PopHorror Let's Get Scared
If someone were to ask me who my female inspirations are, Vanessa Ionta Wright would be on the top of my list. She’s a fucking rockstar, and I don’t know how she manages to do IT ALL, but she does. I’m so thankful for the kindness and support she has bestowed upon me, and I can’t wait to meet her this fall at the Women in Horror Film Festival 2018, something I would have never done without her and Samantha Kolesnik’s encouragement.
Before I met her in person, I got to chat with her about a few things. Learn about how she got involved in the horror industry, details about her Women in Horror Month Massive Blood Drive PSA, her goals for WIHFF 2018, upcoming projects, and more.
Vanessa Ionta Wright
PopHorror – Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Vanessa! How did you get involved in the horror industry?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – Anytime! I think, just by being a fan. I was introduced to my first horror film at the age of 8 when I watched Poltergeist. I was instantly enamored by the genre. As I got older, I only wanted to watch horror movies. In high school, my friends and I would go to the local video store and rent 4 or 5 horror films at a time and just binge watch until the wee hours of the morning. I would make my way through the horror section until I saw everything they had to offer. I never set out to make horror films, but it seemed a natural fit given my love of the genre.
PopHorror – Same here! What was the first project you were involved with?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – A college film called Whodunit. It was written and directed by a friend of mine, Todd Sanderson, and I wanted to get my feet wet on set. I was actually cast in one of the roles, which was surprising considering I am not an actor. I had never been on a set before, let alone in front of the camera. I was 19 and very eager to make films. I worked on several student projects in various roles. I’ve been a PA, script supervisor, producer, AD, AC. By the time I was a senior, I worked my way into the director’s chair, directing a murder mystery comedy called Shelf Life. After graduating, I wanted to focus on writing, and I took some considerable time off after having children. A few years ago, I decided to get back on this crazy train and jumped right back into that director’s chair.
PopHorror – You’re truly inspiring! You directed the horror short, Rainy Season, which is an adaptation of a Stephen King story. How did you about doing this?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – I learned about his dollar baby program through a Facebook friend and applied. I’m not sure how the selection process works, but I went through the list of available stories, chose one that was a bit more obscure and that hadn’t been produced a ton of time. In fact, Rainy Season had only been adapted one other time back in 2002. I received a contract in the mail, signed it, mailed off my dollar bill and started pulling my team together to bring this story to life. The rest, as they say, is history.
PopHorror – Wow! I had no clue. What was the experience like?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – It was an amazing learning experience. I had never adapted someone else’s work before and to adapt the work of Stephen King, holy shit! I wanted to make sure I did the story justice and created a film that not only King himself would like, but a film that King fans would enjoy. There is a lot of internalization in his stories, and this was a challenging one to adapt for the screen. I had a really amazing team behind me on this one, and it turned out to be a great collaboration. The scope of the film felt very much like a feature, which added a lot of pressure. Of course, there are things that go wrong, but there are also so many things that go right. I stayed focused and approached each challenge with a sort of calm. It has definitely prepared me for future projects. We also threw in several easter eggs for fans!
PopHorror – What is your favorite scene from that short?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – My favorite scene is the typewriter/bathroom sequence. It’s absolutely gorgeous and Mark Simon completely executed what was in my head. That man is such a brilliant artist, and what he captures on camera is breathtaking. I love everything about that sequence.
PopHorror – I couldn’t agree more. Another one of my favorites from you is I Bake Him A Cake. What was the inspiration behind that?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – The inspiration was all Samantha Kolesnik on that one. She wrote a terrifically twisted micro short that was both terrifying and sad. No film ever happens on a whim, however, the way it was presented almost felt that way. Sam and I were in full swing pre-pro on Rainy Season, and about two months before we were set to shoot, she called and said, “Would you want to come out to PA and direct I Baked Him a Cake?” HELL, YES! We pulled together an awesome cast and crew, and I made the road trip to Philadelphia with the SFX makeup artist and 1st AD and brought cake to life in all its bloody glory! This was the first time we collaborated as writer/director, and I’m so grateful that she trusted my vision to bring her story to life.
PopHorror – Yay! It turned out horrifyingly perfect! So you were apart of the WIHM MASSIVE BLOOD DRIVE this year. How did you get involved with that?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – This was a complete surprise to me when it happened. Samantha and I were putting together the first ever Women in Horror Film Festival and talking with several different celebrity guests about attending. Heather Langenkamp had graciously put us in touch with Jen and Sylvia Soska. We communicated for a few months in preparation of the film fest when I received an email in July from them inviting me to create a PSA for the blood drive. I initially thought it was sent by mistake and even sent Jen a text asking if they meant to send me an invite. I came to find out it was done intentionally, and I was ecstatic to create something impactful for such an amazing cause.
I absolutely love that they are utilizing their platform to do good and bring artists on board to help inspire others to give. I don’t think many people associate horror films with helping others, but they sure as hell can, and I am honored to have been given the opportunity to use my art to help others.
PopHorror – Yes they do – it’s one of my favorite things about the Soska sisters. Tell us the story behind your PSA.
Vanessa Ionta Wright – Well, first off, I didn’t do horror on this one. The theme this year was Be A Hero, and I really took that to heart. I wanted to do something really impactful to inspire viewers to donate. I wanted to flip the script and make the heroes in the story the ones who needed saving, inspiring viewers to become the hero. It was a simple concept with a simple script that had an epic execution. There wasn’t any dialogue, just great visuals and an awesome score (Thank you, Ross Childress, for lending your musical genius to my films).
I once again collaborated with Mark Simon and pulled together an awesome cast and crew who were more than willing to be a part of such a great cause. I was blessed to work with an awesome SFX team that included Cass McClure (Stranger Things, The Avengers, American Horror Story), Christine Ramirez (Office Uprising, The Vault) and Nadine Al-Remaizan (Rainy Season, I Baked Him a Cake). I can’t say enough about the cast & crew, I adore each and every person that came out to help breath life into this, and I hope I can work with all of them again.
PopHorror – It’s so great to hear about how passionate you were about the PSA. It was one of my favorite ones, and you should be proud! You are also one of the directors of the WIHFF. How did this come about, and how did you meet Samantha?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – I met Samantha at a film festival in Los Angeles in 2015. We were both short screenplay finalists and had a very short face to face interaction. We connected after the fest on Facebook and I immediately asked her to help me get Rainy Season off the ground. We’ve been married in film ever since. After collaborating on two short films together, we decided to launch a film festival because we are crazy film addicts who cannot stop working. We both wanted to create a genre fest that supported indie filmmakers and screenwriters and to create opportunities for those artists beyond the festival. We wanted to build a community and a network, thus WIHFF was born.
PopHorror – You ladies make an amazing team! What are your goals this year for the festival?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – Just to grow and expand upon what we started in our first year. We are looking to create more opportunities and encourage all filmmakers and screenwriters to connect with each other and continue making amazing films and writing amazing screenplays. We just want to grow the indie film community and keep our fest filmmaker and screenwriter focused.
PopHorror – What was the biggest/most important thing you’ve learned from filmmaking so far?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – That I’m going to make mistakes and it’s ok. It doesn’t matter how prepared you are, you will make mistakes, you will make wrong choices and you will be ok. The key is to learn something on each project and grow and improve with each project. If you aren’t doing that, you’re doing it wrong. You can’t dwell on the shoulda, coulda, woulda…learn and take that lesson onto the next project.
PopHorror – That’s some great advice. What’s your favorite part of filmmaking?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – The entire process of taking an idea from the page and bringing it to life on screen. It is absolute magic. There is no other way to describe it. You get to create an entire universe and tell a story that exists only there. There is nothing that compares to that.
PopHorror – Sounds wonderful! February is Women in Horror Month. Who are your female inspirations?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – I am inspired by so many people on a daily basis and not just in horror or in film. I am inspired by raw talent, drive, kindness, selflessness, passion. Gender actually has nothing to do with who and what inspires me, but in the spirit of Women in Horror Month, I’ll play along. I am inspired by Kathy Bates for her astonishing range of talent and commitment to character, Marianne Maddalena for her humbleness and grace, Samantha Kolesnik for her tenacity and drive, Heather Langenkamp for her strength and intelligence, June Mack (my amazing professor and mentor from college) for her encouragement and wisdom, my mother for everything!
PopHorror – Great response! Do you have a favorite female-driven film?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – I have favorite films, plural. I always have such trouble with these questions as there are way too many films that I love to name just one and put it above all others. And the list changes as I see new films or depending on my mood at the time of questioning. Here is a short list of some of my favorite female-driven films (not restricted to horror) in no particular order:
Dancer in the Dark, Halloween (1978), Steel Magnolias, Silence of the Lambs, Fried Green Tomatoes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Help, The Craft, Bridesmaids, Alien, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, The Birds, The Color Purple, Places in the Heart, Boys on the side, Misery, Kill Bill, Carrie, Heathers, and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
PopHorror – You have great fucking taste! Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to talk about?
Vanessa Ionta Wright – I am writing and directing a segment for a feature anthology that Samantha and I are producing through our company, Above the Line Artistry. I am also trying to gear up to direct a feature. Nothing confirmed as of yet, just lots of stuff in development. I know that is completely vague, but I am not at liberty to divulge any more details at this time.
