CLEMENCY, 10min., USA
Directed by James T. George
A soldier fights for his life after surviving a battle in the enemy occupied Elven woods.

https://instagram.com/stephonikawkaye

Get to know the filmmakers James T. George & Stephonika W. Kaye:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

JAMES: I've always been a big fan of fantasy or period pieces, even sci-fi - Anything that breaks out of the normal and can help build a new world for the audience to imagine and immerse themselves in. I originally started out only seeking to pursue acting, but I found that there weren't many roles in the styles I was interested in. I started to study filmmaking and fell in love with the whole process which led me to creating my own pieces to act in. With this film specifically, I wanted to push for the absolute bare minimum in terms of fantasy production needs while maintaining the absolute highest quality of perceived production value and visual storytelling. I wanted a story that told as much as possible, without a ton of exposition or dialog, to convey the message as succinctly as possible.

STEPHONIKA: I was just glad to find another fantasy filmmaker out there with a really solid script. It felt really great to rise to the top of actresses that submitted to his casting call. Fantastic to hop back in front of the camera.

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

JAMES: The production moved pretty quickly! The beginning of January 2022 I put out a casting call with an early script. Early mid January I chose Stephonika as the lead and she quickly became producer as well! Mid January I did some pre-production location scouting and test shots, while we established the whole crew. We were set to shoot in late January with a crew of around 15, but the weather turned and winter hit! It was a tough call but we decided to push til it warmed up and we could shoot more safely and comfortably. It was put on hiatus while I then shot my first film for the Winterfilm competition. When that was wrapped up, we came back to it in mid March! By that time the schedules of all the crew were unavailable and Stephonika was about to be out of state very soon! Rather than recast, I wanted her! So we decided to make due with our one day of shooting with our tiny 5 person team! We shot that and then I scheduled with Mark to do the General flashback scene. For that we had just 3 of us. We had some ADR pickups we had to wait on, but then I wrapped up the final edit in June 2022. So I guess if you take the waiting and rescheduling out, it was all mostly done in around a month. Just 2 different shooting days, 1 pickup ADR day, and then a couple weeks in the edit!

STEPHONIKA: Yeah, for me I had just the one day of filming and about 15 minutes of ADR work a few months later. I did help when I was initially cast in January in filling out the crew positions, and I've been very happy to continue that producer role and really help to push this through the festival circuit.

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

JAMES: Beautiful and compelling

STEPHONIKA: Uplifting adventure.

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

JAMES: The biggest obstacle was simply how little time we had to shoot, racing against the daylight, and how few hands we had. Two of our sets of hands were covered in fake blood so they couldn't even help with the equipment and setups without getting blood everywhere! When the rain started coming, it got very cold! It wasn't planned and wasn't ideal to shoot in, but the rain definitely added to the story in the end. Stephonika is such a pro, she would literally TURN OFF her shivering and chattering teeth to do a take, and then resume when the take was over, just to get the right performance.

STEPHONIKA: God, the day that I was involved, it was a very wet and miserable day. While we were filming the second to last scene, the skies opened up and poured on us. We had to keep going though. It was March and cold, but luckily the last scene was the campfire scene, and we'd prepped the wood ahead of time, so it caught quickly and helped to keep us warm while we finished up.

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

JAMES: I was so happy to hear how many of the reviewers were making note of the things that I was overall aiming to accomplish with the piece. It let me know that my intended vision and message was coming through to an unbiased audience. It was very nice to hear!

STEPHONIKA: It felt so amazing to hear such positive feedback. It's always uplifting to hear that your work is well received, especially if you went through a bit of hell to create it.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

JAMES: I think it's always been a part of me. There's been a draw. I was initially more inclined towards acting but when I started to learn about filmmaking and saw how it was actually becoming more accessible, I started to dabble in it myself!

STEPHONIKA: LORD OF THE RINGS. That's it. Fantasy lover, and if that movie can be made, anything was possible.

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

JAMES: The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a yearly watch for me, maybe even a few times a year. It's something that we're not likely to see anything comparable in the future, for the way films are made and how the industry operates now. I'd love to be the exception! of course.. but time will tell.

STEPHONIKA: There's a few I go back to a lot. Mostly sci-fis and fantasies and period movies. It's a spread, not just one really. But yeah, LOTR is a solid one.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

JAMES: Networking! I love the networking aspect of festivals when it's very intentional in making connections and friends in the same creative space. I do also think that it's really incredible that you have the audience reaction reviews! Those are exceptional and other festivals could take note.

STEPHONIKA: What you offer are truly great resources. Feedback and the chance for podcast interviews are an amazing resource already. And by my understanding you offer a level of streaming. So, you've really given quite a lot for such a low submission cost. I've seen other festivals offer up discount codes to certain service sites or pitch sessions for a chance at a little funding with a sponsor, but I imagine those connections and offerings take a while to obtain.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

JAMES: I have not managed it specifically myself, so I defer to Stephonika who has taken that helm! But it does seem like it has simplified the process and made festivals more accessible overall.

STEPHONIKA: Filmfreeway all the way. It's so easy to use and search through the festivals on there. To have everything concise and easy to see for each festival and see things like 100 best, and other rankings, and how festivals stats are listed, it's all very easy to use and simple to narrow down your list.

10. What is your favorite meal?

JAMES: Who has time to eat when you're hyper-fixating on your creative passions? Jokes aside, I would have to go with Mexican food. Can't beat a simple Mexican and Margarita meal.

STEPHONIKA: Changes daily. Asian fusion, lamb curry, pizza....

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

JAMES: Absolutely! Many new films! I'm currently undertaking a massive collaborative project that involves putting content creator original fantasy characters into films where they interact with my original Paladin character. It's called #ThePaladinProject and I'm currently in the middle of production for the first film in the series!

STEPHONIKA: Always writing, always planning. Currently, in pre-pre-production for some sci-fi shorts, soon collaborating again with James, and rewriting some features and short scripts.