“Under The Flowers” – An Interview with Richard T. Wilson
From 2003’s Emmy Award winning Maple Ave to 2015’s striking horror short The Halloween Girl; film-maker Richard T. Wilson has set out a stall for confronting difficult issues and dark subjects with an idiosyncratic and unflinching style.
His latest web-series Under The Flowers began on January 15th. This intriguing and cryptic story focuses on Jackie (played by actress Katie Stahl) – a young woman desperately trying to untangle the confusing visions and unsettling dreams which plague her.
Richard took time away from his work at production company Mad Shelley Films to talk to Movie-Blogger.
Hello Richard, thanks for taking the time to talk to us.
Thrilled to talk to you, Ryan – thanks for the invite!
Can you tell us a little about Under The Flowers?
Well, it’s a supernatural, metaphysical, what-the-hell-just happened web series.
Your previous short film The Halloween Girl was a ghost story featuring themes similar to Under The Flowers. Are stories about the supernatural close to your heart?
Oh, definitely! Honestly, for me horror and sci-fi have always been comfortable places for me to talk about ‘real life’ (whatever that is). For instance, I’ve been a big Rod Serling fan since I was 8, so it’s never been just worshiping at the genre altar for me (à la Stephen King).
It’s interesting that you bring up influences; given that your production company and the opening to The Halloween Girl both reference Percy Bysshe Shelley. And parts of Under The Flowers were filmed in the home of [American poet] Walt Whitman. Can you tell us about their influence on you?
I was in High School, busy being a terrible student, when I jumped to the back of our Lit book and discovered Shelley’s Hymn to Intellectual Beauty. I was stopped dead in my tracks by the dark romance of the piece – and then I read the blurb about his life, how he got the nickname ‘Mad Shelley’ at school – well, all bets were off after that. Between discovering the Romantic Age and already being enthralled by all the pop echoes of it anyway (Doors, Bowie, Joy Division, etc.), I was starting to take shape as a writer. Whitman was too flower child for me at the time – though I appreciate his work more now that I’m (much) older.
Maple Ave was produced through your educational film company OutreachArts, and focused on at-risk teens. Given some of the events and characters in both The Halloween Girl and Under The Flowers, would you say there are certain themes threading them all together?
Yes – there’s really no difference between my OutreachArts work and the Mad Shelley stuff. I told the same stories via the Maple Ave series, etc…that I’m telling now; people struggling with their inner life. Whether it manifests as depression, self-injury, etc. I’m just trying to create a way for people to talk about these traditionally uncomfortable subjects. As a former at-risk teen myself, I was very driven to turn things around for others who are suffering.
So the creation of Mad Shelley Films was a way to work on a broader canvas?
Yes, it was. Long story short, I started to realize that I needed to get back to where I started – it was surprising too. I never thought I would have a need to go back there because I loved the work I was doing with OutreachArts so much.
Under The Flowers features an appearance by Charlotte [the main character of The Halloween Girl, played by actress Catherine Kustra]. Are we seeing the birth of some kind of shared universe? A ‘Shelley-verse’ perhaps?
‘Shelley-verse’ – I love that! In a word, YES! In fact, I’m in the midst of continuing Charlotte’s storyline this week (currently writing a one hour Under The Flowers pilot).
How was the experience of working on Under The Flowers compared to your previous projects? And how was it appearing on the other side of the camera too?
It was an exceptionally heavy lift for me – though very, very exciting. This time last year, I knew I was at a crossroads and I felt if I didn’t do a deep dive into Mad Shelley I would be on the fade in a way. I remember the day it started to switch over; I was listening to Genesis’ ‘Supper’s Ready’ (one of my all-time favorites) and I saw my artsy-garage-band kid self in the mirror again – pulling me through to the other side! I knew I had to challenge myself so playing ‘Ben’ was part of that (especially since I hadn’t acted in 23 years!). The first day of shooting though I was sure I had bitten off more than I could chew – just what the hell was I thinking, etc…? Looked at the footage later and knew we were flying (for my money anyway)!
If money were no object, what would be your dream project?
Honestly, a limited Under the Flowers TV series (à la Penny Dreadful). I think people would very surprised to see where the story finally winds up…
We’ve touched on it a little; but what does the future look like for Mad Shelley?
Well, we’ve already received some Under The Flowers interest from Hollywood earlier this month so, joining the ranks of The OA, Stranger Things, etc. – that’s the dream right now. We’ll see what happens…
Exciting times. Where can people see Under The Flowers?
Thank you, Ryan! People can watch Under the Flowers at www.undertheflowers.com.
