Carly Usdin spent several years with Viacom Media Networks. During that time she created award-winning promo campaigns for shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and produced an on-air music series called “NewNowNext,” interviewing nearly 200 artists including Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Tegan and Sara, and Janelle Monae. Usdin formed Scheme Machine Studios, a creative production company, with her wife Robin. Usdin’s freelance clients include Funny or Die, Vice, CollegeHumor, and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls. She spent most of 2014 producing “YouTube Nation” (the official daily show of YouTube), a joint venture from Google and DreamWorks Animation.
“Suicide Kale” will make its Canadian Premiere at the 2016 Inside Out LGBT Film Festival on May 30.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
CU: “Suicide Kale” is a dark comedy about love, relationships and mental health. We’ve got two couples — one has been together for years and the other only a month — and we get to play with those dynamics over an anxiety-producing afternoon in which an anonymous suicide note is found in the house. A friend of ours called the genre “mumblequeer,” or queer mumblecore, and I liked that a lot.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
CU: Brittani Nichols and I have been friends for years and haven’t really had the chance to work on anything together. So last summer we both saw “Tangerine,” which is just so good, and we were really inspired to make a movie ourselves, with our friends, and see what happens. [I directed and Brittani wrote the script and acted.] The story she came up with drew me in immediately and the characters all felt so real.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
CU: “If this is what they do for no money, I can’t wait to see what they do with a budget!” No, I’m kidding — although that would be nice. I hope that, regardless of who they are, they are able to relate somehow to the themes and characters in the film.
Yes this is a queer film, yes the characters are all women, yes the cast is predominantly women of color. But the film isn’t really about any of that. It’s just about people and how they relate to one another, how they love one another, how they hurt one another. Oh, and I also hope they laugh!
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
CU: I’ve been working as a director, producer. and editor for 10 years but I’ve never made a film before. So going into this I was both confident and terrified. But we had nothing to lose — worst-case scenario, I spend a bunch of time with my friends, and my wife, who shot the film, and get to hang out and shoot a highly improvised film — something we’d actually want to watch.
And the best-case scenario is that it’s actually watchable, like for people other than us. If the story tracked and the quality was decent then we would try to submit to festivals and see what happened! And that’s where we’re at. We’ve gotten in to several festivals and it’s really exciting and we’re just all waiting to see what happens next.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
CU: We didn’t! Ha! The film was not financed at all. No crowdfunding, no investors. We all had a few days free over the summer and donated our time. The biggest cost was in finishing the film and submitting to festivals, but it was entirely self-funded.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
CU: The best advice I’ve received came from my wife, who is a brilliant photographer and has owned her own business for eight years: place value on your work and your time. No one else will do that for you — if anything, people will try to take advantage.
The worst advice I’ve gotten isn’t a specific piece of advice, just the lessons I’ve learned from watching bosses I’ve had over the years. Over time that has taught me what not to do.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
CU: I think I’d say that you should have a vision, and then have the confidence to stick to it regardless of what other people think or say.
Be you, and let that show. And to also find other like-minded individuals — especially women — to collaborate with and bounce ideas off of.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
CU: I think it’s a tie between Jamie Babbit’s “But I’m a Cheerleader” and Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless.” Teen comedies are not-so-secretly one of my favorite genres, and I love the incredibly funny, vivid world that Babbit creates in “Cheerleader.”
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film screen at an LGBT festival?
CU: It’s huge! LGBTQ festivals — especially big ones like Inside Out — provide invaluable opportunities for queer filmmakers and queer films. I don’t know that films like ours would get seen by many people otherwise. A lot of my non-film work has been in queer media — I’ve worked for Logo, World of Wonder, etc. — and being acknowledged for creating content for our community will always be a privilege and an honor.
