We had the awesome opportunity to interview filmmaker L. Marcus Williams on his short film, LIFELINE, is an Official Selection at the 2019 New York City Independent Film Festival.
Hi, Marcus! Thank you for granting the interview. Congrats on your new short film LIFELINE as an Official Selection at this year’s New York City Independent Film Festival. Tell us what inspired the script.
LIFELINE was inspired by my own experience with suicide. More than a dozen years ago, I was very close to taking my own life. I had recently moved to New York City to pursue my dreams as a filmmaker but I had nothing to show for it. I wanted to end it all but at the last second, I reached out to a suicide hotline. Having that person on the other end of the line to talk to, who would listen to what I was saying and how I was feeling without judgment, made me feel like I wasn’t alone. They helped me choose to live another day. And several years later, I would end up doing volunteer work at that very same hotline, where I was the one offering help to people who were hurting like I was once. Both of these experiences led me to write the script for LIFELINE. I wanted to tell a story of a call to a suicide hotline, but I wanted to tell it from the perspective of both ends of the line – the caller and the call-taker.
Suicide is a subject we all need to address. Do you hope your film raise awareness?
Absolutely! If there’s nothing else that happens with the film, I hope that it’ll at least touch someone and let them know that if they are feeling suicidal, please just pick up the phone and talk to someone. And if you know someone who might be suicidal, call them, and let them know that they’re not alone. If my film does that, if it helps just one person, then that’s better than any award or any festival in the world.
What are your expectations for LIFELINE on the festival circuit?
I just want it to be seen by as many people as possible, so it can have as much of an impact as it can.
Was it a challenge to direct the film?
Well, we were working with a very tight deadline. It was my thesis project at film school and I was really down to the wire. What happened was that I had already shot it, but it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, there was something missing, so we had to do it all over again. And because most of the film is in split-screen, with both the caller and the operator on the screen at the same time, it would have been great to be able to shoot them both at once. But we didn’t have the money or the resources to do that, so we had to shoot them on different days, which led to a whole new set of problems. Because every take is different, it was tricky to time their dialogue so that when it was all put together in the editing room, they’re not talking over each other or taking too long to answer. Fortunately, my actors Katlin Leslie and Dan Parilis worked really hard beforehand to build a rhythm to the dialogue, which made editing that much easier.
What are you most proud of in making LIFELINE
It’s definitely the most emotional film I’ve ever made. My directing style tends to be much colder, but audiences are reacting to LIFELINE in such an emotional way. They’re crying and thanking me for telling this story. I don’t know exactly how I achieved that, or if it’s something I can ever do again, but I guess it’s because I told the story from my heart, I made it personal to me, instead of trying to do what I think the audience will respond to.
Tell us about a typical day on the set.
It was all about creating a safe space for the actors. Because they were using a lot of their own personal experiences with suicide, it was important that we give them the space they need so that they can feel comfortable exposing themselves in that way. Most of the time, the crew was on one end of the room while the actors were on their side of the room, working together, creating that intimate connection, while I kind of bounced back-and-forth. I think when you watch it, it might look deceptively easy in a technical way. But even though 90% of the film is in tight close-ups, a lot of work went into the lighting and the camera set-ups. It was pretty much a skeleton crew, which is how I like it, and everyone – I don’t care if you’re just a PA – everyone was welcome to contribute their ideas. Even the art director, who created an environment for the actors so that they would feel like they were on location, even though most of that is never seen in the final film.
What is going to surprise people about the film?
Probably the fact that it never makes a definitive statement on suicide. It never says in big letters across the screen, “Suicide is bad.” I wanted to respect the choice of suicide in a way, to create empathy for people who are thinking about suicide or who do decide to kill themselves. I’m not saying you should, absolutely not! You should pick up the phone, you should try to talk to someone. But in the end, the choice is yours to make, and we should respect that.
Without giving anything away, what’s your favorite line of dialogue from the film and why?
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite line, but there’s a monologue that Katlin gives, and it’s all about her realizing that all this pain she’s feeling, all this depression, that she has complete and utter control over it. All she has to do is end her life, and the pain will go away, and she finds that empowering in a way. I remember feeling that way when I thought about suicide. There was this profound sense of euphoria when I realized that I had the power to end my suffering. I think it’s an important message. When we think of people who are suicidal, we think of them as being weak, or crumpled on the floor in tears, but here’s a woman thinking about suicide, and she’s so strong and she feels so good about it that you almost don’t want to take it away from her.
When looking at back on the production, what resonated with you the most and why?
When I called “cut” on the last shot, there was such palpable emotion in the room. It was very cathartic for a lot of us. Me because of my history with suicidal thoughts, my actors because they each knew people who had chosen suicide. We were hugging each other and laughing and crying at the same time. It was really beautiful.
In your opinion, what scene in the film is going to blow people away and why?
No spoilers, but there’s a moment that emphasizes the importance of two people just being in the same room together, just sharing the same space, without feeling like they have to keep talking to each other. The connection they feel in that moment, just being together, I think it’s really powerful, and something you don’t usually see in cinema.
What did you enjoy most about the characters?
Definitely their strength.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about the film?
Just that if you’re thinking about suicide or if you know someone who’s thinking about suicide, that you should call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 1-800-273-8255.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about your career?
Well, I’m currently brainstorming on what my next short film will be, but I think it’s also going to cover a pretty serious issue. I’m not just a filmmaker, I’m a social worker too or at least going to school to become one, and I would like to blend the two passions together as much as I can. I also have an idea for a feature which is something I’ve been working on for almost twenty years, believe it or not, about a family that finds out one of their own is a serial killer. Roger Ebert said that film is a machine that creates empathy, and I believe that’s true, even for people we would otherwise consider taboo. That’s what I want my films to do.
Thank you for chatting with us about your career. I hope we can catch up in the future for another interview.
Thank you! This was a lot of fun. I want to give a quick shout out to my wife, Chen. I couldn’t have done any of this without her. I love you, honey. And my son Halcyon. You inspire me every day.
If you want to watch LIFELINE, it’s on Amazon Prime Video at www.lifeline.watch/amazon. And be sure to check out our website at www.aflyonthe4thwall.com, and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/aflyonthe4thwall), Twitter (twitter.com/flyonthe4thwall) and Instagram (Instagram.com/aflyonthe4thwall). Thanks again to you and to all your readers. Stay strong.
Featured Image Credit: Behind the Scenes – LIFELINE.
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