Episode 79: Jennifer Mulligan, filmmaker

The Small Machine Talksc Episode 79 with Jennifer Mulligan Recorded on Thursday, August 26, 2021

I chat with local filmmaker Jennifer Mulligan about her start in film, the various roles she’s had. We discuss the importance of community and mentorship and Jennifer offers some tips to those who want to get started in film. We talk about early films that affected her and we discuss the short film.

The Invention of Love by Andrey Shushkov

Jennifer is particularly interested in telling women’s stories. We discuss contemporary women filmmakers and the difficulty of finding out about them.

Women and Hollywood Newsletter

We discuss the collaborative aspects of filmmaking and how it differs from the solitary nature of literary creation.

We discuss influences such as Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days and Ingrid Veninger‘s the Animal Project.

We talk about film festivals, such as the Lady Filmmakers Festival in Beverly Hills and the Austin Film Festival

Jennifer and I talk about the various films she’s been involved in.

death isn’t the same anymore We talk about Jennifer’s role as writer, director and producer on this short film. we discuss the concept of a cinepoem. i use the opportunity to talk about the mentorship Jennifer received through DARC.

algebra: a reunion of broken parts http://jennifermulligan.com/algebra/ We discuss Jennifer’s role as writer and the writing as a response to Terrence Malick’s the Tree of Life. More about the film. I ask where the role of the writer ends and the other participants’ role begins.

Full Stop – We talk about how Jennifer worked with the director, Luca Fiore to create his vision for the film. We discuss the various roles of a screen writer and compare that to the way literary writing is done. Jennifer points out the trade like and professionalistic aspects of screen writing, being members of a guild or union.

Mary Mae – the film was in response to the Digi60n 2011 theme – a passionate kiss, and deals with the Catholic Church, queerness, understanding of the self.

We discuss other projects, including her film, Minerva.

We wrap up with a discussion on Ottawa’s film community and Jennifer offers some suggestions for those who want to get involved in film. Jennifer mentions Digi60, DARC and Algonquin College. She also talks about pitching for TV. We talk about our own connection through the Tree Reading Series.

Jennifer will return in December to discuss the poetics of film. Can you think of a scene from a film that you find poetic? How is it poetic? If so, please e-mail me a recording or a text about the scene by November 30, 2021.

Thanks to Jennifer Mulligan for being on the show, to you for listening and sharing the episode, to Charles for processing the audio. Stay tuned for future episodes with Concetta Principe, Barrie Tullett, Kristine Snodgrass; Mia Morgan and Stephanie Meloche, the editors of Coven Editions.