Interview with Writer/Director Sarah B. Downey

The new short film Red Velvet Cake is currently circling the festivals and gaining plenty of recognition. With a review from Project-Nerd just around the corner, we had the opportunity to speak with writer and Director Sarah B. Downey about the project and much more.

Project-Nerd: Sarah, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for our readers today.

Sarah B. Downey: Thank you for having me, and I appreciate Project-Nerd expressing interest in my latest project.

PN: Tell us a bit, from the writer perspective, what Red Velvet Cake is all about?

SBD: Red Velvet Cake is a modern day love story between a man named Jake who has Asperger’s Syndrome, and his girlfriend Blair. The film expresses elements of loving someone who is Autistic from both of their perspectives in a real life version type of way.

Sarah B Downey Red Velvet Cake Pic

PN: This is apparently something that you have experience with, to one degree or another. Tell us a bit more about that?

SBD:  I had a lover for many years who has Asperger’s Syndrome. I have been friends with John Lewis (lead actor) for over a decade, and ran into him in a Sushi restaurant in Los Angeles.  We hadn’t crossed paths in a while, and he asked me if I was dating anyone. I expressed to him the rare beauty behind the mind of someone with Asperger’s Syndrome, and how it fascinated me as a woman. Generally speaking those with Asperger’s have a very high IQ, and have eyes for detail that most “non  Asperger’s men” do not have.  It’s something that casual conversation cannot reenact, but through cinema the story could be told.

PN: Tell us a bit more why you felt the need to make a movie about Aspergers Syndrome?

SBD:  Asperger’s Syndrome has really not been highlighted in cinema today.  I think that many women have probably dated or been involved with someone who has Asperger’s Syndrome, and did not pick up on the cue.  Those that have Asperger’s Syndrome do not express any physical signs of the disorder, so we can often not stay in a relationship long enough to see the struggle. There is a passion, a window of seeing something that is so rare, that it often made a “typical man” seem so boring. The constant savant behavior of watching someone put together a world war two sewing machine from a picture, or finding and fixing a radio that pulls a radio station from Germany in Los Angeles became more of a “romance” than any “romance” before.

PN: What’s it like making a film that’s only 15 minutes? Is it more difficult than crafting a full-length feature?

SBD: Many film makers who focus on doing short films do it in their own way. I have always made a strong decision in my films to show a beginning, a middle, and an end. The end always has to be written in a way of leaving the audience to guess what would happen next. I have had a passion for making short films, as it provides a strong challenge to show movement in a story line in a very precise way— in a very limited amount of time. Although, I will share with Project-Nerd that Red Velvet Cake is the final short film from me as a writer/director. I am currently developing my first feature film under the working title “Soldiers.” The script is something that is avant garde and truly tests all of everything that is provocative and original.  The film has nothing to do with the working title so it makes me smile when people think my first feature is a military piece.

Red Velvet Cake Pic 1

PN: You also act. Tell us a bit about that side of your career?

SBD: I was never geared to be a director. I gave up acting after directing and writing my first film. The project titled The Undercard was an opportunity for me to showcase my work as an actor. I had difficulty finding a director who could encompass the word and the vision behind the film. I made the decision to recast the lead role and to direct the project myself. It was a wild move.  I had never gone to film school, or knew any of the technical terms behind the camera. I was very fortunate to have studied (as an actor) under the notorious Jack Waltzer. In working with Jack he supplied me with the tools I needed as a director, I just didn’t know it would lead to a skill set behind the camera.  A certain magic came about on the set of The Undercard that allowed me to realize that my truest of talents remain and still remain behind the camera. I look at my acting resume as nothing more than a skill set to my absent film school years.

PN: Now, besides filmmaking and acting, you also have a background in a number of other areas. Why don’t you tell us a bit about those, specifically the fact that you have been a ballerina for over 15 years?

SBD: Of course.  I was a prima ballerina for half of my life. It was a beautiful way for me to express myself as a child, teen, and young woman. As a ballerina, you strive daily to simply be more perfect than the previous day at your craft. You dedicate everything in that silent moment in-between your next movement, and that’s what ultimately makes a prima ballerina one of the best. I guess I take that pause now, and transfer it into my screenplays, and my directing in cinema. I had to give up my career as a professional ballerina due to an injury.

PN: A career ending injury? Can you share more about that?

SBD: I never tell the story, but I will share it with you and your readers. It was a little less than three weeks out from the opening night of “The Nutcracker” and I broke my right ankle, and endured multiple ligament fractures. The company had placed my understudy in massive around the clock rehearsals, and I showed up to the very first rehearsal with my hard cast attached to my foot, and a crutch under my arm. The company was in shock. I walked in, and sat in a chair and marked all of the rehearsals with my hand. I wasn’t sure what I was doing there, but I knew I wasn’t going to miss the rehearsals. It was a moment where you just kept doing what you signed up to do. I had my father take me into the doctor just a week before curtain, and had my cast removed early. I told my dad, “I deserve to give the final performance of my life.” So, we cut the cast…. And so I did. I will never forget the understudy holding the bucket along the side of the curtain so I could puke for a few seconds (from the pain) before going out again. I gave my last performance, and it was the way “to go out.”  The moment the last curtain closed I said goodbye to my professional career, and I am so happy I powered through it.

Red Velvet Cake Pic 2

PN: What drives and inspires you to do all of these creative things?

SBD: I just am a creative person. I walk around with characters in my mind, or constantly think of story line. My brain just goes there…. Always.

PN: Do you have any strange creative habits? Like when you’re writing a movie do you have to sit at a certain desk or eat a certain food?

SBD: My final performance pointe shoes sit on my writing desk, and sometimes if I get locked up on a story line I put them on, and smoke a cigarette while wearing them. It puts me in an array of emotions.

PN: What advice would you extend to aspiring filmmakers?

SBD: There are no rules in filmmaking. If you’re a woman carry brassknucles in your purse. Everyone is going to have their own opinion of how you should do something. You just go and create your art. Don’t be afraid to pull the trigger and fire anyone, and don’t let the fact that you didn’t go to film school stop you in anyway. If you have a vision you can create it. I often say “All I did was just pick up the pen.” And, if you get in serious trouble just google Quentin Tarantino interviews…. He spits out some good ones.

PN: Tell our readers where they can learn more about what you are up to (social media, website, etc)?

SBD: Red Velvet Cake has a website that can be found at www.redvelvetcakemovie.com or you can find me personally on instagram at “sarahbdowney”.

PN: One last question… and it’s a tough one. You get to go to dinner with a famous filmmaker, ballerina, and a fictional television character. Who are you dining with?

SBD:  Quentin Tarantino, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Jax Teller.

PN: Thanks for joining us. We look forward to seeing Red Velvet Cake and the many films to follow.

Sarah B. Downey’s Red Velvet Cake is still limited, but keep an eye on its website for a wide release and keep an eye on Project-Nerd for the review.

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