The Story

How many writers can talk to their characters?

After the death of her best friend, Lilah, Margo is tasked with finishing Lilah's horror novel. To Margo, this is odd because she's a romance writer, but she chalks up her doubt to being in denial.

Margo isolates herself, which is something that she has always done, but before, she had Lilah to pull her out of it. Now, without her, Margo's tendencies begin to get the better of her.

As she begins to write, the fictional world bleeds into reality, and Margo finds herself with a new problem.

Inspirations

One of our challenges was differentiating between the two different settings in the film. When we see the Monster, our cinematographer was inspired by old creature features. She focused on keeping shots still and holding on them, compared to when the story focuses on Margo, which uses a more modern style of cinematography. There's more movement, and more uneasy shots.

We were also inspired by Mike Flanagan and his approach to tension, particularly in The Haunting of Hill House. Unresolved scares that lead up to the climax, hidden creatures in the shadows, and subtle movement that entices the viewer. By weaving that tension throughout the entire film, the payoff of our monster can be more impactful.

Director's Statement

When I was attending University, I wrote the first draft of Paper Monsters. A semester later, I took a screenwriting workshop. During one of these classes, our professor asked us a simple question: Have your characters started talking to you yet?

Still at the beginning of my writing journey, I couldn't wrap my head around his question. I thought it was a joke, but he was 100% serious. I didn't understand it until months later when suddenly, I could hear the pitch and cadence of my character.

This small revelation inspired me to rework the first draft of Paper Monsters. It made the characters feel so much more real, and gave them a level of depth that could sometimes be hard to read. They each had a different voice to me, and I suddenly knew them like they'd been my lifelong friends.

The themes of the feature hit hard, not only exploring grief, but also what happens when someone that you thought was perfect dies. In Margo's case, her best friend commits suicide, something that she'd helped Margo get through at different points of their lives together. It leaves Margo spiraling.

In the simplest of terms, Margo is a mess. She is incredibly realistic and grounded, even in this story that features a huge, terrifying monster. She relied on others before for help, but now she doesn't have it.

She can choose to find something new to latch on to: a person, a task, an obsession that could drown out anything else. Or she can take lessons from a teacher that's no longer there and confront herself.

In a way, all of the main pillars of the story (Margo, Lilah, and Rosa) are made up of pieces of me. The mess that Margo is, the meticulous methodology of Lilah, and the struggle of Rosa in relation to her pre-determined path. They're all, in a way, talking to me, because they are built from me.

I can't wait for you all to see it!

Where Your Donations Go

Your donation will help us fund our Production phase by helping us rent equipment, create beautiful sets, feed our crew, and make our own practical monster! We are filming in August, and after that, we will move into Post-Production. Once the film is done, we will submit it to film festivals, and plan to release it on YouTube after its festival run. Since it's a proof-of-concept, we'd love to make the feature film!

Concept Art

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