Directing duo (and real-life couple) Savannah Sivert and Taylor Hinds are filmmaking forces to be reckoned with. Part superhero origin story, part absurdist comedy, and part family drama, their HollyShorts Film Festival entry The Tale of the Daughter tells the story of the titular unnamed Daughter who returns to her small mountain town in California to take care of her stroke-ridden mother. Jazlyn Yoder, who is also the co-producer and co-writer of the film, is phenomenal as the Daughter, keeping you at a distance with her no-bullshit attitude while, at the same time, managing to disarm you and bring you in for her more vulnerable moments.
In our interview below, Sivert and Hinds allude to auteurs Taika Waititi, Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers, and Wes Anderson as influences on the “tonal tap dance that [they] are desperate to be a part of” with The Tale of the Daughter. Indeed, the metaphor of “blowing up a balloon, and then popping it” served as the guide in their creative balancing act. More than anything, however, it’s the story of the importance of a support system, particularly in our current pandemic-ridden world, that fuelled their production. In fact, Yoder and co-producer and editor Christopher Piñero brought to them a story, inspired by personal events, in which a daughter finds herself taking care of her ailing mother.
The result is, without exaggeration, one of the most unique and entertaining shorts to have played at HSFF this year, flawlessly balancing style with verisimilitude and then sticking the landing with a story that’s both touching and laugh-out-loud funny. Right now, Sivert and Hinds may be looking to Waititi, Tarantino, and company for inspiration, but the fact is they’re in a league of their own.
Before we get into The Tale of the Daughter, I wonder if you might tell us about your individual and collective filmmaking journeys so far? Where did it all start for you?
TH: Well, we should probably start off by saying we’re a couple and we started dating back in 2016. Savannah was in her final year of her Master’s program at New York Film Academy, where she had already directed a few films. I came to L.A. to do songwriting.
SS: Every song had a story behind it. She would always tell people her back stories before playing each song. And I wanted her to write these stories down. Then, we finally collaborated on my thesis film, ‘Blue Christmas.’
TH: She was showing me her script and she just didn’t feel like it was clicking, so we started working on it together. The process pushed me to focus my creative energy on screenwriting instead of songwriting. We’ve done all of our writing together ever since and through that process we started co-directing.
SS: And I don’t think we’re going back.
TH: I’ve loved every minute.
What I loved most about the film was the delicacy with which you balance the absurd and comical with the tragic and grit. Where did the idea for the story come from? And how did you arrive at this darkly comedic tone?
TH: Wow, what a great compliment, thank you for saying that. The balance of tone was a fun place to be in and incredibly challenging. We always talked about it in terms of blowing up a balloon and then popping it, letting the tension of the scene build and then the joke is the needle popping the tension.
SS: The original idea came from Jazlyn Yoder (our producing partner, star, and co-writer), we had been FaceTiming with her and Christopher Piñero (our producing partner and editor). Within a couple of months into the lockdown, we became such a necessary support system for each other, especially in our creative endeavors. They were a rock to hold onto when the future was so unknown. Jaz first approached us with a story focusing on the role reversal of a daughter caretaking for her mother. This dynamic was very personal to her and Chris as they both have watched their mothers take care of their grandmothers. When she came to us with the story, she knew we wanted to dip our toes in comedy and dare we say, action. Directing an action scene was a major goal for this film. With these things in mind our story began to surprise us as it evolved further and further into something none of us had ever tried before.
TH: Although we should have seen it coming, some of our favorite filmmakers include: Taika Waititi, Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson, who have all put their own stamp on this tonal tap dance that we are desperate to be a part of. As we were branching out into the unknown, we found the story becoming more and more personal to each of us.
SS: The axe-throwing aspect was something we said as a joke in a writing meeting. Upon further investigation, we found it to be freaking awesome and needed it in our film. Jaz really is throwing the axe, by the way, we don’t suggest crossing her.
You’ve described the film as being The Daughter’s superhero origin story. Who is she to you? Where do you see her going? And how important was it to bring this character to life? (Aka: can we please have more?)
TH: A superhero! Absolutely! Caretaking is a thankless, endless sacrifice. It’s just like being an Avenger… I don’t know about you, but we think about the Avengers a lot.
SS: Our character is the daughter who left home to get away from her mother, only to be dragged back by her mother’s tragedy and mistakes. We all have to pay for our parents’ past in some way. For the Daughter, she’s stuck with a debt she doesn’t owe and a mother who doesn’t accept her identity.
TH: Bringing this character to life has been so healing for us. At times, it feels like coming out is only about being accepted by others, but that’s never felt true for us. Acceptance, in any relationship, is mutual. Parents may have to accept that their child is not the person that they expected them to be. And children may have to accept that their parent may not always be the person that they need them to be. Both have to meet in the middle to grow and move forward in their relationship.
SS: We’re so relieved you asked for more… Because there is! The Daughter’s Tale will continue! We are currently developing the feature version of the story that will bring in the entire world of The Mother and The Daughter’s small California mountain town.
TH: There is a bigger and badder villain at play and we can’t wait to properly introduce you to her. The Daughter’s choices have major ramifications… Cliffhanger.
I understand that this was a production in which the cast and crew often wore multiple creative hats. What was the overall collaboration process like?
TH: Definitely, we all put everything we had into this production and were whoever we needed to be for this story to come to life. This collaboration has been life changing for us on a professional level, but also on a personal level.
SS: We started our production company, Moonshine Pictures, which produced two short films this past year. Our film and Christopher Piñero’s, Gone. We are so proud of the work we did on both of these projects from pre to post-production. The four of us, Savannah, Taylor, Jazlyn, and Chris, now live and work together 24/7. We evenly split our time between working on our films, studying film, and arguing about Marvel fan theories.
TH: Through the trust we have for each other, we were able to have a writer’s room that was open to criticism and ‘reach for the stars’ pitches. Each beat of the script was argued brutally late into the night, only to end with a hug and a drink. There’s no going back, we have our little filmmaking family for life and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
HollyShorts is such an incredible platform for indie filmmakers. What does it mean to you to have The Tale of the Daughter play here? How will you be celebrating?
SS: We were shocked and honored when we were selected to be a part of this festival! It is surreal to have our first theatrical screening at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. This will be the first time to see our film on the big screen and watch it with an audience. Our true tonal test is at hand.
TH: And we heard Taika is in a film at the festival…. he’s probably not coming right? He’s busy? Do you think he’ll be at the screening? Hopes are high on this one.
SS: If he’s not able to make it, we will have family in town from Texas for the screening and some of our local friends will be there to laugh at our jokes as insurance. We will reunite with our amazing crew and cast that are able to make it out to the screening, they are all getting a Savannah-Taylor hug sandwich.
What’s next for you? And where can viewers follow you and your work?
We are currently developing the feature script for the ‘The Tale of The Daughter’ and our company is also in development of Chris’s upcoming feature film, Rosemont Forest, a coming of age, horror feature, set in the 90s that centers around a Puerto Rican family.
Please find us at our company at www.moonshinepictures.online. Or Savannah’s Instagram @gotmyvanzon or Taylor’s instagram @taylorbhinds. We will be updating where to watch our film as it makes its run through the festivals.
