We sat down with alumna Priscilla Galvez (BA '13) to talk about life as a filmmaker, how the pandemic has impacted her work and her upcoming film premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival.
Tell us a bit about your journey after Laurier
After graduating from Laurier in 2013, I enrolled at Sheridan College's Advanced Television and Film post-graduate program, in the directing and visual effects stream, but the course also exposed me to other roles on set and in post-production. When I completed the program, I took the leap and moved to Toronto because of its thriving film industry. I spent several months job hunting on Indeed, Facebook groups and job boards. I would apply to gigs as a volunteer and work for very little money in exchange for “networking” opportunities, I was desperate to be on set. I learned a lot working as a production assistant, things like set etiquette and driving big trucks. I would often learn by doing the wrong thing and getting reprimanded for it!
One of my most memorable gigs was as a volunteer production assistant on a horror movie set in an old meat packing plant in Etobicoke. I was relegated to running errands for the lead cast member who would yell at me through the screen of his trailer. One day, I stepped away from the set and cried in the parking lot, questioning my life decisions!
I could have pursued more production opportunities as a freelancer, but I was craving more stability at the time. I chose to focus my attention on finding a job at a production company, ideally a place where I could see the development stages of a project all the way to its completion. After several months, I landed an internship at Blue Ice Pictures, a film and television production company. The internship was subsidized through a mentorship program run by the Canadian Media Producers Association, an initiative that provides producer training for people who are starting out in their careers with limited work experience. I learned a lot at Blue Ice Pictures, initially as the executive assistant to producers Lance Samuels and Daniel Iron and then eventually as an associate producer, working directly under Mary Anne Waterhouse, head of production at the time. I absorbed everything I could, from development and financing to production, post and distribution. I received a broad education in film and TV production that no film school could have taught.
After work and on weekends, I continuously developed my own ideas for films and I was always eager to support my filmmaker friends who had interesting projects of their own. I was craving independence and freedom to create work that was meaningful to me and after three years at Blue Ice Pictures, I finally found the confidence to branch out on my own as a freelancer and develop my own vision as a producer and filmmaker. Since then, I’ve been building a career as an independent producer and director. In 2018,
I co-founded the production company Silent Tower, under which I’ve produced short films, short-form series and most recently, the feature film Islands, directed by Martin Edralin, which premiered at South By Southwest Film Festival in 2021 and will be released this year. While reflecting on my journey so far, I feel truly fortunate to have a really supportive family and to have met great mentors, colleagues and collaborators who gave me the confidence to pursue my goals when things seemed out of reach.
We’ve been following your great success in the past year, despite the pandemic, with your recent releases such as Sing Me a Lullaby (at TIFF) and Islands (at South by Southwest and Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival). How has the global pandemic impacted your work in the film industry?
When the government called the initial lockdown in early 2020, the first thing on my mind was “will we ever be allowed to film again”? Being on a film set requires the cast and crew to be in close proximity with one another. Especially with indie filmmaking, you’re often in small quarters and real locations rather than large sets built in a studio or a green screen. Since those first early months of the pandemic, things have opened up in the film industry, but the impact has been immense. As a producer, the new health and safety measures and on-set protocols have made producing much more challenging and stressful but it has been a necessary evolution in order to keep the industry going.
At the other end of the process, I have seen how the pandemic is changing the way films are bought and sold and consumed. Most film festivals during the pandemic have gone virtual or have found hybrid models. With no certainty of when audiences will return to cinemas, the appetites and interest of distributors and sales agents are also changing. They may be less willing to take a risk on a smaller independent film given how competitive it is for these films to compete against more splashy titles on streamers. There is also a question of where audiences are watching films these days. I have to admit that I have not seen a film in a physical theatre in two years. Instead, I have been watching films on streamers and renting on demand and virtual cinema. So distribution models are changing too, which has been a challenge to navigate as an emerging producer with my first feature film.
It was also interesting to see how the pandemic could have an effect on creative approach. I produced a short documentary which wouldn’t have been possible if not for the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. The seeds of the doc began in the form of a pre-existing cooking group’s weekly ZOOM meet-up and cooking class that was started as a response to the first lockdown. With months of these recorded ZOOM classes to draw from, we had the foundation for the documentary “Until Further Notice” which you can watch on CBC Gem and the New Yorker. When Ontario re-opened in the summer of 2020 and we were allowed to film interviews for the documentary, the director of the film, Tiffany Hsiung, opted to use long lenses and to shoot interviews from outside the participants' homes. The combination of these visuals - the experience of watching from outside looking in, intercut with the intimacy of “home footage” Zoom videos inside participants’ homes - captured the essence of a community during the COVID lockdown in Canada.
What advice do you have for alumni pursuing careers in the film industry during these unprecedented times?
Even though the idea of taking things online during the pandemic has created challenges, I do think the normalization of web-based communication and platforms like Zoom have opened up opportunities to accessing labs, workshops, conferences and master classes that would have typically only been accessible by traveling to another city or country. I would recommend searching for these opportunities, which can be more affordable than film school or a film program, and can cover a wide range of topics. I would look at organizations (mostly Toronto-based) such as LIFT, DOC Ontario, and POV Film that offer programs and workshops. I would also look at supporting regional and international film festivals that may offer interesting master classes led by filmmakers or industry-led conferences and labs.
It’s not a straightforward career path and it took many years until I gained the confidence to call myself a filmmaker. When I first came to Toronto, I chose to use my student loans to subsidize my living expenses while I worked for free or when I wasn’t getting many paid gigs. Fortunately, some of the connections I made during that time turned into fruitful opportunities (though I’m still working on paying back my loans). Similarly, friends I know in the industry maintained jobs that allowed flexibility so they could work gigs on set while also having some income they could rely on. Each person has their own unique set of circumstances and goals and the path to working in the industry is not a one-size-fits-all formula. If you can, speak to professionals in the field you’re interested in and get their advice and listen to their story. Educate yourself in the different approaches one can take to get into film work and choose the one that feels right to you.
As a graduate of the Communication Studies and English and Film Studies programs at Laurier, what is something you learned at Laurier that is still helping you today?
As a filmmaker, the program taught me to appreciate film form and exposed me to cinema and filmmakers that I admire. The program encouraged me to look beyond commercial blockbusters and to seek smaller independent work and films from outside the USA. Being steeped in film and media analysis for four years as a student has made me especially conscious of my position as a media creator. I feel like we’re drowning in images right now and I realize that I’m participating in that so I need to be mindful of how my actions contribute to it. As I grow as a filmmaker, I hope to make work that has a positive contribution to culture and to share stories that offer diverse and unique perspectives.
Give us a sneak peek at your recent film, Retrograde, which premiered at Slamdance at the end of January. Walk us through your process producing this new film and how you find your voice in filmmaking while you work with your production team.
‘Retrograde’ is the second feature film by writer/director Adrian Murray whose first film ‘Withdrawn’ also premiered at Slamdance. The film is a dry comedy about a minor traffic citation that spirals into an all-consuming obsession for a neurotic young woman played by Molly Reisman. I was brought on a bit later in the process (the film was already financed and cast locked) to manage production. The film was financed with arts council grants and it was a super low-budget endeavour with a tiny crew. We had minimal locations and the sets were designed by fellow producer Sennah Yee. We didn’t have an Assistant Director either so Adrian would manage the schedule with our Cinematographer John Palanca and I would draft call sheets with my production manager Ogi the cat. Our cast would arrive on set camera ready and lunch was catered by Sennah’s parents who made us delicious food every day! It was truly made with the spirit of indie filmmaking and I think the approach worked really well.
I got my start producing short films with very little money so I’m used to working with small budgets. I will never forget being over-budget on my first short film and I had to ask my aunt to invest to make up the overage. I haven’t been over budget since! I believe working with smaller budgets ultimately makes the producing process more collaborative because you are constantly having to negotiate where money is spent with your director and creative team. A producer needs to be invested in the vision of the film
and to be able to guide the practical decisions that result in what makes it on the screen. I think this process is one of the most rewarding parts of the job and it would be no fun having an endless pool of money to make anything you wanted!
Watch the Retrograde trailer here
Just for fun, could you tell us about a favourite memory at Laurier?
I think my favourite moments at Laurier would be the simple joy of having to watch movies as part of our curriculum!