So what was it about Run Lola Run that inspired you to write and direct your own version?
Megan: I think we both thought it was a great film obviously, but it affords you a lot of freedom to play with the media. The structure’s like Groundhog Day and this idea of doing something over and over and trying to get it right seemed perfect for a lesbian romp.Ellen: What you alluded to really opened up the narrative possibilities and when you’re dealing with a low budget film, the fact that you can have great animation and integrate stills and kind of play with it in that way, it allows you some creative opportunities that you might not normally have.
Obviously it’s a hat tip to Run Lola Run and we named our character Lola because we didn’t want to pretend that it wasn’t, but it’s a very different film in many, many ways. We definitely thought the structure would be fun. It’s about having a fun time. It’s a little more up than the original.
Megan: Also, as a romantic comedy or a romp, it sounds a little fantastical. I think the pastiche of media and the whole kind of mixing of it allows you to be playful.
How did you go about casting the film? Did you have specific actresses in mind?
Ellen: Not initially. We did some casting in San Francisco and we found one actress up there called Jenoa Harlow who’s an out lesbian and plays the girl in the park with the dog. She’s wonderful but there really isn’t the pool of acting talent in the Bay area of San Francisco.Megan: Ellen and I really wanted to work local.
Ellen: So we went down to LA and had open castings. We were really determined after that to find some actors who were actually lesbians, so we did some targeted castings and that’s how we found most of the people in our cast. We thought it was important for the success of this film that we had actors who understood the lesbian vibe.
We had a number of actors come through who were talented enough but it just seemed as if it would have been somewhat of a stretch to embrace the role they were going to be asked to play. And the sexuality, there’s a lot of that in the film and for them to be comfortable with that is a hurdle. Plus, I think it’s just great that we can have talented out lesbians in our film and show off their talent.
Megan: It’s also great for us because they understood and felt very supportive of the project. It ended up being a very collaborative film. The more people who are onboard and want to support this kind of project really helps independent filmmakers.