what was on the paper would translate to the screen. And it does!

FMH: What made you apply to Sitges Pitchbox?

C.J: I was ready. I was ready to pitch Lunch Ladies as a project because no one could say to me, hey comedy horror doesn’t sell, or doesn’t play across the world or this is too crazy or weird. I knew that I could confidently pitch the feature because I had a short based on the feature that disproved all those arguments people throw at you who are afraid of anything unique or different. So when the Pitchbox came along, it was perfect — Sitges is one of the most important horror festivals in the world, so, what better place to pitch it. Thank you for that opportunity!

FMH: Do you think, as a director/screenwriter, is it important to be involved in all parts of the process of making a TV Show, not just writing it, but marketing it etc.?

C.J: Yes. No one cares about your project more than you. It is important to have your team, to have people there to help you and support you. But in the end, it’s your project, and if you believe in it, it doesn’t just stop with making it. You have to enjoy the rest of it, the social media, the interviews the connecting with people — you want people to see your film — you have to be part of its promotion — you are the one who believes in it the most and that will come across and excite people.

FMH: At Filmarket Hub we tend to have a hard time finding projects led by women. In your experience, what’s it been like working in the film industry? Who are some of your role models?

C.J: I never think of myself as a victim like “oh poor me I’m a woman in a man’s world”, or that I don’t get opportunities men do (even if that’s sometimes true) — because I can’t live in that place — I can’t worry about that, all I have control of is the work and fighting for it to be heard. As a women you have to fight harder — it’s not my nature to push to be heard but sometimes you just have to do it — you have to be the squeaky wheel, you have to be the pest, you have to repeatedly stick up for yourself. It has not been easy doing that, pushing, but it’s gotten easier. Also there’s a world of people in the film community that support women — so I try to always pull those to me and forget the rest.

Role models — Carol Burnett — I’m crazy about Carol. I also love Sarah Silverman, Dolly Parton… I admire so many women, but those are strong women who created amazing careers for themselves.

QUICK QUESTIONNAIRE

Three favorite screenwriters:

• John Hughes
• Joel & Ethan Cohen
• Jordan Peele

Three favorite screenwriting books:

I don’t have any — I’m not crazy about the books, they tend to be outline driven and magic bullet driven (do this and you have a great script!) I have a class, that’s where I learn.

Three favorite directors:

• Chaplin
• Kubrick
• Hughes

Three favorite movies:

• A Girl Walks Home Alone (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)
• Sixteen Candles (John Hughes, 1984)
• Barfly (Barbet Schroeder, 1987)