TIFF 2018 Interview: Roney

“It occurred to me that life was hard for a lot of people, and watching a show like SNL for an hour and half was a break from that reality. I wanted to be a part of that, I wanted to make people laugh.”

Lisa Gallagher
Sep 9, 2018 · 11 min read
Cotey Pope and Grace Glowicki in “Glitter’s Wild Women”

Director Roney describes Glitter’s Wild Women as a magical realist comedy, but I don’t know if you could ever put an accurate label on this film. One part coming-of-age drama. One part surreal fantasy. One part supernatural mystery thriller. A blend of dark, absurd, and even stoner-like comedy. A healthy dose of “what the fuck did I just watch” cinema. I could go on, but I don’t want to ruin the genre-defying experience of this not-to-be-missed flick.

Living on eighty acres of Northern Ontario farmland, sisters Hannah and Sophie have grown up in near solitude, their only connection to the outside world a weekly delivery boy and a collection of old psychotronic films (their favourite being the incredibly misogynistic, but oddly empowering Angels’ Wild Women).

After discovering bioluminescent glitter in a nearby forest, harvesting it, and smoking it with abandon, the girls discover they have unexpectedly gained super strength. With Sophie capturing every moment on an old broadcast camera, they go about testing their newfound powers in every way they can think of.

Soon convinced that they can make their own film, the sisters decide to host a ‘film festival’ on their land in order to show it. The only problem? Their invitees (the residents of the nearest town) are hesitant to attend… and for good reason!

Starring Grace Glowicki (2016 TIFF Rising Star, 2016 Sundance Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance for Her Friend Adam, Cardinals, Suck It Up) and performance artist Cotey Pope (her work has been featured at the Art Gallery of Ontario, XPACE Gallery, LA Contemporary Archive, Gallery 1313, and more), Glitter’s Wild Women is an explosive debut for director Roney.

Director Roney

A North Vancouver native, Roney originally came to Toronto to play for the Ryerson University Women’s Basketball team. Shortly after her first season, she retired from the sport, began taking classes at Second City, and entered into the Television Program at Ryerson.

After graduating, she gave birth to a semi-autobiographical web-series project, Cheap Whine. Glitter’s Wild Women is her debut short film.

With plans to tell stories through many mediums, Roney aspires to make “accessible, yet subversive and most importantly honest work for an audience that becomes more intelligent (and critical) every day.”

You can see the World Premiere of Glitter’s Wild Women at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, screening as part of Short Cuts Programme 06 on September 9th at 9:45PM and September 15th at 9:15PM. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE.

Trailer for “Glitter’s Wild Women”

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved with filmmaking.

I moved to Toronto to play for the Ryerson Women’s Varsity team. I was in some random program that I had absolutely no passion for, and this sport went from being the love of my life to a full time job that was steering me down a path I didn’t understand. I lost my love for the game, because I really lost my identity playing it. I retired after my first year.

My grades were shit and I had zero experience in the entertainment industry at that point. So I took a year to get my GPA up, and I started taking classes at Second City for comedy writing. A year later, I was accepted into the Radio and Television School of Media at Ryerson.

The best part about my first year in Toronto were the friends I made that were in the Film Program. Those friends became best friends, who went on to make incredibly successful films of their own. They made up the majority of the crew of Glitter’s Wild Women.

With the help of the program, and my friends, I was able to grow as a filmmaker and I realized I had a talent for writing and directing. I also realized there are so many things that correlate between playing a team sport like basketball, and making a film. I think the biggest similarity for me is the hunger. I’m hungry for opportunities to make good work, as hungry as I was playing for a damn CHAMPIONSHIP, BABY. LETS GO.

Behind the scenes of “Glitter’s Wild Women”

Tell us about GLITTER’S WILD WOMEN. Where did the idea come from?

I also knew I wanted to play around with very minimal dialogue, I wanted the characters to be completely disassociated with society, and I wanted to use special effects. Because fuck it, why not?

The bioluminescent glitter hit me during a fever dream. I came up with the entire premise front to back during said fever dream and wrote a first draft.

What was your casting process like? How did you know these two women were the right fit for the roles you had created?

Cotey and Grace quickly became sisters after our first couple of rehearsals.
Max, our Delivery Boy, also had no acting experience. He was my co-worker at a coffee shop, in fact. I think he absolutely crushed it.

Still from “Glitter’s Wild Women”

What inspired you to use ANGELS’ WILD WOMEN as the sisters’ cinematic interest? Were any other films considered?

I drew a pretty substantial conclusion. I was going to make a film that had the same ‘holy shit, why do I feel so good?’ feeling in EVERY scene, AND I was going to do it for a fraction of the cost, AND it was going to be good. I used Angels’ Wild Women as the character’s cinematic interest in the film, because it felt like I was truly rewriting that film’s wrong.

Can you talk about the challenges of using practical special effects for this film?

I drew inspiration from the director duo, The Daniels. They’re responsible for my favourite short film, Interesting Ball, and one of the funniest physical comedy features I’ve seen since Weekend at Bernie’s, called Swiss Army Man. I found a tutorial on their Vimeo page that explained how they used dry ice to create surreal super-power explosions. Kelly (producer), Aidan (assistant director), and I once got caught by the Ryerson campus police for blowing up water bottles with dry ice in first year, so we all agreed it was the right thing to do to continue that legacy and use that tutorial.

We cross referenced with the wise words of a professional practical effects editor and the conclusion was to use a green screen and layer on shots of our actors pretending to blow shit up with shots of dry ice literally blowing shit up. It was difficult, and stressful, but so much fun.

Behind the scenes of “Glitter’s Wild Women”

Can you tell us about some/all of the other amazing women who worked on this film?

My best friend, who is also my co-star in a web series we make called Cheap Whine, last minute showed up to do craft. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever done craft, but it’s a huge responsibility. It’s so hard. You have to please so many people and make sure they’re fed, and Thalia just did the damn thing. And she made everybody feel good and laugh in the process.

Paige, our producer, signed on the moment I asked. What’s weird is that I had been dating her brother for over a year at that point and we had never met before. So, when we had our first meeting it was a mix of ‘Oh my god, it’s so nice to finally meet you!’, and ‘Where are we going to find $5000?’ Paige had a full-time job, and she was attending night courses for a business diploma, all while producing our short film for no money. Lazy, to say the least.

Zoe, our hair and makeup stylist, is the most mature, poised, twenty-year-old I have ever met. She was the queen of reminding me that everything was going to be okay. I think there’s a massive responsibility that the hair and makeup department has that filmmakers’ take for granted. That responsibility is to make sure that the actors feel comfortable enough to go back out there and pretend to be a someone else. That’s really hard. Zoe is a gentlewoman and scholar.

Hazel, our second camera assistant, stood in the Bay of Quinty in order to keep a stand in place for like two hours in the middle of November. She never once complained. That’s really cold water. Every time I looked at Hazel she was doing something, and she never quit. She’s good at what she does.

Who are your favourite women working in the film industry?

I really, truly had a mentality of thinking I needed to get all of these things accomplished in film before I decided to have a child. That mentality has since changed. Definitely not having a kid for a while, but stoked to know I can do it at any point in my career.

What are you working on now/next?

Cotey Pope and Grace Glowicki

And now for some fun ones! If found a way to gain super strength, how would you use your power?

What mythical creature do you wish actually existed?

If someone narrated your life, who would you want to be the narrator?

Finally, recommend one #MUFFApproved film for our blog readers!


Check out Roney’s official website and follow her on Instagram.

MUFF Blog

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Lisa Gallagher

Written by

Festival Director of Toronto True Crime Film Festival. Former producer of The MUFF Society in Toronto. Lover of cats, carbs, and Keanu Reeves.

MUFF Blog

MUFF Blog

We are a community that celebrates women in film and TV. High five!

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