LOOSEN UP: THE SHORT, 8min., USA
Directed by Maddy Murphy, Evan Macedo
18 year old Charlie is eager to get to college where she can finally escape her overbearing parents and put her obsession with self-pleasure to rest using a more socially accepted pleasure. Unfortunately, it's there that she discovers sex isn't quite as easy as it looks. Feeling more like a freak than ever before, Charlie must come to terms with an unexpected diagnosis: vaginismus.

https://instagram.com/loosenupofficial?igshid=NTdIMDg3MTY=

Get to know filmmaker Maddy Murphy:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
Honestly, my own experience. I have vaginismus and it's something I've struggled with privately for some time. It was a major insecurity of mine, because I didn't know anyone else who had it as it's not something people openly talk about. In that insecurity and anxiety, however, I developed a sense of humor, realizing some of my anxious thoughts regarding my vaginismus to be the kind of scenarios that might happen in a sitcom. From there, my ideas developed and we created the "Loosen Up" pilot, later developed into our proof-of-concept short, "Loosen Up: The Short." Since then, I haven't had much insecurity about my vaginismus and have found other people I've known have started to reach out sharing their own unspoken experiences. It's an important topic and I'd love to continue raising awareness through the accessible medium of comedy.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The idea spawned for me in September of 2020! From there, we wrote the pilot, which had its (can we really say final?) near final draft completed in April of 2021. After that, we reworked the script into a short film, which took some time, got our crew together, and finished principal photography in December of 2022. The film was completed in April of 2023. So about, two years for the proof-of-concept, three for the entire project. It's been a ride!

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Female Sex-Comedy! (I may have cheated the two words a touch...)

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
I think the biggest obstacle for me was having to, putting it in writer's terms, "kill our babies." Going from the pilot in which we had major characters, major scenes, and other developments that simply would not fit in our proof-of-concept without insane rewrites was such a challenge. We eventually chose to use the short to show a more condensed version of Act One of our pilot, but that meant losing one of my favorite scenes and favorite characters. I'm definitely hoping we'll get a chance to show you all these missed moments, but in the end, I'm really proud of what we put together with the film and feel it's capable of standing on its own because of the choices we made.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
I was a little nervous initially. I know that it's a bit of a lesser known and even taboo topic, but I was so excited to see the amount of people that understood what we were doing. This audience connected, even if they've never specifically experienced what our main character experienced, showing its universality, which is a huge goal of this project. It was exciting to see that captured!

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I'm an actor first, but since I was a kid, I've believed in the importance of creating my own work. I used to write pilots, plays, and movies for myself and my friends to star in and I suppose a lot of that same attitude carried on into who I am today. I started a production company in 2020 where I more formally began creating films, but really, I knew since elementary school.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Probably "Singin' in the Rain." A movie musical about making a movie musical? What's not to love?

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
I think all the ways that your team goes about promoting and creating these greater opportunities for interviews and further discussion is wonderful. I wish more festivals provided things like this, as it reaches more people than something like a talkback. We all know the power that the internet has, so being able to use it to promote, get more clicks and, therefore, attention on the project and filmmakers is crucial and should be done by any festival that has the resources to do so.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
I think it's a good platform! This is the first of my projects that I've taken through the festival circuit, so I've felt that it's been very user-friendly and has helped me find a lot of festivals I might not otherwise know about.

10. What is your favorite meal?
Tacos!

11. What is next for you? A new film?
We'll hopefully be pitching the pilot version of "Loosen Up" this coming year, so keep your fingers crossed for us there! As for filmmaking in general, I'm producing a new project this February and have been writing some works of my own in the interim, so stay tuned!