Interview with Filmmaker Kurtis Theorin (MARY & MARSHA IN THE MANOR OF MADNESS)

MARY & MARSHA IN THE MANOR OF MADNESS played to rave reviews at the May 2018 FEEDBACK Film Festival in Los Angeles.
 
Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Kurtis Theorin: Kris, the animator/director, wanted to do a project where he could learn 2D animation. He had a final project due for one of his college classes so we figured that would be good deadline to motivate himself to go out and make something.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

The idea phase went through many, many iterations before we got something we liked and was feasible. Kris then did most of the animation in a very busy week and a half period in order to meet his class deadline. After that we did some revisions which took another week.

3. How would you describe your short film in two words!?

Lovecraft Scooby-doo

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Making sure everyone understood a somewhat complicated story in a short amount of time without dialogue took a lot of careful planning and creativity, but I think we finally go it.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

“Oh, thank god they like it. I actually have some idea about how to make good films and am not a fraud.”

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the Short Film:

6. How did you come up with the idea for this short film?

Kris and I both like the Lovecraft setting so that was a good genre to think about. There is a Lovecraft board game called Mansions of Madness where you play characters exploring a spooky mansion hiding a dark secret. This seemed like a good framework to start with. The premise of a character rescuing their girlfriend provided good motivation for the characters to propel the story forward. Finally, since we were doing 2d animation I thought it might be interesting having the film occur in a 2d sidescrolling perspective, similar to video games like Mario or Castlevania, while everything was running around and going haywire. This made the animation side of production similar and also gave the film a sense of ruckus and momentum that I really wanted.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

As a kid I watched Return of the Jedi 100 times. Nowadays I have The Third Man memorized.

8. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway, what are you feelings of the submission platform from a filmmaker’s perspective?

It is an incredibly convenient platform. In terms of platforms acting on what they set out to do, it is in the top ten.

9. What song have you listened to the most times in your life?

According to my iTunes it is the main theme from the anime show Baccano! I’ve also probably heard Bohemian Rhapsody over 300 times.

10. What is next for you? A new film?

We are in various stages of production on a couple of short films. We are also continuing our commercial business of making branded content on social media for toy companies like LEGO and Mattel.

 

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Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every single month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 3 times a month. Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com for more information and to submit your work to the festival.