5 Questions with Chris Molina
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I was constantly stealing my family camcorder as a kid, filming whatever was going on that day. That became vlogging family vacations as a teenager. Once I did that for a couple of years, an organization down here in Miami recognized my potential, gave me a fellowship, and totally immersed me in the world of independent filmmaking.
2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?
I’m a huge Disney person, I always have been. (But not in a weird culty way, more of a fascination with this too good to be true company). Initially my producer, Juan, suggested we go to Disney and recreate these childhood videos of mine. Then I asked myself why that was exciting to me, and why I always found myself into Disney. It got me to ask these weird existential questions about loneliness and escapism. At that point, it was totally clear that this trip was going to have to be by myself. A couple of months before I went, my boyfriend at the time and I broke up, and as sad as that was, it was the perfect catalyst for me to take this trip and ask myself all these questions.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
In this film, I get insanely vulnerable, and instead of hiding behind a script or actors, my face takes up a majority of the screen. Getting that intimate and trusting that the audience wouldn’t think I was crazy was definitely the hardest part. But ironically, it was incredibly cathartic to lay it all out. When I finally crack the code and found out a way to get my mangled thoughts out in a way that the audience can digest, that’s my favorite part of the creative process.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
A couple of weeks ago I hacked into a friend's Criterion account and watched The Boy With Green Hair. It’s this old anti-war children’s film about a war orphan whose hair turns green. It ends up becoming this truly queer story about embracing your otherness and learning to tell the world to fuck off.
5) What’s next for you?
I think it only makes sense to go to Disney once the pandemic is over. Who knows what kind of feelings I’ll need to express!
—
http://chriismolina.com
@Chriismolina