Director/producer Melanie Thompson ( pictured) and Marisa Hood (writer/producer) are creators of a fun little short entitled Two Weeks Notice. The film is an eight-minute comedy about a man who gives his girlfriend two weeks’ notice before ending their relationship… and things spiral from there! The duo has featured in over a dozen festivals nationally so far including the recent FirstGlance Film Festival in Los Angeles. We had the opportunity to speak to them.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. How did you both get into filmmaking?
Melanie: Thanks so much for having us! As a kid, I was always writing. I made picture books with my sister and lived in a constant state of make-believe. Eventually, I started writing screenplays in high school, staying in from the parties I wasn’t invited to anyway, writing on legal pads I would hide under my bed. Sheltered by my own shyness, I was too afraid to show anyone my work. It was hard enough to tell people that I wanted to be an actor, a dream that grew in tandem with my writing goals. I wanted to be a Matt Damon type, writing and starring in my own films, but at that time you did not see a lot of women (let alone black women) in such roles. So when I finally gained the courage to pursue acting, it became my main focus in college and first few years in Los Angeles. Sure, I told people I was a writer and was indeed writing a lot on my own, but I still hid my work from the world. It wasn’t until a friend encouraged me to write and direct a short based on an experience in my personal life that I took a leap and shared that part of myself. And I’m so glad I did. Being on my own set was an incredible, affirming experience. It was there I realized how much I like directing, that I enjoy (most) aspects of producing, and most importantly that I was just as capable as anyone else of being a filmmaker.
Marisa: Yes thank you for having us! I started acting as a kid and quickly fell in love with it. I did a lot of little projects and classes around the area I’m from, before moving to LA when I was 20. After a few years of acting in LA, I learned that I felt very drawn to the entire process of filmmaking, particularly writing and producing, rather than just being in front of the camera. I stayed in touch with people like cinematographers, directors and assistant directors, sound folks, and editors that I worked on various projects with, and reached out to them again when I started making my own projects. I have a deep love for comedy and found as much joy (sometimes more) writing comedy as I did acting it. I now make my own films frequently!
Who has been most influential in your career, and why?
Melanie: There are a ton of artists whose career paths inspire me: Donald Glover, Michaela Cole, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Issa Rae, Lucile Ball, Greta Gerwig, and Jordan Peele, to name a few. They are all content creators who have a hand in almost every aspect of the storytelling process, and that is what I want to do. However, my family has been the most influential on my career, and in this case, I’m going to highlight my mother especially. She has helped me to push through in my hardest moments. When I first moved to LA I fell for an obvious scam, lost all my savings, and was more homesick and desperate than I had ever been. I thought I had no choice but to return home, but my mother lent me money and told me to stay. Had I left LA I might have given up, but she believed in me when I couldn’t believe in myself. I am beyond grateful for her continued generosity, patience, and support.
Marisa: Recently, it’s been the Duplass brothers. My friend and filmmaking partner AJ (who filmed Two Weeks Notice) told me to read their book, “Like Brothers” this year and it made me love them even more. “Cyrus” is one of my favorite films – the smart humor, subtlety, and realness of the characters really stuck with me. I also have such respect that they built themselves from the ground up, making their own projects with whatever they had and not waiting for the phone to ring or for someone in the industry to “discover” them. I will also second Melanie on Lucille Ball. Her comedy is timeless and effortless, and she looks like she’s always having a blast.
Please tell us more about your short ‘Two Weeks Notice’ and what viewers can expect?
Melanie: Marisa and I worked together on my first film, Charlie, and became fast friends. I am so grateful that she shared Two Week’s Notice with me and asked me to direct. I knew it would be a challenge – comedy is not my natural forte, but Marisa’s writing offered not just punch lines but nuanced emotions underneath the laughs. I loved the duality of the silliness meshed with a deeper message and was excited to explore it during production. The biggest help during pre-production was shooting a pre-vis, essentially a rough draft, because it allowed us to actually see what worked and what didn’t before the actual shoot day.
Marisa: Viewers can expect a quick and silly ride, kind of like a roller coaster when watching Two Weeks Notice. It is a play on putting your two weeks in when you quit a job, but instead, a man decides to give his girlfriend two weeks’ notice before breaking up with her. It tumbles from there, and by the end, the whole situation is just absurd. I wrote it years ago and then sat on it for a while until I started writing and producing more frequently. It then started to come to life when I found my director, cinematographer, and co-star Mickey.
The film was part of the FirstGlance LA Film Festival this month. It’s a short film that verbalizes certain elements and proclamations surrounding relationships. What is the primary objective or message you want the audience to take away with them?
Melanie: I’m realizing I’m a big fan of heightened reality, and how human truths can be exposed through an outrageous setup. Though our film starts with a ridiculous premise (a man gives his girlfriend two week’s notice before breaking up with her à la quitting a job), I hope the audience takes away something more grounded in reality about not settling in dead-end relationships, and doing what it takes to find your own happiness.
Marisa ( pictured): I have always had a soft spot for dark comedy. Stories that speak the truth of how brutal, heartbreaking, and absurd life can be; but delivered in a way that allows a release for laughter and comfort. This story covers loss, infidelity, abandonment, and betrayal – but in a very light, face-paced comedic delivery. Humor is often the one thing that can get people through a dark place, and realize they’re not alone. I think that is the main message I hope people take from this.
Please tell us more about the filming schedule and working with the cast.
Melanie: I got so lucky. Marisa, being the writer of the film, knew her character Jenny pretty intimately. The role is very on-brand for her acting style as it is, so fortunately it wasn’t a stretch (that’s not to say that it was an easy feat to pull off – do you know how hard it is to be deadpan?!). Marisa knew Mickey from an acting class, and he was a natural for the role of Michael. He was great at playing a dopey, clueless man-child, and one of the biggest challenges onset was not laughing during his takes. We knew we wanted the film to stay under ten minutes, and because it was all in one location we were able to shoot everything in one day.
Marisa: I was very picky about who I wanted to play Michael because in my mind he is very specific. I met Mickey years after writing Two Weeks Notice on another film set, we then had an acting class together and after watching a bunch of his work I knew he was the one. After that, I reached out to everyone I love working with and got a great group of people together to film our little movie. It was a quick, one-day, and one location shoot, and I think everyone had a good time!
To what extent did the pandemic impact the production schedule?
We were fortunate to film toward the end of 2019, prior to the pandemic!
What other projects are you working on?
Melanie: Marisa and I are collaborating again on LMFT, another of her comedies, this time directed by AJ Young who was our DP on Two Week’s Notice. I am currently in pre-production for my film The Package, a short I wrote and will star in, and am also developing a horror web series entitled Eldritch, CA.
Marisa: Yes, Melanie and I are filming another short called LMFT soon. Another one of my short films, Furca, just finished the festival circuit and is now available to view online. I also just finished acting in a film called This and That, written and directed by first-time director Katie Garibaldi. Mickey (Michael) is also in This and That and is just as hilarious– it was a blast and my first time back on set since the pandemic!
Where can readers find out more about you?
Melanie: You can visit my website, www.melaniethompson.net, and follow me on Instagram @melanieleethompson. See you there!
Marisa: My website is www.marisahood.com and my Instagram is @marisahood. Expect a lot of cat pictures.
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