{"id":34910,"date":"2021-03-27T16:30:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-27T20:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=34910"},"modified":"2021-03-27T16:30:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-27T20:30:53","slug":"interview-with-filmmaker-julie-bruns-women-in-horror-month-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/27\/interview-with-filmmaker-julie-bruns-women-in-horror-month-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Filmmaker Julie Bruns [Women in Horror Month 2021]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> Please introduce yourself.<\/strong>
\nOh, hello Cinema Crazed! My name is Julie Bruns, and I am an actor, director and writer. I\u2019ve been keeping busy with the festival run of my short The Purgamentum, which is an eco-horror short set in the Pacific Northwest. Amy, a marine biologist, starts to hear strange whisperings through the underwater microphones of her remote research station, and calls in Stan, a diver, to investigate what is happening beneath the surface. It\u2019s a dark little tale of retali-ocean.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is it that attracts you the horror genre for your chosen field of creative work?<\/strong>
\nHorror films are just such a wild ride, I feel like you don\u2019t so much watch a good horror film, as experience it. Those stories and feelings can strike your psyche so deeply, and as a storyteller, that makes horror such a powerful medium for me. Even with my projects that are not strictly horror – like Influenced and Sense Memory, the first two shorts I did – those horror and thriller-esque elements were still very present because of the exquisite tension they bring and the impact that lends to the endings.<\/p>\n

Who inspires you in your work and in life?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m so inspired these days by a lot of female directors – I\u2019m blown away by Emerald Fennell, Olivia Wilde<\/a> and Marielle Heller lately – not just by their work, which is remarkable, but by the attitudes they\u2019re bringing to the industry. It really feels like women are bringing this energy that the industry doesn\u2019t have to be brutal to be great – you don\u2019t have to suffer to be an artist. I think the film industry is really ready for that. The \u2018I suffered, and therefore, so should you\u2019 perspective doesn\u2019t actually help the art, and it creates too much opportunity to exploit people. Also, the idea that you can\u2019t say no to something, for fear of being replaced, that leaves too many of the most vulnerable people in the industry susceptible to mistreatment. That shouldn\u2019t be a culture we encourage. We should always be striving to make things better.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m also continually inspired by my partner, Steven. He\u2019s a scholar at heart, as well as a filmmaker, and just being around him always motivates me to stay on my game and keep growing if I want to be the best artist and human being I can be. Also he often cooks for me while I write. Good food is highly inspiring\/motivating.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Women in horror have made great strides, but it’s clear that a lot of work is still needed to make it a most inclusive genre. To you, what is the importance of a movement like Women in Horror Month?<\/strong>
\nThe awareness that it builds and opportunities it provides to women is so helpful. One of the biggest struggles in this industry is finding ways to connect with people who appreciate your work – finding your audience and building the reputation of your work. I also think it\u2019s incredibly inspirational to be able to see so many women are out there doing amazing, ground-breaking work in this genre, and that visibility is seriously needed. Because of movements like Women in Horror Month, I don\u2019t think that the traditional gatekeepers have any excuses anymore for not supporting women-led projects in horror – there are so many women out there with major talent, who have paid their dues however they could, and it\u2019s easier to discover them and their work than ever.<\/p>\n

What would you tell an up-and-coming creative in the world of horror who sees that being a woman\/identifying as a women as something that makes it so much more difficult at times?<\/strong>
\nTrust your decisions and your vision, and if you\u2019re not sure if you do, do the work to be able to. Find those stories that are full of your voice and tell them, not because they\u2019re the only stories that you can tell, but because the ones that contain something that is you are inimitable.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite bits of helpful advice that you have received about your work or your field?<\/strong>
\nEmerald Fennell said in a recent interview that a director friend of hers had banned the question \u2018Are you sure?\u201d on her sets, and I think that\u2019s a bit of advice that female directors should totally steal. I know I\u2019m going to.<\/p>\n

In honor of celebrating Women in Horror Month, who do you believe viewers should keep an eye on in terms of the creative ladies in horror?<\/strong>
\nAlways a shout-out to Gigi Saul Guerrero!<\/a> She\u2019s got some very cool-looking projects in the works these days – and watch Culture Shock<\/a> if you haven\u2019t seen it yet.<\/p>\n

Also the very rad Ariel Hansen<\/a> – our shorts keep screening together in the same festivals, and I\u2019m continually impressed by Clout every time I see it.<\/p>\n

And watch Nia DaCosta\u2019s Candyman when it comes out! I cannot wait to see that film.<\/p>\n

What do you have coming soon that you can talk to us about?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m really excited for the release of The Purgamentum, coming around September-October, right in the heart of spooky season! Follow my social media to see behind-the-scenes peeks and be the first to find out when and where you can see it!<\/p>\n

Pop them links to follow your work here:<\/strong>
\nJulie Bruns on Facebook
\n@ThatJulieBruns on Twitter
\n@julie.bruns on Instagram
\nimdb.me\/juliebruns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please introduce yourself. Oh, hello Cinema Crazed! My name is Julie Bruns, and I am an actor, director and writer. I\u2019ve been keeping busy with the festival run of my short The Purgamentum, which is an eco-horror short set in the Pacific Northwest. Amy, a marine biologist, starts to hear strange whisperings through the underwater […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,2673],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-wihm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34910"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34913,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34910\/revisions\/34913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}