Twin sisters and filmmakers Jen and Sylvia Soska are coming to Australia to promote their second horror film American Mary as part of Monster Fest running for ten days at Cinema Nova Melbourne from Halloween night. The former stunt and extra actors, also known as The Twisted Sisters, decided to move into directing and rebel against their film school by producing a horror feature Dead Hooker in a Trunk for their final project, and it got watched. With new attention American Mary stands out as one of the best horror films in the program, from the newest twins that ever made you take a second look, on and off the camera.
How did you guys get into film directing and was horror always your chosen genre? Why?
Sylvia: It was never intentional. There was no time that Jen and I decided that now we would become directors. We had been acting since we were seven years old with little to no success. We went from being young and getting silly childish roles to getting older and getting silly overtly sexualized roles. Being twins, we were always different, people constantly reminded us of that. I felt misunderstood, but I felt very comfortable in the horror genre which has so many strong female characters and are stories about outsiders overcoming huge obstacles. It wasn’t until years later, that all our strange skill sets, our love of prosthetics and horror filmmaking all came together in the perfect career path for us. I feel more like horror chose us.
Jen: It’s true. Horror came naturally to us. We’ve always been attracted to the darker things in life, but, much like the Addams Family, it never seemed dark to us. We liked a good scare and to unleash a good scare. It was common knowledge. To this day when people confide their deepest, darkest fears to us, I’m like, “seriously? You know I’m gonna have to scare the shit out of you now.”
Do you ever have disagreements as sisters both working closely together? How do you overcome this?
S: I am very fortunate that Jen and I have 29 years of experience collaborating together. We have a lifetime of in-jokes and interests, but we are vastly different people. You need to have those differences in a creative partner. We pre-discuss everything or have twin conversations with micro-mannerisms on set to figure out any opposing vision. The last thing you want when you have two directors that look the same is to have them telling the team two different things on set.
J: We’re siblings, but we’re also all about our business and take our work very seriously. We’re very passionate about what we do and even when we “enthusiastically discuss” things it can sound like arguing to the untrained eye and ear. We leave any and all disagreements to when we’re off duty. Everything is laboriously discussed before we set foot on set. We’re very different, but we share the same vision. We say that we always get to the same place, but we get there two very different ways. As a result, we plan every detail before we get to work. You ask one of a question on set and then the other one and I can guarantee our answers will be identical. Pun intended.
American Mary was shot in 15 days, why was the schedule so short? How did you get everything done? Were there any things that you left out?
S: I wish we had more time. It’s something that will be outlined in further contracts to make sure we’re not running around like crazy. That said, the team that came together – our cast and our crew – were made up of the best talent the industry has to offer. Working with such little time and such a modest budget, bonded us all together that we worked together as one unit to make sure our highly ambitious project didn’t fall victim to our limitations. With our team – there were limitations and nothing was too ambitious to pull off. Every moment was spent with our 1st AD, Brad Jubenvil, and DP, Brian Pearson, as we worked through how to work with the time schedule and still retain the beautiful, thoughtful film we set out to make. A person is only as good as the people they are surrounded with – my crew and cast were mighty, I never intend to make anything without them.
J: It was a very ambitious shooting schedule. Often even movies of the week get a solid 20 and that’s without prosthetics, numerous wardrobe and make up changes, blood use, and location changes. I’m not gonna lie. It was a real challenge. It’s the outstanding crew that made it possible. I honestly cannot say enough good things about our crew. They’re fantastic. Truly. A very special mention, a repeat mention, of Brad Jubenvil, our stellar 1st AD. Without his brilliance, we would have been S.O.L. He knows his shit and was masterful at keeping us on schedule and on track.
Your first film Dead Hooker In A Trunk was school movie at the start, what course were you doing? How long did it take to finish?
S: We had decided to leave acting to use our extensive martial arts training to try our hand at stunt work. Our roles might still be super sexualized but at least we’d be kicking ass. There was a school with an excellent out-sourced stunt program and then everything else was a complete disappointment. It was one of these operations that preys on young people wanting to work in the industry, making lots of promises, charging lots of money, and then doing nothing that even resembles a curriculum. Thank God, the multi-collaborative Grindhouse was in the theatres at the time – that was real film school. When we had the funding for our final project – a measly $200 from a multi-thousand dollar school fee – cut, we decided not only to make something that we wanted to see made – our own version of a fake trailer called Dead Hooker In A Trunk – but also a rabid ‘fuck you’ to the school that took our money and wasted our time. We put everything on their list that was ‘too inappropriate’ to be included in school projects because we were writing, directing, producing, and financing it ourselves outside of the school. We put in the oddly forgotten necrophilia and bestiality. We presented it at graduation, without much warning, where half the audience walked out and the other half was laughing so hard that you could barely hear the intentionally very crude dialogue.
J: It was our version of making lemonade with lemons. We were handed nothing and made a career out of that nothing. We’re blessed with being natural collaborators. We write fast. We have our first draft in usually two weeks, occasionally with a re-write or two in there. We shot during the LA writers strike a while back. Work trickles up to Vancouver from LA. If there’s nothing going on in LA, Vancouver goes dry. It was like divine intervention, everything beautifully fell into place. Sure, a lot of shit went wrong, sometimes very wrong, but that’s what actual set experience gives you that film school can never. You learn to roll with the punches and ultimately you start to anticipate when those punches are coming. Nothing beats actual set experience. Nothing. Shooting took a few months as we were relying on when people had free time and it was rarely all at the same time. Editing took a while, too. The biggest challenge was getting our film out there. Everyone can make a film these days. You have to work really hard to get yourself out there and to make people take notice. I think for us it all started with the title, Dead Hooker In A Trunk.
What are the limitations of being women in the industry, inversely what are the opportunities?
S: The worst experience that I have had as a woman working in the industry is when men decide to act unprofessionally and make sexual demands of you because of your gender. Saying things about appearance, how things would be different in lieu of sexual favours, and some pre-historic prejudices on women’s role in the industry. There are a lot of very stupid, cruel, and sexist people out there – but that’s not a problem that is going to be solved at any point in the near future.
That said, I’ve had women be very childish and un-supportive in a very sadly catty nature. People being hateful and ignorant has been a problem since the dawn of time. I do find a lot of people in the industry excited to have more female filmmakers working on the scene, telling their unique stories, and being incredibly supportive. I don’t waste my time on the negative, I surround myself with positive, forward-thinking individuals which is what the future of the industry really is about. All those dinosaurs are dying off – literally and figuratively. The time of the asshole is coming to an end.
J: Sylv said it perfectly. There are people that see a woman as a party favor. I doubt the Coen Brothers put up with as much sexism as we do. Not that that kind of attitude is purely exclusive to the film industry. I’ve never had a job where I haven’t had to deal with sexual harassment from bosses or co-workers. Those people just aren’t worth the time or upset. They’re an epidemic, but they are dying off. Though a few cockroaches always seem to survive.
Is being a twin like a horror movie of the mirror image you cant get away from?
S: I have no idea what it would be like to not have a twin. It seems like life for all non-twins must be really sad and lonely. We have a lifetime of memories and experiences together. I really feel like one subconscious in two bodies. We have different personalities and opinions, but we have this amazing connection to one another. I forget constantly how unusual it is, when people mix us up – I think, oh yeah, we’re twins.
J: I forget that we’re twins all the time. I mean, of course I KNOW we’re twins, but when I get that weird look as someone realizes that we’re twins, I still get taken back. We’re twins, but it’s not like we’re seeing ourselves both at the same time. To me, Sylv looks nothing like me. Sylv is Sylv. We can dress it up when we’re putting it on heavy, but we’re very separate entities that just happen to spend all their time together, ha ha.
Have you tried to scare people by being look-alikes?
S: I try to scare people with every opportunity I can. I’m a sick person and I don’t think I’ll ever get better.
J: I’m with her. We’re in love with scaring people. It’s our favorite past time.
For more info on Monster Fest 2012 and the films scheduled, visit the website.