The messy love life of Mia is explored in “Girl Talk,” a sexual drama about lust and connection directed by Erica Rose. We asked Rose how the project started, being forthright about sex, and what’s next for her…

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

I’ve always been a storyteller – ever since I could remember I would recount detailed and often more dramatic retellings of the mundane events of my life. Both of my parents are therapists and they always cultivated an environment where I was constantly questioning and examining the people around me. My curiosity about people manifested itself into film rather quickly. I had this consumer-friendly Sony handycam that was my main tool. I convinced all of my friends to appear in my films – films that I wrote, directed, edited, shot, and art directed. All of these films were ridiculous, but I loved the range of topics I was able to explore. I mean before the age of 16 I was making films about murderous teenagers, HIV positive kids, and suicidal Orthodox Jewish girls. I guess my imagination and proclivity for drama never ceased to be interesting.

That said, one thing I want to point out is that during my early years of High School I had convinced myself that I should become a film critic because I thought it was inconceivable and impossible for a woman to make a career as a director. That was due to a lethal mixture of low self-esteem and media’s refusal to bring attention to female filmmakers. Once I began to educate myself (because there was zero film or media classes in my High School besides one film class where I was the only woman and where the only films spoken about were made by men) I realized the plethora of female talent behind the camera. I learned about Catherine Breillat, Claire Denis, Agnés Varda, Penny Marshall, Mira Nair, Sally Potter, and Susanne Bier then was like fuck film criticism, I want to make movies. So, I applied to NYU early decision and got in – unlike any of the boys from my high school who also applied. From there, I never stopped believing I would make a career doing what I love and have always loved!

2) What was the original inspiration to create this film, and what were some of the first steps to get it going?

I wrote the first draft of Girl Talk in early 2016, never thinking it was going to be produced. Part of that thought pattern stemmed from insecurity – before Girl Talk I had never made an acutely personal film. I had been living as an out gay woman for quite some time but making such a public and artistic declaration of my queerness felt insurmountable. Yet, for some reason the story kept lingering and I knew that in order to advance as an artist, I had to tackle uncomfortable and painful moments from my own experiences. I wanted to showcase a queer character who existed outside of the false dichotomy we often find LGBTQIA characters. They are either depicted as “coming out” or in a secretive relationship. In Girl Talk, we follow Mia as she explores the disparity between emotional and physical intimacy, coming to a head when she meets an intriguing couple. She’s navigating these issues as an out person, without any need to hide.

In the early drafts of the script, the story was so close to my true-life experiences that it wasn’t palatable to a cohesive narrative. It was also far more graphic, which just wasn’t necessary. Chelsea Moore, my producing partner, worked with me on the script to focus on the emotional beats of the story. Who is Mia? What does she want? What does she need? What does she lose and gain throughout the narrative? Once we nailed down those questions, we were able to launch into financing mode. We raised the majority of our budget with Seed&Spark and funded the rest by ourselves.

3) I appreciate how forthright you are in showing and discussing sexuality. It’s refreshing - it feels quite rare for a film to be this confident and mature about sex. Can you talk about the challenges you felt in portraying this honestly?

Thank you. I’m frustrated that so many depictions of queer femme sex are at the hands of cis men who refuse to do any research or collaboration to enable their stories to be more authentic. One of my goals with making this film was to reclaim the narrative that has been stripped out of queer femme filmmaker hands for so long. I wanted to show that sex between two (or more) women is just as complicated, sexy, boring, frustrating, weird, funny and devastating as any other form of sex. There was zero issue portraying this honestly because all of the sexual interactions shown in the film were based on stories of my own or of my community.

It’s important to also mention that even though Mia (played by Hannah Hodson – who is just simply amazing in this film) talks with authority when it comes to her sex life, there’s so much she’s not saying, especially to the people she really cares about. That juxtaposition is present in every scene of the film.

4) I’m always curious to hear what gets edited out of films, and why? Can you talk about any scenes that were omitted or trimmed, and why you made the decision to cut out?

I love this question. Amazingly, not a single scene written was cut from this film! My editor Cody Stickels worked with me to condense certain scenes to just keep the movie moving forward. We cut down the walk and talk and party scenes a bit (but really not by much). We did not have much time on set (we shot this in three really packed days) so I purposely did not shoot superfluous coverage. Pretty much every set up I shot was utilized.

5) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

I LOVED LUCE. I don’t want to give too much away here, but I haven’t seen a film balance so many intersecting political and personal themes into a character study ever that effectively. The movie dives into colonialism, interracial adoption, manipulation, role play, and expectations versus reality so well. The tone was brilliantly cultivated by the directing, writing, and performances. I haven’t quite seen anything like this. Definitely go and watch!

Bonus Question) What’s next for you?

I’m co-writing and directing the feature film DUSTY, which just participated in the Outfest Screenwriting Lab. A bit about the film - Fat, femme, and soul music- loving burlesque dancer, Dusty seems to have it all figured out in her realms of Brooklyn nightlife, high brow academia, and unconventional queer relationships. As her handle on these worlds begin to fall apart, Dusty discovers cracks in her self-perception forcing her into a journey of reckoning and freeing herself from the expectations of society.

Contact Info:

Website: http://www.sourpeachfilms.com

Instagram: @sourpeachfilms, @ear360