An Interview with Filmmaker Xenia Leblanc
We were lucky enough to get the chance to sit down and chat to Xenia Leblanc ahead of the world premiere of her brand new web series Gritty & Pretty which screens at the Dances With Films Festival on September 5.
Hi Xenia, thanks for taking the time to sit down and chat to us.
Can you quickly tell us what Gritty & Pretty is all about?
It’s a fast-paced comedy about two characters, Kira and Lauren, who used to be best friends in high school, however their friendship withered after graduation. They meet many years later and their friendship picks up where it left off.
What was your inspiration for Gritty & Pretty?
I am a big fan of the NETFLIX show Glow and so I wanted to create a story that would resonate with me and involve a little bit of punching here and there. The story itself is also largely inspired by my own long-forgotten high-school friendship.
We love Glow. It is such a great show. I can see the similarities with Gritty & Pretty.
You wrote, directed and starred in Gritty & Pretty. How did you find juggling all the different roles?
It was a really big challenge. I keep saying that I will probably never do that again, haha. I truly admire directors who can do both, but in the future, I will try to avoid it. I think if you have a small appearance in your own project – it’s fine, but if you are directing yourself as well as others, you can truly miss something important. That was my constant fear throughout filming, however I was lucky to have had a truly fantastic crew who helped me bring my vision and story to life. Directing requires stepping aside and seeing the big picture and acting demands for you to stay in the moment. Switching back and forth is truly nerve-racking.
It sounds like it was hard work trying to switch roles on the fly.
Was the filmmaking process affected by the Coronavirus?
No not really, we were lucky because we wrapped up our filming and post right before it happened. If anything, the release was affected because we will only be able to screen the project virtually, but I think it is kind of interesting.
You were very lucky to get it all wrapped up.
Do you feel that you have learned a lot from the experience?
I learned so much, the whole project was a giant learning experience. Like I was saying, I had a fantastic crew and learned a lot from all of them. My director of photography Nicholas Acosta is a wizard when it comes to visualization and he taught me so much about light and color, as well as pacing. I also learned to be patient, especially when we were raising the funds for the series and it took a lot of energy as well as commitment.
I think surrounding yourself with a great team is important. They provide an excellent support network and like you say, there is plenty of people to learn from.
You have created a lot of Shorts over the last ten years. What is it about Short films that you like the most?
I love them because short films are at times harder to make than longer ones. You technically have less to shoot, but you have to plan and figure out every single detail to make sure the story and the message hits the right way. I also love shorts because it allows me to be creative and experiment with something new, be it a story or lenses or visual effects or a character. There are also a lot of short film competitions out there that come with amazing prizes if you win. For example, one of the latest shorts we’ve filmed during quarantine won the Film Riot One Minute Film Challenge. That was fun.
Well done on the win!
Gritty & Pretty gets its premiere at this years Dances with Films festival. Are you excited to finally share it with the world?
I am very excited, I am truly interested in how people will react to it and what will they take away from it. So far we’ve only shown the series to family and friends, but a film festival screening is a whole different story.
Good luck with that. We have had a sneak peak at the first two episodes and we have a feeling it is going to go down extremely well!
How have you found the virtual festival experience?
This will be my first time participating in a virtual film festival, I think so far DWF have done a fantastic job organizing everything. It blows my mind that something like that is possible today.
DWF do a great job.
What do you have planned next?
I am writing a few projects at the moment and getting them ready to film as soon as the pandemic is over. One is a comedy and the other one is a thriller.
That sounds very interesting indeed. Another season of Gritty & Pretty?
Yes! I actually started writing Season 2, so if all goes well we will definitely film it sometime next year.
Can’t wait to see that! Another season of Gritty & Pretty will be awesome!
Well thank you for chatting to us Xenia, it has been great to chat to you. Good luck with the screening we are sure it will go down very well.
